Nishi's A Dream I Dream, Nishi's Pitas and all images, html and layout (c) Nishi Rajan 1998-2006. Written content & images may not be taken without the written & signed consent of Nishi Rajan.
Nishi is an Indian American who is working as an attorney in New York City. She is also a writer and singer/songwriter who dreams of bringing her songs to the world and moving people with her music. Nishi is passionate about foreign policy, international affairs and international human rights.
When she's not busy pursuing music, world peace, or working, you can find her gazing up at the stars or attending archaeological lectures (she's an astronomy and archaeology buff) and when all else fails, she relaxes with Japanese anime and manga. An avid shoujo anime/manga fan, she's a web designer who's designed over 20 domains. Her websites are listed below.
This journal has existed since 2000. It is a place for Nishi to vent, to share, and to catch up with friends. All readers are welcome to read this blog; however, Nishi is not responsible for minors or anyone else who reads this journal and gets offended by the writings and opinions here. If you don't like what you read, then leave.
Name: Nishi
Where: New York
Faith: Christian
Sign: Aquarius
CH-S: Fire Dragon
AIM: SelenityHime
ICQ: 21380169
MySpace: Nishi's MySpace
FaceBook: Nishi's Facebook
Email: be83398
The Story Thus Far . . .
Currently, I am working full-time as an Attorney in midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, writing several fantasy and children's stories, and pursuing a music career. In October 2007, I became engaged to my love of almost 7 years and am getting married this May 2008.
Jogging, Martial Arts Kickboxing, Dance - currently middle eastern dance & bellydance, Tennis, Singing (of course ;) and working on my songs, Reading & writing about all the things I am interested and passionate about, watching tv and movies, painting, drawing, astronomy, rollerblading (and trying to get better at it and ice skating!), obsessive anime and manga fan and professional web designing, ancient studies / ancient civilizations, history and archaeology, world mythology, politics and world affairs, international law, human rights, studying many languages (have studied and continue to study spanish, mandarin chinese, japanese and hindi).
Books / Stories
King Arthur and all things Arthurian, Merlin, light and dark; The Crystal Cave, The Dark is Rising series, most anything to do with magic, vampires, werewolves; anything fantasy and romance-like: EMMA, Jane Eyre, Phantom of the Opera, Count of Monte Cristo, The Cask of Amontillado; almost anything Shakespeare wrote; The Harry Potter series; my childhood stories - Sweet Valley High, Twins, Kids, Babysitters Club, Boxcar Children, Bobbsey Twins, RAMONA QUIMBY series; SHERLOCK HOLMES, NANCY DREW; all books dealing with things I love from art, mystery, religion, magic, mythical creatures such as "DA VINCI CODE" and "Interview with the Vampire"
Movies
Emma, Contact, Ever After, Farenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Legally Blonde 2, Princess Diaries, Sweet Home Alabama, Matrix: Reloaded, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Staw Wars: Episode II, TOMBRAIDER I & II
All-time TV Shows
Three's Company, The Nanny, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, FRIENDS, Relic Hunter, Buffy, Xena, Clarissa Explains it All, OUT OF THIS WORLD, Wings, Mad About You, Simpsons, Married with Children, Carol Burnette Show, Anamorphs, Punky Brewster, Smurfs, Rainbow Brite, and the list could go on forever ;)
Musicals
Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, WICKED
Favorite Drinks
In the summer: starbucks' iced caramel macchaito - decaf and nonfat; lychee, boba/bubble tea/pearl milk tea; thai iced tea; lipton lemon and raspberry iced tea
In the winter: hot chocolate and starbucks' white chocolate mocha non-fat
Fave Alcoholic Drinks
Margaritas, amaretto sours, singapore slings, rum & coke and white wine - pinot
Music to relax to:
The slow version of the sailormoon theme song, the theme for Phantom of the Opera, the theme by Mono from Great Expectations and theme from Romeo and Juliet....so many more.....I can't live w/o music.....
A Fan Of:
I'm more a Democrat so I'm a fan of Bill & Hillary Clinton, Madeline Albright, Margaret Thatcher, Lee Iaccoca
Movie Actresses
Drew Barrymore
Kirsten Dunst
Kate Hudson
Nicole Kidman
Demi Moore
Gwyneth Paltrow
Julia Roberts
Reese Witherspoon
Renee Zellweger
Movie Actors
George Clooney
Johnny Depp
Matthew Goode
Tom Hanks
Ashton Kutcher
Brad Pitt
Keanu Reeves
Adam Sandler
Robin Williams
Magazines etc.:
Vogue
Cosmopolitan
Jane
Shape
Fitness
Allure
Elle
Marie Claire
Archaeology
Mysteries
Foreign Affairs Journals
The Economist
Discover
Astronomy
Sky & Telescope
National Geographic
New York Times
Commondreams.org
In Style
US Weekly
PEOPLE
Reminders:
Salons in NY to try:
Buff Spa at Bergdorf Goodman: 754 5th Ave $$$
Tiffany Nails: 903 Madison $$
Soho Sanctuary: 119 Mercer $$
Maximus Spa - Massage: 15 Mercer $$
Just Calm Down: 32 W. 22nd $$ - get grape gatsby with Essie Bordeaux polish
Ajune Spa: 1294 Third Ave $$
Frederic Fekkai: 15 E. 57th - Mandarin Supreme Pedicure $$
a "princessy" night
Sunday, December 30, 2007
08:32 p.m.
mmmm my body is sore from my workouts. Both yesterday and today I jogged 5 miles outside and then did a bunch of strengthening and toning exercises all-over and lord-almighty do my muscles feel it! But it's good! Already after 1 week of consistent exercise, I feel my body bouncing right back into shape. I'll fit into my gorgeous wedding dress perfectly in May if I keep this up! :)
I loveShape.com. I've been a subscriber to the magazine for many years but rarely use the website and after reading the latest issue, decided to use Shape's Online Food Journal Tracker and it is fantastic! It had everything I ate for the day and helps you total up your caloric intakes at breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. and breaks it down by fats, proteins and carbs. I learned that I eat very well at breakfast but have way too many carbs at lunch (70%) and put waaayyyyy too much sugar in my coffee. The spoons we use are almost equivalent in size to a tablespoon!
I've been having fun this evening on VeraWangPrincess.com - it's a guilty pleasure for those of us who love perfume, clothes and accessories. On the website, you can find what kind of a "Princess" you are, create your own "castle", "crest" and "credo." It's purely for fun. I'm a 'Park Avenue Princess' ;) It also gives credit to who we are inside by highlighting our love of music or poetry or the pursuit of the more meaningful things in life. Here's what my castle & crest look like:
Had a cup of caramel-kiss coffee earlier and am relaxing now with magazines. I should spend time writing tonight but honestly, I just want to do nothing but read magazines and relax....tomorrow is New Year's Eve and I have a half-day of work (get out at 1 p.m.) and I'm not looking fwd to getting up early to go to work - want nothing more than to have tomorrow off and enjoy it and New Year's Day and go into work on January 2nd feeling refreshed and energized for the new year! Oh well - which is why I'm doing nothing but relaxing tonight! :)
I'm worried that my ear is not getting better. I came down with an ear infection in early November and I had about 3 weeks of treatment with antibiotic pills and eardrops. I thought I got better but then in mid-December while out with Ricky, my ear started acting up again and I went to see the doctor again last weekend and started a new round of the antibiotics and eardrops - but my ear still feels like it's not getting better. I'm not scheduled to see my eardoctor again until January 8th. I'll see how I feel in the morning and if my ear still feels like it's bothering me, I'm going to make another emergency appointment. You should never mess with your health - at the first sign something is wrong, go get a medical opinion and treatment and get additional opinions if you deem it appropriate. Regular medical checkups are part of taking care of yourself well.
Speaking of taking care of yourself well, I've now been using DDF Mesojection Cell Therapy Serum and the RELASTIN regularly and have noticed a HUGE difference in my skin ---> it is WAY more softer and more elastic and firmer! The DDF Mesojection serum is a light fluid which contains a peptide complex that's supposed to penetrate the layers of your skin and protect against free-radical damage - it contains anti-oxidants to promote skin-cell protection and is supposed to plump up and firm your skin. RELASTIN is supposed to create better elasticity and promote collagen growth. I think both products are working very well together. Relastin Eye Silk (which I do not own) was voted #1 by Allure magazine's Best of Beauty issue which is why I asked my sisters to get me the moisturizer as a christmas gift - it costs $69 but I feel it's well worth it!
I also recommend using CLINIQUE's City Block Sheer SPF 15 facial moisturizer during the day. It is VERY sheer and light and is designed in such a way that it absorbs excess oil and prevents perspiration. I have combination-skin (where skin is dry on the cheeks but oily on the forehead/nose/chin) and this is the 1st sunscreen product that truly does not make my skin oily nor does it feel like I have "stuff" on my face. I also use DDF's Protective Eye Cream Plus CoQ-10 with SPF 15 over the DDF mesojection and before applying the Clinique - your eye area is delicate and requires good treatment designed specifically for the eye area.
Anywayz, I've been online surfing and writing now for over an hour and a half. Time to read and relax for the next few hours before turning in for bed. *HUGS* to all! I responded to messages in the entries below.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
11:48 a.m.
Happy Saturday everyone! I responded to messages in the entry below so check there if you don't see a response here. It's almost like a spring day here in late December! It's nearly 50 degrees and the sun is shining and I'm going to go jogging in an hour or so. I want to spend today writing and studying astronomy - going to get on Slooh this evening.
Check out this awesome video from the Discovery Channel on the Mars Rover, Spirit's, journey through Mars. It is amazing how long this little machine rover has lasted when it was built to ensure simply 90 days. I wonder if someone has built a little model of Spirit or Opportunity - I would love to own a copy. If you can't watch the video or want to learn more, visit Discovery Channel's Mars 2008: A Red Planet Odyssey and scroll down to the bottom.
My fam's going to a malayalee christmas show program today and I have no desire to waste valuable hours attending an event I'll find boring when I'd rather be out in nature jogging, hiking and exploring and coming back to write, write, write and then explore the universe on Slooh. No siree bob! Much better to stay home today and enjoy my Saturday off! :)
For those of you interested in the universe and space exploration as I am, check out Nasa.gov which has the latest videos and informations on everything space-related.
Now before I go, a while back I had written about Benazir Bhutto - the former prime minister of Pakistan. By now, I'm sure many of you have seen or read in the news of her assassination. I've been reading some really amazing write-ups on her life - how she attended Harvard at 16 and then went on to study at Oxford in England. The purported 'corruption' charges against her and her husband were later over-turned but the stigma from that has lingered for years to where many of us believed that they had never been over-turned. Check out this well-written Benazir Bhutto Biography @ Achievement.org. Her death is a tragic end to the hope of democracy for Pakistan.
Kayla oooh yes please! I'd love to see the pictures! Do you have any pics of the Donald Trump ones?
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
11:11 p.m.
Merry (belated) Christmas everyone! I spent Christmas morning up at 5 a.m. getting ready in a churidhar for church and somehow avoided snoozing throughout the entire service which was only over waayyyy after the promised 8/9am (more like a quarter to 10 a.m. thank you very much!) and spent the rest of the day taking pictures with the fam and heading upstate to my uncles' homes. We had fun with all my cousins and with the church show that my relatives' church upstate put together. Saw friends there I hadn't seen or spoken to in years but it's always fun catching up. There are people you know whom you never really get to speak with but when you do, it's like barely any time passed at all! :)
Azure Kaze congrats on making it through your 1st semester in college!! :) I, too, was an English major (Literature and Rhetoric) and loved every minute of it - there's nothing like spending your studying time immersed in books by the great authors of the past and present. My favorite classes, though, were the ones I got to write creatively in. When do you get your grades back? And yes, I got many of the items on my anime/manga wishlist - I updated my anime sites back in 2005 before my computer crashed in 2006 so everything you see there is from back in 2004. But yes, I got a lot of the things shown there. I should really try re-updating it again because this Christmas I got a TON of emails related to the items I owned on there. I bought a gingerbread house for Ricky's parents (my soon-to-be in-laws) as their Christmas present which is what you saw below - I'm going to get one for myself and my family next year though definitely! As for the online journal, thank you :) I have been doing this journal since 2000/2001 and I design all my own layouts and Pitas allows you to completely customize and make your journal your own anyway you want to with no limitations. Pitas, however, no longer accepts new members - it has DiaryLand.com as its partner and I HIGHLY recommend that site because, like pitas, you can customize its html and design your own journal format. Good luck! :)
Sean here's to C's! :) *HUGS* how is your Christmas going? I hope you had a FANTASTIC holiday!!!! :)
Marcia *HUGS* 3 weeks - just think - it's only 3 weeks right? :) Rick leaves right after my birthday in February to head to London and Africa and won't be back until early May. I'm going to write to you a lot asking how YOU held up so well for so long while Sina was away!! :) How was your Christmas? How did you celebrate?
Kayla Merry Christmas sweetie!! I love the idea of your gingerbread house with Donald Trump robbing it LOL!!! :) I want to see pics of your Mark Twain one - did you take pics? And aren't you supposed to have FUN on your winter-break? Seriously, my friends at work and I grouse about the fact that we no longer have anything akin to a winter break since all we do is work now - enjoy it while you have it, I say!! :)
it's past 11pm now and I had a long day at work - my ear is still hurting from my ear infection - time to put the drops in my ear and go to bed. *HUGS* to all and have a wonderful night. To those who actually are having a winter break? You lucky SOBs! :P :) Enjoy!!!! :D
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Christmas Eve
Monday, December 24, 2007
09:51 p.m.
My family and I just finished opening all our presents! I got a Borders gift card, a super-soft very pale-white-gray plush winter robe, a GingerBread House kit, caramel kiss coffee, the 2 new Rose is Rose collection books that came out this year, and a jar of Relastin facial moisturizer which is supposed to make your skin look amazing no matter how much you wrinkle, pucker and tug at your skin ;) My dad and mom gave me $200 to spend how I like and I am putting it towards my credit card debt from this season!
My parents received Ricky's beautiful gift from RedEnvelope.com - these gorgeous gold-plated set of 4 candles that combine to form a stunning centerpiece - they came with 4 dripless, smokeless candles.
Ricky's parents received my gift to them - a custom gingerbread house made from Solvang Bakery in California. I highly recommend them to purchase your gingerbread houses next year (they do wedding cakes too!) - Rick took pictures of them, shown below:
It's after 10pm and I've gotta get my sari ready for church tomorrow morning - we're getting up at 4:30 a.m. - services begin at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow early morning but I don't think we're leaving the house until 5:30 a.m. Ugh. What's the use in having our own church if they're going to still hold services at ridiculous hours. Makes no sense to have our own church and not have Christmas morning service at 10 a.m. like normal people. Sheesh.
Good thing I've got the caramel kiss coffee - gonna need that tomorrow morning!
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Tis the 1st Day of Winter!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
12:58 p.m.
Get out the Yule Logs! Last night at 1:08 a.m., the first day of winter officially began! The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year.
Solstice means "standing still sun" and has historically been a day for celebration. According to KidzWorld.com, "the tradition started with an ancient fear that the fading light would never return unless humans kept watch and had a huge celebration. Tons of cultures and societies have solstice celebrations."
"In ancient Rome, huge feasts were held and houses and halls were decorated with boughs of evergreen trees. In pagan Scandinavia, yule logs were burned because they believed the log could magically make the sun brighter. Europe and many other places still burn the Yule log, but it is now just a symbolic gesture. Scandinavians also listened to minstrel poets sing about ancient legends."
"For Celtic Druids, mistletoe was sacred and Druid priests used a golden sickle to cut it from the tree it was growing on and handed it out to the people, calling it All-Heal. The people hung it in a doorway or a room to offer goodwill to visitors."
I like the tradition of the Yule Log and I think one day I'm going to start having Yule parties to mark the beginning of the winter season! In olden times, according to this French cultural holiday site, "on Christmas Eve, an enormous log of freshly cut wood called the Yule log would be fetched and carried to the house with great ceremony. On Christmas Eve, the master of the house would place it on the hearth, make libations by sprinkling the trunk with oil, salt and mulled wine and say suitable prayers. It was said that the cinders of this log could protect the house from lightning and the malevolent powers of the devil."
The ceremony of the Yule log disappeared when people stopped having hearth fireplaces and replaced them with cast-iron stoves. "The great log was thus replaced by a smaller one, often embellished with candles and greenery, placed in the center of the table as a Christmas decoration." Today, you'll see the Yule log as a delicious cake pastry at the dinner table "smothered in coffee or chocolate-flavored icing and decorated with sugared holly leaves and roses." Read more about it here or here.
There's still snow on the ground from last weekend's snowstorm, the lake is semi-frozen, and after my appointment with the ear doctor this morning, while filling my prescription for antibiotics, it snow-showered for 10 minutes outside of CVS Pharmacy! :) I just looked up into the sky and smiled - it felt magical! :) It's cold though! Went to Starbucks and got an extra-hot, no-foam soy latte!
Mili came home a couple hours ago bearing so many gifts it was like she was Santa Claus this year! She and Mek and Papa are out shopping for Papa's christmas present now while mum and I are home. We're waiting for Nithi to arrive and I'm settling in for an afternoon of writing. Got my mug of hot chocolate in front of me and ready to spin a winter christmas tale as a side-story to the main fantasy faerie series I am writing.
I love the winter feel - not the cold mind you - but the fun feel of winter - of getting bundled up all warm, with mugs of hot chocolate and marshamllows, sitting in front of a warm fire under a blanket with your loved ones and watching the snow fall, or watching tv or reading a good book.
Tomorrow, I am going to bake cookies and cupcakes all day to take for my friends and colleagues at work on Monday. We have to work on Monday but only for a 1/2 day - we get out at 1 p.m.! :) And the whole morning at work we're having a special holiday brunch - so it's not like we're going to get any work done anyway! :D
I am going to settle in now and write. *HUGS* to all!
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
The Fountain - SPOILERS
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
11:57 p.m.
I watched Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain tonight - a movie I avoided watching for almost a year because of the knowledge that the movie was so heartwrenching that I would be depressed after it - and quite the opposite happened - I was moved in a very deep and spiritual way and loved it. It was so very beautiful and worth every minute.
**SPOILERS - DO NO READ BELOW UNLESS YOU WANT AN EXPLANATION OF THE FOUNTAIN**
The Fountain is a love story and a story of coming to terms with mortality and death. In the beginning, we are introduced to a man who is avoiding the reality of death, who wants to find only the cure. His name is Tom and his wife, Izzie, is dying of cancer. She, however, has come to terms with death and sees it as a way for creation to begin again. She tries to teach her husband this by writing a story called 'The Fountain' in which her husband is portrayed as a conquistador named Tomas and her character is Queen Isabel of Spain. The Conquistador searches for the Tree of Eternal Life to save the Queen and finally discovers its existance in a Mayan temple. However, before he can get there, he is fatally stabbed by the Mayan temple priest who is about to deliver the final blow.
Before we can see how the Conquistador dies, Tom's character screams no and we wind up some time far into the future (presumably 500 years later) and Tom is now a non-aging man who has the Tree of Life with him on his journey to a nebulae wrapped around a dead star which is to explode soon and give re-birth to life. We learn here, from flashbacks to Tom's actual life in 2006, that Izzie left the story unfinished at the point where the Mayan man was about to deliver the final blow, in order to have Tom finish the story. Her last wish was for him to 'finish it.'
As we witness how her death happened, how Tom kept trying to focus on finding a cure instead of spending time with his wife and enjoying her in the here and now, we see Tom slowly learn that what really mattered was living life now, and not trying to focus on prolonging it.
At the moment he learns that and gives up his quest for immortality and finding a cure to 'save her', he appears back in the conquistador story world and 'finishes' the story - he writes that the Mayan temple man doesn't deliver the blow because he recognized Tomas the the "first father" who sacrificed his life so the Tree of Eternal Life could grow and create all of life, and the Temple Mayan offers his own life to Tomas. Tomas then discovers the beautiful tree, cuts its sap and heals his stomach wound and then drinks of the tree. But Tom of the future does not give Tomas a happy ending. He writes that Tomas' desire for immortality, kills him - he winds up turning his conquistador character into flowers - which is what Izzie, in the real world, had said the 'first father of mayan mythology' did.
Tom of the future - who is real and is the science-fiction aspect of the movie - was also trying to save 'the tree' which may have been a form of his wife or may be 'the tree' in Guatemala which was able to cure age that he was eating to stay alive, but it, too, wound up dying close to the journey's end. It is then, after it dies, and after he is taken through the full spiel of his life and loss, that he finally accepts the death is good (according to the movie's belief) and that, upon acceptance, he is free.
He is then killed in the exploding star and his life is returned back to a key pivotal choice point - follow his wife to enjoy the 1st snow or try to find a cure - this time, he chooses to enjoy the 1st snow with his wife. The ring, which he had lost in his actual original 1st life, when he decided to pursue the cure instead of wife, is symbolic of his loss of what was truly important. When his wife dies the 2nd time, and he stands at her grave at the end, his finger has the ring. This shows that he was given the chance to re-do his time with his wife.
His "planting" of a tree seed at his wife's grave (which the wife gives to him) is fulfillment of her wish to have her death be another form of creation. He looks to the nebulae in the heavens where the souls return knowing that his wife is there and that, he, too, will be there with her one day.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
R leaves this morning in the snowy, sleety, freezing rain
Sunday, December 16, 2007
05:38 a.m.
I just saw Ricky off at the front door. He got into the cab in the sleeting, freezing rain, his shoes sliding in the snow and his dark gray wool coat instantly covered with a layer of white. My house sounds like it's being pelted by a million rocks at 100 m.p.h. In the light of the driveway flood lights, the weather looked so very scary. At least another inch or two was on the ground from all this sleet and hail.......I didn't want Ricky to go this morning to JFK - back to Los Angeles. He didn't want to go either. :(
I watched until he and the cab safely drove away down the road until I couldn't see them anymore, and then closed the garage door. My folks are still sleeping soundly, I have the local news on, and am waiting for a phone call from Rick once he gets to the highway. It is 24 degrees.
We spent the day in the city yesterday. Mummy made Upa Mav for breakfast and Rick and I sat with mummy and papa at the breakfast table talking about our night seeing 'Gone Missing' at the Barrow Street Theater. After breakfast, papa drove us to the train station to Grand Central. Sipping Starbucks seasonal Peppermint Mocha (tall with soy, no-foam and no whip, of course! ;)), I took Rick to the Museum of Natural History over on the west side where we spent a wonderful 1 and a 1/2 hours exploring the Mythic Creatures: Dragons and Unicorns exhibit....I took tons of notes on the history of various mythic creatures and the very old books which had age-old accounts of such - I want to buy copies of these books for my library. I've always loved Unicorns & Dragons, mermaids, gryphons & phoenix - my Chinese sign is apparently the Fire Dragon and I definitely do have its characteristics - my current library is stocked full of books on mythical creatures and fictional stories about them.....their world is the one I love to get lost in and write about.
As I read about lake dragons and mermaids, story ideas were swimming around in my head about the current fantasy series I am writing. I loved it all so much! I'm going to spend the rest of this wintry Sunday writing all day....
After the Mythic Creatures exhibit, we headed to the halls near the Ocean of Life where I loved seeing the colossal-size dioramas and reading about the animals furrowing into the ground for the winter, and how the seeds come up in the spring with the arrival of moisture and warm weather. Interesting was the fact that flowers in their buds are fully formed in the summer/early fall and lie dormant until the next spring.
Just called and spoke to Ricky who said the weather's bad so they're going very slow on the roads. It's been nearly a half hour and the freezing rain and sleet are both still falling very, very heavily.
After the museum, Rick and I went to CAFE FRIDA over on Columbus Avenue and 77th Street where we had *fantastic* food, *fantastic* service, and a simply wonderful dining experience. I highly recommend eating at Cafe Frida - for appetizers, try the 'Sopa Azteca' which is a tomato soup served with a plate of accompaniments on the side you can choose to add into the bowl (add the avacado & the chile ancho chips) or try the chicken soup which Ricky had and I tasted and equally loved!!! For salads - try the JALAPENA (leafy mixed green salad with hot cooked tuna lightly covered in roasted sesame seeds) and for entrees, try the SALMON dish or the taco dish. And for dessert - you MUST try the CREPES DE CAJETA: milk rum caramel crepes with walnuts and mexican vanilla ice cream. OH MY GOD was that good. Oh and Rick and I had a litre of red sangria as well.
I cannot rave ENOUGH about how EXCELLENT Cafe Frida was. I will go there often with friends. Oh, and the service? Very attentive, not at all pushy, very subtle and just right - and this was a busy hopping place. Absolutely loved it!
After dinner, we headed down to Times Square where we caught the 6:15 showing of the GOLDEN COMPASS. Ugh. I was so disappointed by the Golden Compass. I had expected a wonderfully executed movie but it lacked that feeling of cohesiveness - that feeling of correctly putting a movie based on a book together like the Harry Potter movies did so well. I've never read the books but I could tell right away that the movie had tried to throw everything in the books into the movie at such a pace that it lacked proper development. The story is beautiful - with wonderful magical elements - parts of which remain in my psyche this morning and which I mull over wanting to know more, but at the end, it fails to be fulfilling. The acting of Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue and Daniel Craig - EXCEPTIONAL - they are just so wonderful to watch acting - so very, very talented. Nicole Kidman is just a goddess. At the end of the movie - I said out loud to Ricky 'That's it? THAT is what I was looking so forward to seeing?' Now mind you, I am a child at heart who watches things like AQUAMARINE in the theater - I love everything fantasy and this....I was so sadly disappointed because the movie was not fulfilling.....I think I'll go get the Golden Compass and read it.....
it's now been an hour almost since I began writing, the entry stamp says 5:38 a.m. but it's now 6:25....6:26....the hail is still falling.....
Rick and I walked around Times Square afterwards and went to the M&M Store where we munched on some M&Ms from 2 of the dispensers and checked out all the cool toys. I thought I would get in trouble for so brazenly taking candy and eating it but I've seen so many other customers do it, I thought it might be ok! :) The 2nd time I did it however, one of the store workers asked me if I needed any help finding anything and I got so scared!! Imagine *me* getting possibly in trouble at M&M's in Times Square for eating the M&Ms!! :) I told Ricky then 'nuh uh, no more!' and after happily browsing some more, walked to 30 Rock (at Rockefeller Center) so we could take pictures of Rick where he worked this past week.
my digital camera sucks at taking good pictures of many things at night. I bought it to take pictures of NYC for the NYC book I am writing and while it's fine during the day, I feel I, overall, wasted my money buying the pretty thing. It's an EPSON stylus, pretty in pink, with image stabilization and huge zoom ability but it's a pain to operate between its modes, takes too many blurry/fuzzy pictures, has too much of a delay and its flash was too strong tonight....I should've bought a really good Nikon or Canon even if they were more expensive - a good camera is worth the investment.
It started snowing lightly while we were at Rockefeller Center and this group of tourists started singing 'Let It Snow' :) Was fun :) Rick and I stayed around before we got too cold and tried to take the underground Northern Passage to Grand Central which was closed - we wound up walking under there a long time and finding an empty aisle of shoe-shine seats which Ricky sat on and I took pictures of him in. We found our way back out (we temporarily thought we were lost/stuck under there cause all the gates and re-entry into GCT were locked, but made it out again and walked in the light snow and very cold wind back to GCT. I took Rick through the outdoor corridors of the Helmsley Building. We tried to explore the Campbell Apartment and wound up seeing only the coat room ;) LOL! :) But I enjoyed it!
Went to bed at 1 a.m. hugging Ricky good night and wished he didn't have to go....and got up at 4:45 a.m. We checked all the flight trackers on line including IFly.com <-- great site, made sure our cab was coming....
Rick just called me from JFK airport, he got there fine but he saw some nasty accidents along the way - he saw one car slide of the road and people stopped to help the car....he says it's only heavy rain at JFK which is good - guess we're just getting the snowy sleet because we're more upstate in Westchester....
I am going to put on some coffee and wash my face and change into some warm winter clothing and have some breakfast. I wonder if my newspaper was delivered this morning....this is a great day to spend writing, lost in my fantasy world :)
*HUGS* to all, especially Sarah Beth, Hana, Marcia, Millie, Azure Kaze, Miyu-chan, Caroline, Sean, Memory and Lady
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
12:56 a.m.
Just got home - it's almost 1 a.m. in the morning and I'm soooooooo tired but I had the nicest time tonight! Was out late in the city with Ricky tonight - after work, he and I headed down to the village to catch this show being produced at the Barrow Street Theatre. We saw GONE MISSING and it was awesome!!!
The show is part musical, part comedy, part serious satire and filled with monologues. Unfortunately, Rick and I had left late and missed the first 10 minutes of the show so we were a bit disoriented trying to catch up with the show, and we were jarred by the constant switching back and forth between the actors telling stories of things gone missing, but then about 1/3 of the way into it, things started clicking and it started becoming a very fantastic show.
Gone Missing is the story of things "gone missing", from your cell phone, to your shoe, to your ring, to your sanity, your ability to speak, to Atlantis and, at first - you wonder how can a show about things gone missing be anything worth seeing? But trust me, this show has a beautiful point - a philosophical bent and message that becomes clear as you progress through the show to the end.
Beautifully produced with some gorgeous song numbers. Again, the beginning seemed very strange to me but it's well worth sitting through to be impressed by the talent of the Civilians (the theatre troupe who perform in it) and the shows material. I was most impressed by the voice of Robbie Collier Sublett - watch for his number 'Lost Horizon' - probably my favorite song of the show.
After the show, which Ricky LOVED (I am sooo happy he loved it), it was cold and windy and we didn't want to walk around, so we stopped first at Sushi Samba which was crowded and beyond capacity and then went next door to Pennyfeathers Cafe - a traditional American fare restaurant, and then despite it being 10 p.m., Rick wanted very much to go for dessert somewhere and found this AMAZING place called ChikaLicious Puddin’ over on East 10th Street and 2nd Avenue.
Now mind you, I am wearing pretty 3" wedge heel black boots and did not plan on walking from Greenwich Village (which is in the West Village) all the way to the EAST Village! But Ricky - who is realllly loving the city now - wanted to, and if he was loving the city, I wasn't about to say no, so I said 'ok, this can be an adventure' and grabbed his hand and we walked the whole entire number of avenues and streets all the way east and found this place and let me tell you - IT WAS WORTH IT!!!! At ChikaLicious Puddin’ Rick and I got the hot chocolate and the Adult Chocolate Pudding the Brioche Bread Puddin' and we were in LOVE with it all! The place managed to combine the different tastes and consistencies of the pudding and cake combinations beautifully and I would walk again all over to the east side for that hot chocolate!!
After that, we headed on over to 1st Avenue and 14th and caught the L-train to Union Square and the #5 back to Grand Central where, after picking up a copy of the Daily News and the Post, we caught our train homem and I promptly fell asleep on Rick's shoulder the whole ride home. Rick is going to massage my feet now because I got a blister from all the walking in those boots. He's a sweetheart! :)
Tomorrow we're going to the Natural Museum of History in the city for the Mythic Creatures Exhibit - that is if I ever wake up on time. It's now 1:34 a.m. as I finish writing this entry. I'm going to bed now. *BIG HUGS* to all!
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Thursday, December 13, 2007
05:45 p.m.
it's snowing, it's snowing! :) Actually, now it's sleeting! :) Ricky and I are in my room working on our computers while mummy and papa are downstairs watching AsiaNet's malayalam programming. Work let us our early today due to the weather at 3:30 and I rushed on over to meet Ricky at Grand Central to catch our train back upstate.
Ricky arrived on Saturday early morning to a house full of my family - a house which was also full of mummy and papa's purchases from India. Mum and pop returned from their 3 week vacation in India last Friday and they brought back with them ALL my wedding things - the jewelry (it is GORGEOUS) and my wedding sari (royal purple with diamante diamonds all over) and the wedding cups and a special lighter. My mom got perfect jewelry to match my white wedding dress too! I change into the sari only after we cut the cake at the end of the wedding :)
Went out to breakfast with Rick and Mekha Saturday morning (it was SOOO freezing cold), read the paper and enjoyed egg-white omelettes, and spent the rest of the day with the fam - we took Mekha out Saturday night to a great restaurant nearby in Larchmont called the Globe Bar & Grill - we got all dressed up and ordered wine and awesome food - I realllllly liked the restaurant a LOT! The next day, Rick and I went walking all over the lakes and woods by my home (about 2.5 miles walk) and enjoyed trying to break the very thinly frozen lake by throwing small rocks at its surface. Watched videos of my cousin Jaymon's wedding in India too - so happy for him and his marriage.
Monday, Rick worked from home while I went to work and prepared to chair my first meeting of the Lawyer's Committee of ECPAT-USA - the meeting was held at the office of WHITE & CASE - a gorgeous international law firm over on 6th Avenue and 45th Street and we had people teleconferencing in from San Francisco and Washington D.C. - I had made a detailed 3-page Agenda and we moved well through it - the firm served us wonderful food - they even have their own brand of bottled water! I need to sit down this weekend and draw up the final issues. Was a great meeting and I learned a lot and really feel we'll help to make a difference as a group of lawyers.
After the meeting, I rushed home and my sweetheart Ricky had waited to have dinner with me - mummy, who was still jet lagged hadn't cooked a lot, and told me Ricky had said he would wait for me to come home until he ate and waited all that time (until 10:30 p.m.) for me to come home! :) He's so cute :)
Tuesday, Rick and I commuted in to work together!! :) This was the NICEST thing!! I always sees husbands and wives or gfs/bfs on the train and when they get to grand central, they kiss each other sweetly and wish each other a great day and say they'll see each other in the evening. Well on Tuesday (and yesterday and today too!) that was MEEEE cause MY BABY was finally here in NY with me and working with me! Rick was flown in to NY to work on a project up at Rockefeller Center just for this week (he goes back to Los Angeles Sunday - weather permitting because of predicted snow). As most readers know who read this blog, I love, love, LOVE Rockefeller Center - the rink, the tree, the Today Show, the crowds, Kinkokuniya and my favorite japanese dessert (wagashi) place, Minamoto Kitchoan, are all there!
Rick and I stood for a while watching skaters rehearse on the ice before he had to go inside (he had to be ready to work at 8:30 a.m.) and I had to be at work by 9 a.m. so I headed on my way too. That evening, Rick arrived back late after meeting with 2 of his good old friends from L.A. who now live in NYC - they had eaten at a wonderful restaurant I want to try called FRIDA's CAFE over on 77th & Columbus (south american cuisine). He came home to happy and relaxed :)
Wednesday (yesterday), I had found this awesome restaurant called the SCARLATTO on 47th Street between 8th and 9th while walking back from Rockefeller to work and when Rick text messaged at noon that he wanted to go out for dinner, I made reservations there but then, when I researched it online, I read very recent reviews which said that the food was good but the service terrible and got disheartened and decided to go up there during lunch and check it out. Well, when I got there, I thought it was great but the fact that it had gotten bad service reviewed nagged away at me and I had stepped into another restuarant next door called TRATTORIA TRECOLORI. The guy inside (when I asked him if they had a prix fix for pre/post-theater) was pushy and salesmans-like and said no but that the food was fabulous and made the place sound great, so when I went back, I reviewed both restaurant's menus and decided to go with TRECOLORI - BAD DECISION on my part. I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO SCARLATTO!!!!!
When we went for dinner at TRECOLORI, we found the glasses were dirty, the menu was held together with scotch tape, the bread tasteless, the appetizers were flavorless and overcooked - tough and chewy shrimp and mushrooms (we ordered the 'Classico' and of the items in it, the mussels were the only good thing), and for our entrees, my primavera pasta was good - but I can get a good dish like that at any restaurant - can't go wrong with that - but rick's dish - he had ordered one of the veal or chicken entrees - it was SOOO FLAVORLESS & chewy...ugh....
And - they did the one thing I HATE restaurants in NYC to do - they auto-charged a tip onto our cards. I checked when I got home and was pissed. I believe in tipping well and felt our waiter had done a good job of serving us so I tipped 25%! Yes, I said I tip well, but I was so insulted they auto-tipped us. Never going back there again.
when we walked out, Rick looked at the SCARLATTO and said 'WOW' - he LOVED the way it looked! And I felt crushed - we should've gone there I thought.
So, go to the SCARLATTO everyone - it's on 47th Street between 8th and 9th here in New York City - they have wonderful food, nice decor, and I don't know how the service is, but hopefully it's not as bad as it was a few months ago. I think I'll check out the place next week with a friend and let ya'll know then! :)
Anywayz, today - it SNOWED. Rick and I saw it snowing at 7:18 this morning when we boarded our train into the city. When we walked to Rockefeller together (I drop him off in the mornings this week before walking to work myself), I decided to take pictures of all the holiday windows and my GOD - there's a gigantic crystal start hanging over 5th Avenue by Tiffany's! I took TONS of pictures and will put up everything when I have time this weekend.
Right now, Rick and I are home, safe and sound, and going to have dinner with my folks! :) Mum made delicious pork curry!! :)
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
11:56 p.m.
no time to write because I need to get to bed but I have SOOOOOOOOOO much I want to share. My fiance, R, is here in NY staying with my family and me (here since early Saturday morning from Los Angeles) and we spent a ton of time with the folks and my sisters this weekend celebrating Mek's receipt of her M.A. portion of her PhD. Monday night I held the 1st meeting of the Lawyer's Committee of ECPAT-USA and it was wonderful - at the offices of WHITE & CASE (stunning offices). R's working at Rockefeller Center this week and going back to L.A. Sunday so we're going to enjoy being together in the city and commuting in as much as possible! :)
I have WAAYYY more I'd want to write but I have to be up in 6 hours! Will have to wait 'til tomorrow! *HUGS* to all!
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'Tis the Season to help the Needy
Thursday, December 6, 2007
09:39 p.m.
For those of you who live near New York City, the city is doing it's annual coat drive! At Bryant Park (go to the "Pond"), Grand Central, Penn Station and all NYC Police Precincts you can drop of your gently used coats you no longer wish to keep and help a needy person who could use a coat to stay warm this winter! Check NYCares.org for details on times.
Similarly, Soles4Souls and PiperLime.com are asking you to drop off your gently worn heels, boots, and sneakers here in NYC at (a) Madison Avenue & 39th Street or (b) Grand Central Terminal at Park Avenue from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, December 7th or at the Flatiron Building on 5th Avenue & 23rd Street on Monday, Dec. 10th or Tues. Dec. 11th also from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Piperlime will match every pair that is donated with $1 to the nonprofit Soles4Souls and give *YOU* $15 toward any $75 purchase on their site, piperlime.com! Check out Piperlime.com for details.
Even if you don't live here in NYC, you can mail Soles4Souls your shoes and include (from Piperlime.com, click on their 'pdf' file to download & print) a note that the donation is a Piperlime donation in order to get the $1 match and the $15 towards your purchase.
See? Do something good and you'll get a little back - as if the feeling of doing something good wasn't enough! :)
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Wednesday, December 5, 2007
11:50 p.m.
Wrote a new song Monday night called 'Like An Angel' - the melody came to me first a few weeks ago when my parents left to go to India for 3 weeks for vacation. The Sunday night after they left, and after my sisters had returned home to their apartments, and I was all alone, I started crying and, as always, I sing when I feel sad, and this melody came to me. So beautiful, so haunting and so, very painfully sad - it took me like 10 tries before I could record the song on my mp3 recorder so I wouldn't forget the melody or the first words that came to my mind to accompany it (Like An Angel). This is going to sound so morbid, but it would be the song I sing for my parents (many, MANY years from now, like 50 years! ;)) after they pass.....
In song, I have always drowned my sorrows and my pain. Singing and composing songs provides an outlet for sad emotions and, in a way, it's very therapeutic and healing. I know one day, I will have to face some of the things I most dread and, at that time, I will lose myself in my music and in my writing. They are my passions, my talents, and the key to the survival of my spirit and my humanity.
I'm the oldest of 4 girls and our family is very, VERY close and tight. I love my parents so deeply, so when they leave for India or Florida, I really miss them, and as they grow older, I worry....worry because at the back of my mind I know that parents start dying in their 70s and 80s and I dread that. I know that when I lose my parents, it will be such an irreparable and inconsolable loss that a part of me will be lost as well - I don't think I'll be the same.
I wish....really wish...that these moments....these precious moments we have with the people we most love and cherish - that they could last forever. That we could always be guaranteed to be back with our loved ones - for many lifetimes to come.....I pray...I wish....I hope.
Ok I'm getting all chocked up and there's no need for any of this right now. The time I have is precious and I'm going to revel in it, and enjoy every second of it that I have with the ones I love. That's really all that matters isn't it? To live and to love, and to not hurt another. So may it be.
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Tuesday, December 4, 2007
07:13 a.m.
it's early this morning...just got out of the shower and need to be ready to leave in 20 minutes....I opened the blinds to the window that views the lake and saw ducks sitting upon the lake. It's 29 degrees out. How're there still ducks swimming in the lake at this time of month? Looks so peaceful out there. It's a very gray cloudy morning....yesterday the wind blew so blustery that I was carried away with it many times while walking around the village during lunch. I explored Bank Street yesterday and the meatpacking portion of Hudson Street.....found Pastis and One Little 12th Street - also found the Christian Loubitin boutique (rich ladies shopping in there alright)!
So peaceful out here right now this morning....makes me want to put on my big coat, boots, gloves, hat & scarf and join the ducks and watch them from one of the rocks....
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Brownies, Bryant Park & Writing
Monday, December 3, 2007
08:38 p.m.
I made fudge brownies for Mili since she came up this weekend and now, I just nuked a couple pieces in the microwave - nothing like hot fudge brownies on a very cold early December night!
I walked back to Grand Central tonight from work and on my way, decided to pass through Bryant Park and just admire the holiday tree and the holiday shops. I wound up spending a good 20 minutes there taking pictures of the tree and the shops and the ice skating rink. It's just so quintessential New York! :) Everyone was out enjoying the skating on the "pond" and so many people were just milling around, taking photos, kissing by the green tables and shopping the cool crafts shops. I love Bryant Park!!! Even better now that Kinokuniya is across the street!
I'd put up the pictures I took but I'm immersed in my writing now and am in my magical world I've created. I get so absorbed in this fictional world I'm writing that I lose track of time. It honestly feels like heaven to write and get so lost in it like this - I haven't felt this way since before my law career and before law school when I used to write regularly in college and high school.
Since then, I only recapture that feeling when I'm immersed in song writing - but song writing is another whole experience separate from fiction writing. Song writing is all about the beauty of the melody, the emotions behind the words and the poetry of those words. In 2 hours I can compose a song and melody that is deeply cathartic and completely satisfying and a joy for me to sing whereas writing fiction takes me days and months and even years to be completely happy with!
Anywayz, I've ventured long enough from my writing world - time to sink back because I really, REALLY, want to write and tell this story I am working on - I really love it. This is the kind of story I would love to READ. Once I've finished it and copyrighted at least the first draft, I'll put it up here so you all can read. Hopefully, if I can finish it by Christmas or the end of the year, I can have it self-published for my birthday to give to friends and loved ones and then attempt to get it really published somewhere.
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Sunday, December 2, 2007
03:42 p.m.
Mili and I woke up this morning to a sky whirling with snow! And we both said 'OH NO!' Because Mekha's Masters Ceremony was today in Connecticut. We turned on the news, which had told us that the snow wouldn't start until afternoon with freezing rain, and lo and behold snow was all over New York and we'd get 1-2" and everything to north 2-3".
We called Mek and told her the bad news. Neither Mil nor I like driving in bad weather and if we have to drive back in snowy, freezing rain down the Merritt Parkway - it's just dangerous - it's 2 lanes and the drivers are always getting into accidents there.
:( I felt so bad. The school had mailed the tickets to us at home so now Nith couldn't go either because we had her ticket. Luckily Bill is up there with Mek and Mek's friends too will be there. :( This is awful! Why did it have to snow TODAY? Or, better yet, why didn't the school have their ceremony SATURDAY?? Why hold things on Sunday when people have to travel back for work the next day. Ugh!
Mek didn't sound sad on the phone but I hate to think that inside she was feeling upset :( She's always there for the rest of us whenever we need her and I wish we could've been there for her today :( We're going to take her out next weekend when everyone comes home.
Mil and I went out for breakfast at the local diner instead this morning, where we had delicious french toast on raisin bread with fresh strawberries and scrambled egg whites with yummy coffee. We read the paper and worked on the jumbles. Then she came back and left to go back to Long Island before the freezing rain hit. I finally finished making my Christmas Wish List for my sisters - they've been begging me since before thanksgiving for the list! :)
The lake behind my house is semi-frozen but ducks are still sitting in its cold waters. Aren't they freezing? My weatherbug desktop thing says it's 27 degrees out. Yeesh!
I still feel so sad about makkie's masters ceremony :( I'm gonna go buy her Christmas presents now.
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Saturday, December 1, 2007
10:47 a.m.
good morning everyone. Happy Saturday! Been a while since I wrote (was under the weather). Feeling much better this morning and have been up early writing, writing, writing. I'm working on the multi-book fantasy faerie kingdom tale I've been writing for months now, based upon the beautiful woods and lakes I live by. It's coming together wonderfully and I would say I'm nearing 50% completion. It is so full of mythology, symbology, and I've had to learn so much about things from animal behaviors to medicines to how a sword is made and decorated. I'm a little surprised myself by how deep and well-thought out this story has become.
It's almost 11 a.m. here but I have not had breakfast yet, and must find time to clean the house and sit down again and write more. My sister Mili is coming up this afternoon and we're going out for dinner tonight. We're both going to our other sisters' apartments in Connecticut because one of them is having her Masters Ceremony at her university (she is obataining her PhD. and has officially earned her Masters). We're going to buy balloons and flowers and all of us will take her out for dinner. Heard it's supposed to snow tomorrow though which worries me - the Meadowbrook Parkway coming back from connecticut is a hard deal to drive.
I'm happy to announce that the new Lawyer's Committee of ECPAT-USA I started now has 25 members! :) We're holding our first meeting in 10 days and I'm happy to see that many of the members have MUCH experience on the issues of trafficking and child victims.
I'm talking with some fellow musicians about putting together a NYC awareness benefit on this issue and donating the money to child organizations here in New York. I'm thinking of asking every musician I know to perform for free that night - I was part of a similar Tsunami Benefit back in 2005 I think and that raised so much awareness and money for the tsunami victims. Here in New York, I think many people are unaware that child victims exist here and that they are being trafficked in illegally and laws are not in place to help protect them and prosecute those who traffic them in and abuse them.
I was so moved the other day by the whole issue that I wrote this song about the pain a child-victim went through. Writing the song made me sob hysterically cause I'm such a child at heart myself and I love children! To imagine the pain these kids have gone through and what hardened and scarred teenagers they have become, it breaks my heart!!
I'm still feeling under the weather a bit so maybe I shouldn't bother cleaning today and just take it easy and rest up some more. I'm going to put on my red sweater. It's a bitter-cold fall 1st day of December out there - 30 degrees and the wind has been scattering the leaves everywhere. I can now see the white mansion again that sits across the other side of the lake behind my house. During the summer months, it's covered by the trees. Sometime, I like to take my binoculars and spy their grounds (it's so beautiful!) :) hahahaha :)
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An absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend
Sunday, November 25, 2007
09:04 p.m.
I have so much to write and catch up this diary on. I'll break it up by days.
My darling R arrived here in NYC on Wednesday morning!! :D I was so happy talking to him on the phone as I walked from Grand Central to work that morning - he was still at JFK waiting to take a cab to my home in Westchester. Usually, I never get to talk to him in the morning walks to work because he's in Los Angeles and with the 3 hour time difference, he's still alseep. So I relished the knowledge that here was my baby right here in the city (cept in Queens at JFK) but at least in New York state!! :D
We got out of work early on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday and I rushed home and found my fiance sleeping in my bed all tucked in. I kissed my prince awake is what I did :) He was so adorable, all sleepy! :) 2 of my sisters had gone shopping and the 3rd arrived home later that night and it was a full noisy house - just like I like it! :)
Thursday morning, we all got up super early at 5 a.m. and headed out to catch the 6:33 a.m. train into the city to see MACY'S Thanksgiving Day Parade!!!! Here are me, R and my 3 sisters:
My family and I were right at 44th Street and so we had a fantastic view of EVERYTHING - from Charlie Brown to the dancers and performers (saw High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale and saw American Idol's Jordin Sparks!) and the balloon-floats were literally RIGHT in front of our faces - so close! Here are a few photos R was able to take:
After the parade was over, and after avoiding being stampeded by the crazy crowd of people, we headed down to 23rd Street where I took R and the girls to Chelsea Square Restaurant for some brunch. We took funny photos while there, especially Nith and me who had to fix her hair and apply make up ;) She's beautiful anyway! :) All my sisters are beautiful!!
Now there is ONE float rom the Thanksgiving Parade we all found hysterical! And it's of this clown-like character I think might be on Nickelodeon? Well, it's left hand was "flipping the bird" i.e. sticking up its middle finger!! Here's the proof:
:) How funny is that!?
After walking around the city for a bit, we all headed back upstate home and napped for a while before getting up and getting ready to head way upstate to Dutchess County for thanksgiving with our uncles, aunts and cousins. This was Rick's first thanksgiving with my relatives on my Mom's side and it was SO MUCH FUN! My uncle George gave him the grand tour of his home and I hung out with my cousins and showed one of my cousins, Kripa, the Dora the Explorer float from the parade that morning on my camera. She loved it! :) We didn't get back home after the turkey and desserts (stuffed mind you) until after 11pm and we all zonked out from having been up since 5 a.m.
Friday I took Rick into the city where we bought almonds from the nut-vendors and walked around enjoying the Christmas windows at Lord & Taylor's. Viewed the Holiday markets at Bryant Park and the ice skating taking place at the annually constructed ice rink 'Pond' at Bryant Park . We then headed down to Waverly Place, had coffee at Joe's the Art of Coffee and went to THREE LIVES BOOK COMPANY over on Waverly Place (quite possibly my new favorite bookstore) and spent time browsing its amazing collection of books (simply ONLY the best) and then showed Rick this pet store on Christopher Street/Stonewall Place that had the CUTEST puppies in its windows!! Rick fell in love with this one dog - a bulldog/New England Terrier mix with this patch of white on its forehead that I named "Star." I didn't have my camera with us that night so we came back the next day (I'll get there).
We saw an AWESOME movie Friday night down by Houston Street at the Landmark Sunshine Theater called INTO THE WILD directed by Sean Penn and based on the true life story of Christopher Johnson McCandless - a young man of 24 who ventured into the Alaskan wilderness to live off the land. The remarkable thing about him was that he was from a well-to-do family from the south, college educated at Emory, mega-smart, but turned off by society and empowered by an overly developed social and moral conscious. He decided to let go of all his earthly trappings and go 'into the wild' and spent years of his life traveling around the U.S. before it culminated in Alaska. His story is SO SO beautiful and even though I cried, it was WORTH seeing. It's one of those movies of a story which u just HAVE to see because it affects you as a human being at your core. If you can see that movie, please GO!!!
After the movie, we went to the famous 'KATZ's DELICATTESSEN' down on Houston as well and the friendly guy behind the counter cut me samples of strips of pastrami after I asked him 'I heard you're famous for your pastrami, what do you recommend?' :) Rick and I ate there - I think close to midnight - and the place still had lots of people. Apparently, its the site where 'Harry Met Sally' and the 'I'll have what she's having' was said ;)
Saturday Rick and I went back into the city to see the Mythic Creatures and Dragon's exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art but when we got there, the shows for the exhibit had sold out. So frustrating but when we walked back outside, Rick said he wanted to walk so we walked from 81st Street all the way to 49th Street to Rockefeller Center. We passed Columbus Circle and Rick swears it looks like Market Street in San Francisco. :) He and I made a deal that he'll live in New York for some time if we can also live in other places like San Fran etc.
We browsed around Banana Republic at Rockefeller Center and I went into Kinokuniya and browsed manga before I treated Rick to wagashi (Japanese Pastries) next door at Minamoto Kitchoan. He LOVED the Gobangai (bean tart) and Kurizutsumi (bean cake) and these jelly pastries called Yuka and something else I forget now. We then headed down back to Waverly Place to find the pet shop again and get pictures of that dog. It turns out the dog costs $3,500 to purchase. Here are pics of R with the dog:
We went out to eat at this Thai place afterwards called Cafetasia on East 8th Street - from the outside, it looks like this gorgeous and hip restaurant. Inside, there're candles everywhere but the tables are small, and the view outside is unimpressive (the interior decor is prettier). The food.....we had mixed results. I loved the Thai Crepes I ordered (dumpling-like appetizers) and loved the brown rice green tea, but the main entrees we ordered left much to be desired in taste. I forget now what R ordered but it was bland and tasteless, and what I ordered: a Jumbo Shrimp thing in some type of grass noodles, well the shrimp still had their tails (which is a pet peeve of mine because I hate having to cut them out) and the whole concoction was brown and slightly oily. It tasted better, though, than R's dish; he wound up eating my entree instead ;) - but it didn't impress my taste buds as a 'wow' dish I had to have. Disappointed we were and don't know if we'd try it again - not when NYC has so many hundreds of other delicious thai places I know of :) I think I might try it again and sample the other dishes - they may have just had an off night - who knows. The place itself, however, is pretty and a great place to meet up with friends or take a date.
We came home afterwards after being unable to catch a local NYC play at the Barrow Street theater (it's next showing was at 11 p.m. and we had no plans to stay that late) and watched my DVD set of ESCAFLOWNE! :) A great anime series I love and which R now likes a lot too :)
Today, Sunday, we headed out for a long drive to New Jersey! Today was the wedding day of my friend Bhumika! We went to this gorgeous wedding hall called Royal Albert's Palace in Fords, New Jersey and the whole wedding was beautiful. Bhumi is Hindu and witnessing the ceremony was absolutely enchanting. Rick and I loved the food and sat with some of my friends from work.
Here are Bhumi and her new husband, Uday:
And Rick and I :) I'm wearing one of my lachas in purple:
We hit a lot of traffic both going down to New Jersey and going back home and it sucked spending 4 hours on the road doing nothing but driving but t'was worth it to see Bhumi's wedding :) We came home and Rick packed to go back to L.A. tonight :( I came back about a half hour ago now from dropping him off at JFK airport and I'm so so so sad. I miss him and my sisters all so much. *sigh*
All I need, to be happy, are my loved ones by my side.
Here are a couple of Rick and I taken on the subway and tonight at the airport garage.
I am now going to spend the rest of the evening watching the recorded eps of Regis & Kelly I had and maybe do some writing as well.
Hope you all had as wonderful a thanksgiving weekend as I did. I only wish it could have lasted longer.
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Calling all Lawyers (and law students, legal researchers and paralegals)
Monday, November 19, 2007
08:32 p.m.
Today I met with Carol Smolenski, the head of ECPAT-USA. ECPAT is an international organization that is fighting to end Child Prostitution, Child Trafficking and Child Pornography. I will be the Chair of the brand new Lawyer's Committee for ECPAT-USA. As an attorney who is passionate about human rights and international law, children's rights (especially) are dear to my heart and I am taking a stand as an attorney to help end the victimization of children.
I am asking lawyers, law students, and anyone familiar with legal research, to join my new Lawyer's Committee of ECPAT-USA and offer your legal research and writing services on a strictly pro bono / volunteer basis.
For those unfamiliar with the issue, children are being illegaly trafficked in to the United States from all over the world and being victimized and exploited sexually. Some of these children are as young as 4 or 5 years of age. Some are older, 12-17 and are being arrested and jailed as ' prostitutes' without being cared for as victims or as children. The crimes against these children are much more horrific and terrible than you can imagine and I cannot write about them here on a public journal, but we all have or know children whom we love - we would never want them to be victims of sexploitation, and certainly not here in the U.S.!
If you care about human rights, children's rights, and saving the lives of children who are being victimized here in the U.S., then please join this new committee. Please spread the word to other lawyers (or anyone who can do perform legal research) that you know and help us to do the legal work necessary to put laws in place that will help prevent child sex-ploitation from taking place and help the victims of this horrible practice now.
Lawyer's Committee of ECPAT-USA - will be hosting meetings in New York, but this will be a national group and I am asking every lawyer and legal researcher all over the U.S. reading this, to join and support our efforts. We will need members from every state to research their states' laws and how their state handle child prostitution.
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Monday, November 19, 2007
07:16 a.m.
oh my god. It's snowing.
I just woke up and showered and came back into my room and opened all the window curtain-blinds.
It's still fall, it's only 35 degrees, all the red-orange leaves are on the trees and on the green grass, and snow is falling.
This is the most beautiful sight I'll behold all day.
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
10:34 p.m.
The Anime & Sushi Potluck Night I hosted at my home tonight was lots of fun! Just 4 members of my group showed up but they're such cool and sweet guys and they cracked me up! :) I have some seriously good new anime series I want to try and watch now like Haibana Renmei and FLCL; not to mention finishing my own copies of Spiral and Escaflowne.
My Rickers surprised me with awesome news: he's coming for Thanksgiving!!!!! :D All last week he had me convinced he wouldn't be able to come because the tickets are horrendously expensive but he pulled it off :D I love my baby :) Now, all my sisters and he and I are going to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the city Thursday morning and then head upstate to my uncles' homes for a huge family Thanksigiving celebration. This is going to be such an awesome Thanksgiving! :D
I hope I can sleep tonight - I drank a ton of hot chocolate while watching anime tonight and I'm not even counting the yummy Dunkin' Donuts Cinnamon Spice coffee Mek and Bill bought me this afternoon or the one I had with Mek when I made her breakfast this morning (my special French Toast with blueberries, blackberries and strawberries) - I believe in healthy breakfasts! ;)
Tomorrow during lunch I'm looking forward to meeting with this amazing woman who runs ECPAT-USA - it's an organization that fights against the illegal sex-trade of child prostitution and sex-trafficking. Protecting the innocence and lives of children and women sold into the sex-trade is something dear to my heart and I'm going to be speaking with her about how I can do pro bono work as an attorney on behalf of their organization.
It's now 11pm and I am going to call my Rickers and head to sleep. *HUGS* to all and good night!
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Saturday, November 17, 2007
10:44 p.m.
evenin' folks :) happy saturday night to all! 2 of my sisters and I are in my room watching 'Lucky You' on dvd (it's boring me so I'm online). We went out to Cosi's tonight for dinner and had super yummy food - Cosi's always has the most delicious food but I hear that the one here at home is better than the ones elsewhere - lucky us! ;) If you're lucky to go to a good Cosi's near you, order their Aurora Meatball sandwich or their 'Signature Salad' (it has cranberries and grapes in it) and their tomato basil soup and their mint mocha coffee and finish it off like my sisters and I did - with Cosi's S'MORES!! :D They serve you an open flame-iron thing that you can cook your marshmallows over and then put on your graham crackers and add Hershey's chocolate to. I love S'Mores! :)
I'm debating whether to go to chinese class tomorrow morning (I've missed so many classes past 2 months) or stay home and write, write, write. It'd be better if I stayed home because I'm hosting a Japanese Anime and Sushi Potluck night tomorrow evening where anime fans bring 1 episode of their favorite anime series on DVD and some type of food (ergo the potluck). I miss my friends from Chinese class though - we always have fun in class and go out to eat in Chinatown afterwards and I haven't seen them since before I got engaged in October. Agh, I'll see how I feel tomorrow morning.
Azure Kaze what does SailorMoon mean to me? Well...yes, I agree, I love the story in all its forms and agree 100% that manga is the best. To answer your question, though, it means to me inspiration in hope and love and belief in the goodness of people deep within and the bonds of love and friendship. Those are things that I believe in deep inside and why SMoon resonated so deeply and honestly within me.
Sean it snowed? WOW! So early!! And I'm going to agree with you about the Staples vs. FedEx Kinko's. I LOVE FedEx Kinko's now! And I could go no more than 2 weeks - I'd run out of clean socks by then.
Sanoj thank you! :) Are you back in TX now? If you're still in NJ, we still need to meet up!!
Kayla I loovveeee Target!! :) I'm going to check out MusicShake.com!! Thank you for recommending it! :) *BIG HUGS* Are you going to be working at TG over Thanksgiving? I can only imagine how hectic it will be!
Marcia how're you going since Sina left for Iran? Has he called/written? *BIG HUGS* to you!!!
Anywayz, it's time for bed soon. Good night and *HUGS* to all!
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
11:33 p.m.
After work today, went to my favorite salon on the east-side and got a haircut - just 1/2 an inch trim to keep my hair healthy and because I'm growing out my hair really, REALLY long for my wedding next year. The best part of the cut though is the blow-out my hairdresser Lora gives - it leaves my hair bouncy and soft and is perfect every time and worth every penny! They say you need a trim every 6 weeks but I'm fine going every 10 weeks because I take good care of my hair. I use Pantene and Sunsilk conditioners and Loreal Vive Pro shampoo and Garnier Fructis 2-in-1 S+C (at night).
After my great cut, caught the 6:20 train home and had dinner with my mom: a big bowl of 'cuppa' with beef curry and hot herbal tea and red seedless grapes for dessert; then, introduced her to Pushing Daisies on ABC. I LOVE that show! :) I so hope Chuck and the Pie Maker will finally get to be TOGETHER! I also loveeee Kristin Chenoweth's character Olive. I had taken my mom and one of my sisters to see The Apple Tree musical last year when Kristin Chenoweth was starring in it on Broadway and my mom adored her too!!! She has such a cute voice and she's short too! :)
Talked to my Rickers during the commercial breaks and then went upstairs to my room to watch Gossip Girl in private - that show is not meant to be watched with your conservative Indian mummy! ;) Can I just say how much I like the character of Serena and I LOVEEEE Dan + Serena!!! I really hope Vanessa doesn't get in the way (it's a little like "The O.C." in that sense). I LOVEEE DAN's character on Gossip Girl!!! How gorgeous is that guy??????
Then . . . drum roll watched PROJECT RUNWAY!!!! :D I sooooooooo thought the girl with the hideous blue destroyed peacock like dress should've gone home but I guess she's redeemable for her choice of color and her attempt to be unique in her innovation. I felt bad for the girl with the boring dress but she deserved to go home too - this is a competition amongst some of the absolute top designers in the country - to be "in" you need to *consistently* design an AMAZING outfit that says 'WOW' - if you can't, "you're out!" All the other designers brought a 'wow' in some way or another - they all deserved to stay. And the winner? He was my FAVE! He's so cute too!
It's late now and I need to head to sleep! Hope everyone is having a fabulous night! Sweet dreams!
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beauty & exercise
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
09:00 p.m.
oooooooooohhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyyyy gaaawwdddddddddddd I'm so gladddddddd to be HOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Both yesterday and today I raced to Grand Central after work and made the 5:14 train home which drops me off at 5:45!! :) If my dad picks me up then, or if I get a cab right away, I'm home by 6 and on the treadmill by 6:15. Feels so good to be working out intensely again. I do 60-minute incline workouts on the treadmill and then do 30 minutes of muscle toning/strengthening and stretching. And all while watching the evening news and then E! News and the Daily 10! :) Gotta love E! :)
Just finished a big dinner of rice with beef curry and squash curry (so yummy) and am drinking raspberry tea and having my dessert of an organic red apple. I feel very healthy right now. Not to mention relaxed after a good warm shower.
I've been using these new beauty products I bought at Sephora earlier this month and so far, so good! (I LOVE Sephora!) They definitely make my skin feel protected from the day's sun and pollution and I feel like they're effective at night as well but I've yet to see a dramatic difference in my skin. Takes 8 weeks I believe and I'm on week 2 I think.
I'm using DDF's Mesotherapy Cell Injection Serum which purportedly has a tri-peptide antioxidant complex that's supposed to infuse my skin with antioxidants and help my skin stay firm and beautiful. It definitely feels like its infusing my skin and tightens and brightens it as well. After that's sunk in, I use Vichy Reti-C eye cream to prevent eye wrinkles and Clinique's RepairWear Intensive Night Lotion over the rest of my face and neck.
During the day, I also use DDF's Mesojection but follow it up with DDF's SPF eye cream and Clinique's City Block Sheer SPF 15 lotion (it doesn't make my skin greasy because it's oil-free!) So far, Clinique and DDF make me feel as though I'm doing serious improvements to my skin, but time will tell if my skin actually looks amazing ;)
I'm going to faithfully use these until the products finish and evaluate my skin at the end. I have good skin to begin with (thank you mummy and papa) but I also credit it to years of using products by Nivea (their Q-10 line and anti-wrinkle night cream are awesome) and Oil of Olay (I recommend their Total Effects Intensive Restorative Treatment at night - comes in a black tube) and Neutrogena (I recommend it's Anti-oxidant Age-reverse Night Cream - comes in a red and white tube). I still use these products because I feel they truly work!
However, I'm always looking for the newest most effective product for my money and when I'm finished with these lotions, I really, really, really want to buy Prevage and Relastin Eye Silk - so expensive but I believe in skin care and that better products with proven good customer reviews are worth the money. These 2 have gotten the most favorable reviews by regular people like you and me.
As they say: "Love the skin you're in!" :)
Time to watch my recorded ep of this morning's Regis & Kelly and then talk to my Rickers and go to bed. *HUGS* to all!
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Monday, November 12, 2007
11:36 p.m.
just gave myself a manicure as I watched my recorded ep of Regis & Kelly and am waiting for my 3 coats of clear polish to dry before going to sleep - I wanted to paint it a dark purple or maroon but this late at night, it's too likely it'll get ruined during sleep - clear's better :)
had my ear appointment this morning and the doctor hurt my ear by putting in a drainage/vacuum thing and then using a long probing thing to tell if the "bony overgrowrh" was hard or soft and learned it was soft and concluded it isn't bone - it's scar tissue. He put me on another 10 days more of a new antibiotic to make sure it gets all the ear infection bacteria the 1st antibiotic couldn't get and I still have to put eardrops in my ear. He suggested that he could 'cut out' the scar tissue at a future date so that my ear canal is open. I'm going to get a second opinion. He was too rough and hurt me and said rude things like 'I'm not going to stick this through your brain' when I was apprehensive and jumping from the pressure/pain of his methods in my ear.
I took the antibiotic and put eardrops in my ear about 1.5 hours ago and the ear still feels sore from this morning.....he really went at the scar tissue or whatever it is. Ugh.
think my nails are dry now and I can sleep. Going to call my rickers.
I'm writing in a lot of lowercase tonight. Must be tired ;)
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Sunday, November 11, 2007
06:28 p.m.
Listening to Motorcycle's As the Rush Comes - God that song is gorgeous.
Nith just left to go back to her apartment and I'm sitting in my room, tidying up and trying to think if I want to work out in an hour or not. We went to the Mall this afternoon at 12 and spent the entire afternoon browsing and I almost bought things but decided I really don't need anything - not pants, not sweaters, nothing. I have everything in my closet already. Instead, I bought the new volume of SKIP BEAT (#9) and we picked up dinner for the fam at Cosi's - I love their Aurora meatball sandwhich! :) Drinking chai now and relaxing...
Fous De La Mer's song Conmigo just came on my playlist - puts me in a dancing mood :D
Have an appointment with the ear doctor tomorrow morning so going in to work late. I feel so restless, sad that Nith left and now nobody to hang out with and talk to...mummy and papa are busy...think I'll call my darling Rickers and veg out with some TV.....recorded one of my new favorite Disney Channel shows 'Wizards of Waverly Place' and 'Twitches Too' and might be a good night to watch those :D
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Saturday, November 10, 2007
10:35 p.m.
I'm going next week to see Chita Rivera at the Regency!! :D I'm so excited!!! She is an AMAZING singer and performer. When she gets on that stage, the whole ROOM becomes electric - she commands EVERYONE's attention - she is just....astounding and I am so so so crazy happy to see her sing! :D
My sister Nithi came home this weekend and she and I just ordered in chinese food and are watching tv and reading magazines. Earlier we were planning my bachelorette party in Miami next April :D
It's getting late and I have Chinese class in the city tomorrow morning so I've gotta get to sleep. *HUGS* to all! Good night!
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Saturday, November 10, 2007
10:21 a.m.
mmmmm what a contrast from yesterday - woke up just now and it's bright and sunny and I see nothing but fall leaves everywhere. These are pictures I took just now from my room's windows.
We're in the thick of autumn now here in New York and I wanna go outside and walk and take pictures by the woods and lake if I have time today. But I've got a load of things to do and want to enjoy my Saturday to the fullest.
Finished Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch last night and I'm so sad it's over - one of my favorite series - so happy to see what Lucia looks like as the next Aqua Regina! :) Also read Kitchen Princess and I LOVEEEEEEEE Najika and Daichi together! I LOVEEEE Daichi!!! *FAN GIRL ALERT* :D I think Sora is hiding something....
Ok I'm off to have breakfast and read the morning paper and then it's off to clean the house, work out, head to the dry cleaners, Kinko's and the post-office. Whew. I sure hope I can finish all this by 4 when the post-office closes. Should've gotten up at 8:30 instead of 9:30.
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Friday night! Friday night!!!
Friday, November 9, 2007
07:56 p.m.
It's cold and rainy outside and I've got on my big powder blue over-sized 'Hollywood' hoodie sweatshirt that I bought last April in Los Angeles and a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and I feel like the mouse that got away with the cheese! :D
Don't wanna do anything tonight except watch tv and curl up with new manga! I went to MidTown Comics yesterday during lunch and picked up the new issues of Neck & Neck, Kitchen Princess and the last issue of Pichi Pichi Pitch and also picked up a new manga called S*A! :)
Passed Lord & Taylor's on my walk back to Grand Central station this evening and dude are they moving fast to set up their windows for Christmas - their whole store and even the potted evergreen bushes outside have christmas lights and the mannequins are all wearing white outfits. I'm like - it's not even Thanksgiving yet!
I had the most frustrating experience with STAPLES today. I left a copy of a newspaper (that ran an article on me as a musical artist and lawyer over the summer) with STAPLES this morning at 8:45 with instructions to make 10 color 8.5x14 prints and that I'd be back at 5pm. Headed over after work and lo' and behold - some careless person had left my newspaper (my ONLY copy by the wsy!!) strewn over one of the copiers with my order form and no one had ever bothered to copy it and fill my order out - ALL DAY. When a representative tried to help me and saw that someone had done that, he could offer me nothing. And this was after waiting and waiting for service for nearly 20 minutes. I took back the newspaper, and frustrated by how much time I had wasted, decided to walk the mile to Grand Central to catch the 6pm train back up north. Luckily my dad had to run to the store so when I called home he said he could pick me up from the train station. Good thing too because the line for cabs at my town was HUGE - always the case on rainy nights.
Anyways, I'm home, warm and all cocoa-ed up so I can't complain! Going to get under the covers now and read manga! :) *HUGS* to all!
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Wednesday, November 7, 2007
11:34 p.m.
hola peeps :) relaxing with chamomile and honey tea, eyes are so sleepy. so much I want to write and say but this has been one very, very long day and nothing would be better now than slipping into my warm bed and dreaming.
Quotes of the night:
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb
And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
~D.H. Lawrence
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my enagement announcement in the newspaper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
12:43 p.m.
:)
And now...long overdue...are responses to messages:
Marcia the mug is actually party of a line of mugs by that amazon.com seller featuring various names :) so I feel better about it! ;) LOL! :) How're you? What's new with you? *HUGS* I'm going to pop in on your journal and see what's happening on your end! :) By the way - you mentioned in an earlier message that Sina is going overseas for a couple months? Ricky might be as well for a volunteer opportunity in Africa.
Azure Kaze how did you celebrate Halloween? Do anything special? And in response to your earlier message, my engagement ring is platinum - Ricky chose only the best :) Sarah Beth adore champagne huh? ;) I'll be sure to have plenty for you at my wedding :) By the way, did you get my message about the bachelorette party in Miami? Let me know if you think you can come. I wanted to email and ask if you thought u could come before giving my sister a list.
Kayla work and school have been tough huh? What's work like and how are your classes? Ramona thank you! :) *HUGS* how're you doing with all of your planning? After you quit that horrible job, did you start a new job elsewhere? OldSoul You mentioned "naci en alamo" by Yasmin Levy - I'll check it out! :) and thank you for your kind words. I would love to hear more about the 'animal' you befriended and the decision you had to make.
Daniel from Texas thank you!! :) *HUGS* Say hi to eddy for me too! IM me when you see me online! :) RJ thank you so much for your well wishes on my engagement. *HUGS* Sean *HUGGGGGGGGGGG* platinum ring (in response to your message earlier in October). :) Your message was so sweet! *BIG HUGS*
Whew! I think that's everyone! *HUGS* to all! I have a lot of writing and ironing of shirts to do, not to mention putting up my sweaters, picking up dry cleaning and going to CVS, cleaning the bathroom and hitting the treadmill for a good 4 mile incline workout!
Hope everyone remembered to turn their clocks an hour back - Day Light Savings! :)
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Hey! There's an actual I Love Nishi mug!!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
11:56 a.m.
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Kinokuniya at Rockefeller to Close at End of Year
Saturday, November 3, 2007
11:09 a.m.
*sob* as a long time devotee of the Kinokuniya at Rockefeller Center I am sooooooooo sad to hear they're going to close their Rock Center shop at the end of the year :( Their new main Kinokuniya store opened this week across from Byrant Park and it's big and beautiful and they even have Cafe Zaiyya with the tea and sandwiches I used to love so much and I love that it's right next to Bryant Park and Book-Off is nearby as are other Japanese eats on 40th Street. But....part of the charm of Kino's I loved was being AT Rockefeller Center. It was next to Minamoto Kitchoan which is this gourmet Japanese dessert shop selling "wagashi" (japanese pastries) and they're SOOOOOO yummy and it was right next to NBC and the Ice Skating rink and I just love Rockefeller Center - it's magical and I have tons of wonderful memories there. But I understand the rent was huge there and this new store allows them to branch out to more Americans. But still....I'll miss the Kino's at Rock....
My ear feels weird with these dang drops in them. Every sound I hear is amplified and the ear still hurts.
It's a windy gray early November day. Had chai and a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat toast for breakfast, read the paper and am now going to clean my room and winterize my closet and iron all my shirts. Lots to do today. Have an awesome Saturday everyone! See ya later :)
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Explosion in my ear
Friday, November 2, 2007
04:51 p.m.
I left work at lunch today for an emergency appointment at the ear doctor - I started having pain in my left ear around 11 o'clock this morning. Turns out I have a small ear infection in my left ear. The doc took a look at my ear this afternoon and was like 'There's an explosion in your ear!'
What he was referring to was a small hole I have in my left eardrum caused by the one and only ear infection I ever had before which was a very, very bad infection - I was in 6th grade at the time. Because of that infection at such a young age, and the hole it caused, a small bony overgrowth partially covers the hole and my hearing is a bit diminished in the left ear compared to the right. I used to answer phones with my left ear and after the infection, heard better in the right so I predominantly talk with my right ear.
After getting over his shock of what an abnormality my left eardrum was, the doc prescribed antibiotics (pills and ear drops) and I have to go back and see him again in 2 weeks for a complete check on this hole and audio testing - he says it's a serious issue and I should be more concerned. Yikes.
Have to have dinner now and take my first dose of the pills and ear drops. Fun fun. Ugh.
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Thursday, November 1, 2007
07:09 p.m.
November 1st....November 1st....I feel like I'm going in circles.....or more like struggling to walk up a 'down' escalator - I'm just not getting anywhere.
I was talking to my friend Paul the other day about the music industry. He's a hip-hop artist/rapper and he's white and his music is really good and I'm a girl who doesn't generally like rap, so liking his music really says something - reminds me a bit of Eminem's lyrics. Anywayz, I'm working on a song I wrote a while ago that I think would be perfect for him to rap over.....he has this awesome manager named Sal and I'm wishing I could find a manager as amazing - if I had a manager or an agent I think a miracle might happen. Anywayz, again, my friend Paul and I are venting about the industry and how hard it is to break into and how long it takes and I'm so frustrated. I feel like I've put my CD in to so many influential hands, did so much work and promotion but it really hasn't gotten me where I want to be. I'm still a lawyer in NYC working full-time and trying to pursue a music career. When, oh pray tell WHEN, will I be able to pursue music full-time? I want so much to get back into a studio and record a full album of my songs and this time give it my ALL and have it be an amazing album. I am so much more of a creative soul and devoting myself to writing fiction and to singing/songwriting and performing my music would be so much more fulfilling, as would be devoting my intellect and lawyer-knowledge to human rights issues and organizations that work on its behalf. *sigh*
Ignore this entry, this is me giving into one of my weaker moments when I'm just so frustrated, tired and depressed about the whole music situation that I just have to stop being so strong for once and give into those feelings.
It's only by giving into our most saddest moments that we can find new strength to persevere. I love music. I love my songs. I love singing. I love to write. And I love to make this world a better place. I may be feeling weak and sad in this moment but it won't last long. Tomorrow I'll get up and be strong Nishi again and give it my 100% once more. Just let me have this quiet moment of weakness, where I can cry and seek a little solace with God.
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
04:47 p.m.
We got out of work early at 3 p.m. today in honour of Halloween!! :) I love my job! :) I hightailed it to Grand Central and made the 3:30 train home. It is SO beautiful here at home - the weather is a warm balmy 65 degrees and the sun is shining still and the trees are simply gorgeous with their fall colors. Someone had mowed their lawn and the smell of fresh cut grass and the autumn leaves made this feel more like a day in early September than Halloween! :) Then I saw the houses decorated in their halloween ghouls and crazy severed hands and other body parts and started getting into the Halloween spirit! :)
This one guy at work on Monday, when I showed him the costumes on the front of the amNewYork paper and asked if he was going to the the annual parade in the Village, he was like "No way! That's the devil! Evil! Evil!" I almost tried to argue with him and explain to him about how when Christianity was created as a religion and enforced, it denounced anything anyone else believed as "devil worship" even though that wasn't true. Over the centuries, things that were normal for many cultures were demonized by Christian sects which is a sad and evil thing in itself. To this day, people like that guy at work, think celebration of Halloween or any so-called "pagan" holiday is devil worship when in fact Christianity was just a new religion that replaced old religions and in replacement, had to "demonize" older customs, traditions, celebrations in order to be valid and convert populations.
As a woman who was raised Christian myself, I've studied so much about old religions and Christianity's place in the scheme of things that I have a much better understanding of why these things aren't "evil" but to explain all this to a man who is convinced in his religious beliefs is just not going to get you anywhere but frustrated. Unless you have an open-mind, you don't want to listen to what someone else has to say and when it comes to religion, few will be open-minded.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love dressing up, carving pumpkins, taking part in activities like the Sleepy Hollow Headless Horseman show in Westchester, and attending the Greenich Village Halloween Parade! That stuff to me is FUN and is what living is all about! Sure some things about Halloween can be scary - when people focus too much on the ghoulish and macabre I get freaked out - but I like the light hearted part the most.
Anywayz, everyone have a safe and enjoyable Halloween! I am taking my adorable mummy to the parade in the city tonight - it'll be her FIRST time at the Village Parade and my 4th time and it is SUCH A FUN PARADE! I love the skeletons the best! HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I have to run and get ready! See ya'll with photos and stories tonight or tomorrow :)
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
11:51 p.m.
Tonight my friend Erdal from work and I went way uptown in Manhattan to 139th Street to the City College of New York where we attended the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies' Panel Discussion on the issue of Human Trafficking and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children within New York City and the United States.
I had attended an Amnesty International meeting this past September which focused on these very same issues which are human rights issues I care very much about and definitely wanted to do something for it. Tonight I met and spoke with an attorney with the Urban Justice Center who focuses on the trafficking issue here in the city and with the head of ECPAT-USA - both of whom I hope I can volunteer and give more of what little free time I have! :)
The City College of NY is beautiful - it looks like a magnificent castle. I was thoroughly impressed by the presentation by the panelists and with the turn out! SO many people came by (students and professionals) who really care about protecting children and women - makes me feel really good about things when I see other people as passionate about helping others as I am.
Didn't get home until 10pm tonight and after talking with my Ricky, took a long hot shower and am now ready for bed. No writing or work on my books or songs tonight, just need sleep. Hope you're all well tonight and resting peacefully :) Sweet dreams!
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Monday, October 29, 2007
9:56 p.m.
oh I am so sleepy but I have to write a little about yesterday. My sister and I had a BLAST at that film shoot in Long Island we attended yesterday. We danced and partied and met some really interesting and nice people! The shoot was for this movie called 'When Kiran Met Karen' and is about an Indian woman named Kiran who comes to the U.S. and meets Karen (it's a movie that supports love between women). The shoot was for a scene in the movie in which the male lead of the film is at his record release party and is mingling with his guests (us 'extras'). We were put into a group of dancing partiers and it was full of energy and infectious fun! I couldn't believe how many smart, talented and accomplished Indian men and women I met last night.
In the meanwhile, my friend Pete from law school contacted me recently. It was so wonderful hearing from him. He, Nitz and I had been such good friends during law school (I miss those days). He's looking for a job as a lawyer and I submitted his resume for him to my firm. We're definitely hiring for our department now and he would be such a great addition.
Spent tonight working on my NYC book - began adding my digital photos to each of the individual pages of the anecdotes....it's starting to look really beautiful and well put together. I can't wait to print it and send a manuscript to publishers. If I can finish it by Thanksgiving, I want to do a small 1st printing and send it to family and friends this Christmas. May cost me a bit but it'll be worth it to have a finished product in my hand :) There's nothing like writing a story and finishing and having it be exactly what you wished and hoped it would be.
Writing can be such a frustrating process when you aren't able to write exactly what you wish and how you wish....I think Ernext Hemingway once said that writing is one part inspiration and three parts perspiration, or something like that. Basically, writing, or at least good writing, is a lot of hard work. Sometimes it comes so easy and the words just flow, other times I want to pull my hair out and wonder if I'm even a god damn good writer at all! I'll feel better once I immerse myself in the writing and they take off with a mind of their own and I reach that beautiful moment when I've finished the story. I can't tell you what an amazing feeling that is - you just have to experience the joy of it. I get the same feeling when I write music and write an especially well-versed and symbolically meaningful song.
Speaking of music, I'm searching for a new guitarist and pianist. I want to get back out performing again this winter and definitely wanna do a show in late November or early December. If you're reading this and are a guitarist/pianist based in NYC, drop me a line! :)
Alright, I'm still falling asleep so I'm off to bed but before I go, I want to give big *HUGS* to Marcia, Kayla, Azure Kaze, Sean, Sarah Beth, Caroline, Miyu-chan and Ramona! I know I haven't personally responded to each of your messages and I'm so sorry for that but I do read each and every one! Hopefully I can respond to all of you on Wednesday or Thursday this week. Hope you guys are all going awesome and had a great weekend and a good start to the week.
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Saturday, October 27, 2007
5:13 p.m.
So I have some fun news to report: I'm going to be an extra in an Indian movie filming tomorrow in Long Island. The movie is called 'When Kiran Met Karen' and the scene being shot is a "record release party" at which the hero and heroine of the film are mingling with the guests. I asked the producer if I could bring my sister who lives in Long Island, and it was ok'd! :) She and I have to show up "dressed to impress" and we'll be served champagne and hors d'oeuvres! :) Sounds like fun! I'll let ya'll know what it was like either tomorrow night or Monday - I might sleep over my sister's apartment in Long Island and go to work from there on Monday morning.
I spent the afternoon today perusing manga sites and I learned that 2 of my favorite series have been licensed: Kirarin Revolution anime & manga have been licensed by ADV and ADV will also release Time Stranger Kyoko manga next July 2008! :D
Got the new issues of Ribon, Nakayoshi and Ciao in the mail from Japan and am super-excited by the new stories. I LOVEEEEEE Aosora Pop (Blue Sky Pop) and Kiss in the Midnight and Rockin' Heaven from Ribon and love Kitchen Princess in Nakayoshi and Kirarin Revolution and Charm Angel in Ciao! :) The goodies in this month's issues included markers, crayons, notes and bags :) I love the series-related goods the best! :)
It's now after 5 p.m. and I've done nothing productive all day. I should do SOMETHING productive today right? Like clean? Organize? Put out all my winter clothes and put away my summer stuff now that the warm weather is definitely over? Research wedding photographers and florists? So not motivated - rather make a cup of chai and stay home tonight and watch 'Twitches Too' and other Halloween-related things on tv :)
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cold rainy night but I got hot cocoa and manga! :)
Friday, October 26, 2007
09:51 p.m.
I'm curled up under the covers in bed sipping hot chocolate with super soft mini marshmallows and reading the latest manga volumes of Skip Beat, Pixie Pop and Mamotte Lollipop! :) Perfect way to spend a chilly and rainy Friday night in late October after a long day at work and standing in the cold waiting for a taxi to take me home. Had delicious egg curry tonight with my mom (it's one of my fave curries) along with fresh beans and veggies and for dessert: kiwis and blueberries :) I took a warm shower before and, afterwards, doused my body in Curel's new Restore & Revive "Anti-Aging Firming Lotion" and my skin feels SO amazingly soft! I love Friday nights like this: my parents watching their malayalam programming on AsiaNet, me puttering away online and talking to Ricky on the phone and reading manga and magazines and catching up on Regis & Kelly and doing Friday night beauty treatments! LOL! :) Thank God for FRIDAYS!!! :D Hope everyone is well and has started off their Friday night right! *BIG HUGS* to all!
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Engagement Album Updated
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
09:30 p.m.
Spent the past 2.5 hours updating the site with all new photos. The above is one of my faves and will be the official engagement photo I put in my frame and probably the announcements and save the dates as well :)
Long day at work today and after the past few hours in front of the computer, all want now is to take a warm bubble bath, have a fruit salad, and go to sleep!
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just got in from an afternoon of tennis with 2 of my sisters and papa - played from 2-3:30 but felt so much longer. The sun was blazing and 77-79 degrees out I think - so beautiful with the fall-colored leaves......my legs and butt are so sore from all that running around. Made some cool lemon water now and am munching on red seedless grapes.
The girls are having a late lunch and then we're going to cut the cake - Carvel ice cream cake! :D and then they're going to go back to their respective apartments in Connecticut and Long Island. Hate when my sisters leave.
I, on the other hand, have 3 loads of laundry to do and a lot of tidying up, not to mention some serious writing to get done tonight and I STILL need to put up all the rest of my engagement pictures. Can't believe it was just 2 weeks ago exactly that I got engaged! :)
It feels like I'm in L.A. right now with this gorgeous warm autumn weather we're having now....feels more like late August or early September....I love it :)
Last night, to celebrate the twins' 24th, I took Mek & Mil out to this awesome Japanese & Chinese restaurant here in town and it was SO DELICIOUS. I ordered Salmon sushi and rolls and an avocado salad, shumai and gyoza and the girls had chicken teriyaki and szechuan chicken - only wish Nith (our 4th sister) could've been there with us last night (she couldn't come home this weekend). We laughed and talked for hours and still came home before 11pm :) They went to church this morning while I worked on my finances and enjoyed the paper and my morning coffee.
Updated at 8 p.m. with photos!! :)
Here're my dad and sisters and I playing tennis and then celebrating Mek and Mil's birthday! Papa won at tennis against the girls and I :) Lots of unforced errors on our part. So much for those years of tennis in high school ;)
Here's my sister Mili
Here's my sister Mekha
Here I am
And here's our Papa making the return shots that helped him win the game
Papa wins the match and we shake hands ;) LOL! I love how happy my dad looks here :)
Check out the yummy cake and the fun balloons! :)
Mummy lighting the cake as she always has for each of us 4 girls and Papa :)
The birthday girls cutting into their cake! It was SOOOO delicious! Love Carvel ice cream cake :)
And lastly, me and Mek and Mil :) Love this pic of us :)
I just finished dinner, took a long shower, and FINALLY finished all the loads of laundry; last one's drying in the dryer. It's now almost 8:30 as I finish posting this entry and I think now is the perfect time to settle in for a Sunday night of writing before I go to sleep in a couple hours. I'll post up all those pics another night this week.
*BIG HUGS* to all!!! Hope you all had as nice a weekend as I did! :)
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Dumbledore is Gay! - Global Warming &The Sword of Damocles & Benazir Bhutto
Saturday, October 20, 2007
03:25 p.m.
In other news, gorgeous sunny and WARM late October day here. We're celebrating 2 of my sisters' birthdays this weekend and they and I are playing tennis in a little while. I can't believe the amazingly warm weather we've been having. It's going to be 80 degrees on Monday. 80 on October 22nd!? I'm not one to complain about warm weather - I seriously LOVE this kind of weather but it makes you worry about global warming.....
Yankees' manager Joe Torre has left the Yankees and I cheer for him. He was an amazing manager and I think the pay cut they offered him with 'incentives' was an insult to him. He has been the biggest news here in NY all week.
I slept in today until almost 1 p.m. - and WOW was I super re-freshed. I haven't slept in that late since I was in college! :) :) :) Having my second cup of Godiva chocolate coffee now with vitamin fortified Silk soy milk - tastes soooo good and sweet you don't even need to add sugar.
Read the morning paper and I've been following the news about the former premier of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. CShe declared yesterday that she would risk her life to restore democracy in Pakistan and prevent an extremist takeover. Her father, the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by a military regime who seized power in 1979 (some sources say 1977).
Accrding to this article: NPR.org's Former Pakistan Leader Bhutto Poised for Return by Corey Flintoff , [Bhutto] has twice been the prime minister of Pakistan, and twice been deposed amid allegations of corruption. Bhutto's tumultuous life in politics follows a family tradition that began with her grandfather. The wealthy feudal lord helped clear the way for the creation of Pakistan as an autonomous state for south Asian Muslims in 1947.
Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, served terms as Pakistan's president and prime minister in the 1970s. He was deposed in a military coup, convicted of ordering the murder of a political rival and hanged in 1979. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's political party, and his family, have always maintained that he was falsely accused and tried on the orders of the coup leader, General Zia ul-Haq.
Bhutto was 26 and under house arrest with her mother in her home city of Karachi when her father was hanged. She was a graduate of Harvard University and had studied international law and diplomacy at Oxford. For the next six years, she worked on a book (Pakistan: The Gathering Storm, 1983) and served as an aide to her mother, Begum Nasrat Bhutto, who had assumed the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Fascinating.
As I read about her life, I'm reminded about the Greek story of the Sword of Damocles. The story goes something like this: there was once a tyrant King named Dionysius who ruled Syracuse, Italy. He was felt to be such a cruel King that everyone hated him, and he was always worried that someone would try to kill him. He was very, very rich however, with many servants. A courtier named Damocles said to him how fortunate and happy he must be to be so rich and powerful. Dionysius offered to trade places with Damocles for one day so he could know what it was exactly like. The next day, Damocles was treated like a King by all in the palace, he was sitting and feasting on cushions when he looked up and saw a sharp sword dangling from the ceiling by a single horsehair - it was so precarious it could fall at any moment. Damocles was terribly frightened and Dionysius told him that as a King, he has a sword over his head all the time and lives every moment in dread that something may cause him to lose his life. That day, Damocles learned that the rich and powerful are not so happy as they seem.
When I read about Benazir Bhutto and her father, and, indeed, this is true of anyone who is powerful and the leader of a country, you have to be reminded that with that power, comes great costs - the sword of Damocles hangs above all their heads. Their lives, and the lives of those they love, can end at any moment. Politics is ugly and messy and dangerous, but if you want to effect change for the better - for the greater good of all - you have to be willing to risk your life. A person willing to do this is an amazing inspiration to me.
I'll end today's post with a thought from Confucious: "No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance."
Now I'm going to go outside and enjoy this gorgeous weather and read my new issue of Glamour magazine :D
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Friday, October 19, 2007
11:14 p.m.
wrote a new fast dance song tonight which is very, very Indian-ish sounding called 'Que Sera' - what will be, will be. Started composing it in the shower tonight (I come up with some of my best songs just singing in the shower).
I can totally see myself dancing that song with incredible choreography and costumes - very arabian/indian style choreography with lots of bellydancing.
I'm only 1/2-way done writing it actually but I'm too sleepy to stay up and write so I'll finish composing it tomorrow. Tomorrow is a writing day as well as a celebrate my younger twin sisters' birthdays (they turn 24).
Hope everyone is having a fabulous night and had a great week. I will respond to all messages tomorrow! :) *HUGS* to all!
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
11:49 p.m.
I loveeeeeeeee the shows this season on tv!!!!!!! I love the new series 'CHUCK' on Monday nights, along with Heroes and 'Samantha Who' which I kept switching back and forth with Heroes for. LOVED LOVED LOVED tonight's 'Gossip Girl' on the WB and 'Pushing Daisies' on ABC. FINALLY - tv shows that make me want to watch tv again at night - well at least on Mondays and Wednesdays ;)
Painted my nails clear just now and am waiting for them to dry before I turn in for bed, and covered my face with Lumene's "Energy Cocktail - Pampering Drops"....the stuff works like a miracle to make my skin gorgeous overnight - it's an antioxidant rich blend of berries and vitamin c all in lightweight oil drops that coat your skin lightly - and if you use Lumene's Vitamin C intensive serum for the eyes before hand, you'll REALLY wake up with a gorgeous face.
I think my nails are dry now. I'm off to bed. *HUGS* to all! See ya tomorrow :)
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Sunday, October 14, 2007
06:17 p.m.
after breakfast this morning, I headed out with my digital camera to the woods and lake down the street from my home. These are different from the lake and woods behind my home which I hike during the warmer months. The woods and lake that line the long, long road that leads to my home span about 1.25 miles one way. They are the basis for my faerie fantasy children's series I have been writing.
I took literally 600+ pictures today. My battery ran out just when I got to the lake at about 11:40 a.m. and I walked back home to re-charge and clean the house and then headed back out at 1:30 again to the lake and didn't come home again until 3pm where, famished, I wolfed down a large plate of mummy's lunch of rice, okra, dal curry & salmon curry.
I'm relaxing now with my dessert: a cup of organic chai tea and a square of my sister Mili's homemade brownies. I spent 5+ miles and 4 hours total today walking around the woods and lake, twice, taking photos as reference materials to help me write and picture my faerie series for children.
I'm going to make another cup of chai now, or maybe some decaf coffee, and settle down to write but before I do, I'll share a few of the gorgeous pics I took.
I began writing this entry at 4:05 p.m. and now after writing up this post and looking through 1/2 of the pics I took, 2 hours have passed and I still didn't put on the decaf coffee or writr and now the sun has set and it's twilight outside! Looks like I'm going to spend at least some of the evening writing now :)
*HUGS* to all and especially to Kayla, Azure Kaze, Ramona, Sean, Sarah Beth, Miyu-chan, RJ, Marcia, Millie & Lady :)
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Nishi & Ricky's Engagement October 7th, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
9:23 p.m.
On Sunday, October 7th, 2007, Ricky and I became formally engaged at a ceremonial blessing and celebration held at La Canada Flintridge Country Club in California before 50+ relatives.
I am still gathering all the pictures and waiting to receive photos from my other sisters and relatives as well as from Ricky's family. But for now, all the best pics from my dad's and one of my sister's cameras have been placed on a website I finished making tonight at: http://www.nishimusic.com/engagement
As promised, here are pictures of my engagement ring! :)
I wanted to get a picture of me actually wearing the ring but trying to get a clear picture was nearly impossible! ;) I love my ring. I love it, love it, love it. Especially because Ricky put so much thought and energy into it and wowed and surprised me with it. :)
I absolutely LOVED my engagement night! :) The food was awesome, the professional punjabi dancers were terrific, all my family made the occasion SO MUCH FUN - we danced and drank lots of champagne and just had the NICEST time celebrating. Oh and the cake and the Indian sweets were ALSO amazing. Plus, Rick's dad had put together a slideshow which was AWESOME - containing all our family photos and Rick's photos from way, way back.
When we were finally having the blessing and the *contract* - yes there's an actual engagement contract - done, each of the family got up to say a few words - Ricky's sister Rena and her husband Hero both said this beautiful poem which I loved as did Rick's family-friend Sajaan whose poem had things about Prince and King which is something I'd written about on my personal page years ago. When my dad and mom got up to speak and my sisters I got a lil teary, but when RICKY got up to speak and he talked about how he loved me because of my faith and hope and belief and everything - I REALLLLLLLLY started tearing up :)
Aunty and Uncle (Rick's parents) loved the Tiffany's candlesticks. The night was beautiful with gorgeous night views of Los Angeles over the La Canada Countryclub's cliffs. Simply stunning. On Monday, after finally taking my mom's brothers and sisters (all my aunts, uncles & cousins to the airport), Rick and I took my parents out for lunch at Louise's Trattoria and afterwards, to the Los Angeles Arboretum where we took funny pictures. After that, my folks went to dinner with Rick's parents, and Ricky and I drove to the mountains where we drove to the very top of Mount Wilson and took in the beautiful and super peaceful views of California - all the way to Malibu and the Pacific Ocean. It was the most gorgeous sight I'd seen in ages.
I'm pretty exhausted today because we had a really long, delayed flight yesterday on JetBlue. For some reason, our flight out of Burbank (10:30 a.m. Tuesday) never arrived until close to 12noon. And then because of high winds at JFK, our flight which was grounded at Salt Lake City, Utah to fuel up in order to handle impending delays. Upon arriving at JFK, we were stranded on the tarmac for over an hour waiting for the thunder and lightning storm to let up so it would be safe enough for ground crew to put up the stairway. Finally, we exited and had to wait for a shuttle bus to take us to the terminal baggage claim and then waited forEVER for baggage to arrive and THEN waited for the CAB i called to come and waited in the windy cold rain - we didn't get home til 12:45 a.m. and I was a wreck this morning and phoned my supervisors and colleagues at work to explain what had happened and rested today at home.
It's 9:30 now and I'm going to finally unpack and take my clothes down to the laundry and then shower and go to sleep.
*HUGS* to all and thank you EVERYONE for your happy engagement wishes! :) It made me so happy to read each and every one of the messages :)
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I'm getting engaged!!!!! :) - Correction: I *am* engaged!!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
05:10 p.m.
Updated BELOW Sunday morning, 7:00 a.m., California- October 7, 2007
Sometimes, it's better when we are fools for love, because when you have faith, hope and belief - despite all the sadness that may pass through - it all works out for the best :) I am in beautiful Pasadena, California and I am getting engaged to the love of my life, my darling Ricky.
Tonight we are going to his parent's house and having dinner with a ton of my family who have flown out from NY and Texas and with all of Rick's family too :) And tomorrow, we are getting engaged at a beautiful country club here in a ceremony and celebration :)
I'll put up lots of pictures when I get back next week :)
Today I gave Ricky my engagement present to him - solid silver oval cufflinks from Tiffany's engraved with his initials. He loved them :)
Thank you to everyone, all my friends and family and the readers of this journal who have given me their prayers and well wishes :) *HUGS* :)
Updated 10/7/07 @ 7 a.m.
About an hour after I wrote and posted the entry above, Ricky had finished getting ready for the dinner with the family and I was waiting in the living room all ready. Then he tells me, "do you you want your gift now?" - he had hinted since breakfast yesterday morning he had something for me.....he told me to close my eyes.....and I closed them (a long time ;)) and then he kissed me and I told him HE was the best present. And then he told me close my eyes once more and when I opened them up he had the ring out, got on his knee and held it up and I promptly burst into a chorus of 'oh my gods' and 'i can't believe its.' He had been trying to find the perfect time to put it on my finger. We had been driving around after breakfast and when we got back to his apartment yesterday, I was super sleepy and we got into bed to sleep and he meant to put it on my finger as I slept but he, too, fell asleep. Then I woke up and didn't wanna sleep and then we had to get ready so he had to find the perfect way to put it on my finger....it worked out beautifully.
The ring is exactly what I hoped, a heart-shaped center diamond with diamonds along each of the sides - it looks so gorgeous. Even though my ring size is 4 it was still big so we have to go and get it fitted at a jewelers. He had done a ton of research and before buying it and it is the perfect ring for me....it fits me and my personality beautifully :) With my eyes still on my ring and happy tears in my eyes, we got into Rick's Mini Cooper and drove in the beautiful sunset to meet my family at the hotel and when I got out, the my sisters saw the ring and it was a chorus of 'oh my god it is so beautiful & look at that rock!' then my cousins and aunts and uncles and my mom :) My mom looked so beautiful in this red and gold sari. I ran upstairs and changed into this lovely autumn colored silk dress and brown leather strappy high heels and came back down and Rick and I went over to his parents' house where all the rest of my family and Rick's family - about 40+ people) were waiting and we walked in carrying "YUMMY CUPCAKES" - there's an actual cupcake place here called Yummy Cupcakes and we picked up red velvet cupcakes, chocolate and banana cream pie and so much else. The rest of the evening was champagne toasts and saying hello to all my uncles, aunts and cousins who had flown out from NY and Texas to see me get engaged tonight.
Now the actual engagement ceremony takes place tonight. Rick and I are getting engaged at the La Canada Flintridge Country Club in a religious ceremony. Rick's dad has arranged a night of entertainment, dancing, slideshows and who knows what else. I'm so happy this is actually happening! :) My dad said a few words in malayalam at a thankful prayer moment during the celebration last night and while I couldn't understand all the lofty malayalam words he said, he said that his dream was being fulfilled to see me engaged and getting married soon :)
After the party with the family and a bit too much champagne and pictures later, my 3 sisters, Ricky and I drove back to the hotel where we kept the party going with at the hotel bar and were joined by my cousin Mat and his beautiful wife, Deepti and we shared stories and just enjoyed nice drinks before bed. Rick is taking me and the girls out for brunch today whenever my 3 curlytopped sisters wake up :) They sleep like angels :)
I'll put up pics of the ring and everything when I get back this week :) *HUGS* to all!!
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a fool of love
Thursday, October 4, 2007
10:14 p.m.
was I a fool to have faith? was I a fool to believe? I don't know anymore. It seems, one by one, my hopes and beliefs are being dashed. Hope - the last thing that sustains us - I have very little left.
I've cried so much and wondered non-stop 'If I'm such a good and loving person, then why is this happening?' It seems love, patience and understanding - no matter how much I give and am, are not enough to save things.
In the end, trying to have faith, has made me a fool. In order to have faith - you have to hope and believe - in spite of what reality shows. I hoped, I prayed and I believed - in spite of all the reality - I believed & prayed & hoped for the best. It didn't come through. I've lost. In the end, I've been made a fool of love.
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Believe The Sun Will Shine Again
Sunday, September 30, 2007
08:43 p.m.
The title for this post is the title of a new song I've been working on since yesterday - I finally finished it now. It's a fast song with an awesome dance beat, I hear violins and guitars and lots of bass - no, make that tons of bass :)
'Believe The Sun Will Shine Again' is, in half, a song I wrote in 2006 when I was at one of those down moments in life when I wondered if I'd ever have success in music. Titled 'Believe' it is a song I wrote to give me strength, to tell myself (and others) to never give up, to believe in all that was possible, and all that was great and good.
Yesterday I ran 4 miles in the blazing beautiful September sun. What started out as a cool morning became a hot gorgeous day. Summer went out with a bang. As I ran and ran, all the worries and heartaches, that I can never really write about or share here on a public journal like this, seemed to lessen and disappear with the sun. I felt renewed. And the melody of the song 'Believe' I wrote in 2006, came back in full force and I began singing it and realizing I wanted to re-create it as a new song.
'Believe the Sun Will Shine Again' is now still about strength and belief in hopes & dreams but also in love. It's a catchall song for me (and others) to turn to when we need so badly to believe that things will be good again - that the sadness we feel right now, is only temporary - whether about love or about our personal dreams.
Thank you God for giving me the ability to write and to sing. Truly, I don't know what I would do with myself if I couldn't pour my joys and sadness into writing or song. I'd probably talk the ears off my sisters, that's what! ;) LOL! :)
Speaking of sisters, all mine came home yesterday (except Nithi who was sick with a bad cold, talked to her today and she sounds so much better, thank goodness) to have the memorial dinner and religious service for Appachan (malayalam term for grandfather, and this one was my mom's dad who died in 2003). We went upstate to Varghese Chachen's house (chachen is the malayalam word for 'uncle' and Varghese Chachen is my mom's younger brother). I saw all my other uncles and aunts and cousins there and we had so much fun together. My little cousins are the cutest & funnest cousins!! Everyone is excited to fly out to Los Angeles, California next weekend for my engagement to Ricky. I pick up my engagement dress from the tailors on Tuesday where I took it for alterations. My engagement dress is like the sunset - it starts out with a beautiful beaded bodice that is red-orange and melts into a gorgeous gold and goes back into a red-orange at the bottom. I have this lovely long orange-gold glittery train, as well.
Had a busy day today as well and now I'm relaxing with yummy dinner of pork curry, rice and tomato curry and watching the Giants game on tv - Mili (one of my sisters) happens to be at the Giants game tonight with friends. She tried to get me a ticket but no one canceled. I worked out an hour on the treadmill today and then did an hour of strengthening and toning and stretching exercises. I want to get my arms realllllly nice and toned for my dress next Sunday. The engagement takes place on Sunday and we fly out on Friday.
Anywayz, I need to get some writing done tonight and keep an eye on the Giants game. *HUGS* to all!
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it feels like Fall . . .
Saturday, September 29, 2007
11:28 a.m.
I am ready for Autumn :) it's a very windy cool morning but the sun is shining warmly. Every time the wind pushes through the trees, yellow leaves scatter and fall to the ground - softly...gracefully....they twirl in the air before landing gently on the grass, like a dancer. I've been watching them fall for the past 5 minutes, listening to the "ccchhh" sound the trees make. The lake, too, is being stirred up by the autumn wind with large ripples and small "surfs" breaking its normally placid surface. It's so peaceful and beautiful.
I have so much cleaning to do....and I want to run 4 miles today and work out strongly this afternoon before I go upstate with my family to our relatives houses for my grandfather's memorial (my granddad on my mom's side died this weekend back in 2003 and we do a religious service and dinner every year in memory).....but all I want to do right now is put on a pair of my comfy jeans, slip on a warm sweater and sit on the grass and watch the leaves fall.....this time we have right here, right now, on this beautiful Earth...should be savored...and enjoyed. Don't let a single moment pass without relishing it, reveling in it.
Words to ponder today:
"We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality." - Einstein
"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it." - Confucius
Old Soul Thank you so much :) your message warmed my heart! :) We're all works in progress, I believe. And seeing the good in others is the one of the hardest things to do. From the little that you've said, I can tell you're quite a beautiful person.
Sean LOL!!!! Scalping tix in Montana is legal? So that's what you've been upto lately huh? ;) *HUGS* :)
Kayla ooooh if I ever visit, would you take me to Uwajimaya? Where do you live again? And I'm sooooo happy your friend is making music for your lyrics!! :) When you're finished, make sure you put them up so everyone can hear!! :) And the casters for Singing in the Rain don't know what they missed in you! But it's true - you can only play the part given to you to your fullest - that's the right attitude! :) I can't wait to hear your songs! Hurry & make a myspace music page! :D
Azure Kaze I'm sorry I'm responding so late to your comment but if you cannot afford a lawyer, the court will appoint one that's paid for by the state and/or city - you don't have to pay back anything. As for sites to post your fiction etc., no I don't know them because I don't like sharing my stories or poems I'm working on with people. I'm too afraid about ideas and writing being plagiarized or completely stolen.
Marcia the Pelopponesian War was fascinating!! I studied Greek history in college and remember reading Thucydides' History - I have vague memories of being very anti-Sparta because Athens was a democratic state. You make me want to re-read and study that again. Would LOVE to read your paper! Seriously. :) I love academia and learning. How did you do on your quizzes?
Sarah Beth omgggggggggggggggg congratssssssssssssssss
sarah bethhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! THAT was your secret? And here I was expecting baby news! LOL! *HUGGGGGGGGGGGS* I am SOOOOOOOOO happy for your house!!! Are you still closing on the 30th? When is the house warming and when do I get to come up and stay in your tiny guest room! LOL! I LOVE YOUR HOUSE! It is SOOOOO beautiful!! (The view from your current apt is stunning by the way - I looked at all the pics) :D Congratulations my dear, dear Sarah Beth! I am so happy for you! Please tell Pat I said congrats too! I am so happy for the BOTH of you! :D oh and I LOVE how your house (from the outside) has personality - it looks like a face (the windows the eyes etc) and like it's happy or flirting ;) hahahaha :D
Ramona how is work now? It sounds crazy that your most senior member on the project's only been there for 8 months. Are you in consulting? What line of work are you in? Sounds like the work is stressful!
*HUGS* to all! Happy Saturday everyone on this last Saturday in late September 2007! :)
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
a woman's wisdom
Thursday, September 27, 2007
08:53 p.m.
I love being a woman. We have such strength, such beauty, such power. And we look damn hot in heels.
I think the biggest lessons we women learn, time and time again, are how to stand on our own 2 feet, how to walk away from people and situations which do us more harm than good, and how *not* to run away from situations which, even though uncomfortable & sometimes painful, are actually better for us to grow as human beings.
A woman can't accomplish those those things, or tell the differences, however, unless she is wise. To attain such wisdom, she must achieve understanding. To achieve understanding, she must possess these qualities: kindness, patience, tolerance, open-mindedness, an ability to accept people for who and what they are, and willingness to study and learn, to delve deep into human history, human experience and the human psyche and, most importantly, to see *all* sides of these things, even the most obscene or ludicrous. Only then can you achieve true understanding - in the most fullest and proper sense of the word, and then do you have wisdom.
People think women need to be bitches to be strong or powerful. But kindness, tolerance, acceptance and understanding are much greater indicators of strength & power.
People are complex beings with dual aspects of good and bad within them. We see only what they choose to show us at any moment in time, and we, in turn, choose to react or judge. To be human means to naturally take a liking or disliking to things and people around us, and to re-shape that inclination, over and over again, given different scenarios and the passage of time. We're judgmental creatures who chafe and ruffle at insults (real or imagined), and tend to scorn or disrespect those whose habits/abilities/preferences are not to our liking.
The truth is that any one of us could be our worst enemy in another place, another time. Just because we're not right now doesn't give us an excuse to hate or to refuse to see another's point of view, no matter how heinous or intolerable. It takes immense ability to understand where another human is coming from whom we hate or disagree with strongly, and an equally immense ability to *accept* their viewpoint as valid and use the understanding and acceptance as a foundation to build a bridge towards a working relationship or resolution of issues, regardless of what that person has said or done. (This is assuming we are dealing with rational beings, and not mentally sick inviduals.)
The above is something essential to the peace process, essential to harmony in human lives and relationships, but very few people can truly achieve a constant level of such tolerance, understanding and acceptance. It's taxing on all humans - we're not saints, we're not Gods....but we must try and keep trying, even though we fail and though it gets tiring.
For a woman, all of this is even more important because we women are much more sensitive beings by our very nature. We have a higher ability, then our male counterparts, to seek understanding and acceptance due to our sensitivities. We are natural peacemakers.
Though the qualities for wisdom are difficult to cultivate, and even if natural, difficult to nurture and maintain, we - male or female - all have the ability to achieve them.
My message today is for my fellow women: don the killer high-heel chocolate leather boots and stand tall, stand proud and walk with strength, with power, always with an open-mind and heart, and with kindness in your eyes and upon your lips, knowing that with each step, you have the wisdom & ability to achieve and accomplish great things for yourself, for others and this world. And even should you falter and fail, you have only to stand up again and try once more. The most important thing is to try.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
The Harvest Moon
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
09:40 p.m.
Take a look outside if you're reading this now Wednesdany night - there's a Harvest Moon out there shining large and bright.
I celebrated the Harvest Moon festival in Chinatown this past Sunday (ate moon cakes and saw the performances and parade in Chinatown and lion dances) and now, tonight, am using my binoculars to view the moon's features. It always amazes me how clearly I can see things on the moon with my own 2 eyes by using powerful binoculars. I wish, wish, WISH I had a powerful telescope too! :)
For those who don't know, the Harvest Moon is the full moon that falls in September closest either before or after the autumn equinox (1st day of Autumn) but sometimes, this can fall in October as well. In 2006, the Harvest Moon fell on October 7.
According to Wikipedia, the Harvest Moon is also known as the Wine Moon, the Singing Moon and the Elk Call Moon. In myth and folklore the full moon of each month is given a name.
* January - Wolf moon or Moon After Yule
* February - Ice moon
* March - Storm moon or Worm Moon or Crow Moon
* April - Growing moon or Egg Moon or Pink Moon
* May - Hare moon or Flower Moon
* June - Strawberry or Rose or Mead moon
* July - Hay or Thunder moon
* August - Red or Corn moon
* September - Harvest moon
* October - Hunter's moon
* November - Snow or Beaver moon
* December - Winter moon or Moon Before Yule
Here's something interesting: the third full moon in a season with four full moons is called a blue moon, as described in the Maine Farmer's Almanac. Until recently it was commonly misunderstood that the second full moon in a month was the blue moon. However, it was recently discovered by Sky & Telescope Magazine and reported on NPR that the interpretation of a blue moon as the second full moon of the month was erroneously reported in an issue of Sky & Telescope dating back to 1946 and then perpetuated by other media.
I found this awesome calendar that shows all the Blue Moons according to the actual original Farmer's Almanac and the misinterpretation that originated in Sky & Telescope. Covers until the year 2020!
In some cultures, individuals whose birthdays fall on or near a harvest moon must provide a feast for the rest of the community. :)
If you picked up the paper today, you'd see most mentioned that tonight's Harvest Moon is called so because in older farming days, farmers could use the light of this moon to give them extra time to bring in their fall harvest.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Miracle
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
8:15 p.m.
I wrote a new song tonight...just finished it now....it's called 'Miracle'...
- Nishi
Updated at 10:04 p.m.
I'm listening to Stephen Hawking's 'A Briefer History of Time' on the Slooh network while I view McNeil's Nebula and the Flame Nebula on the Slooh telescope.
Viewing these deep space nebula and listening to the Stephen Hawking audio makes me feel better....it's soothing and peaceful....it's easy to get "lost in space" when your heart is troubled....
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
06:17 a.m.
woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning from some dream....haven't been able to fall back asleep since, my mind tossing and turning over things I'm unable to write about here.....I'm going to be tired this morning.....
Einstein Quote of the Day: "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
'Love' Quote of the Day: "Love is just an abbreviation for everything we have ever wanted to say about that one person who truly means something to us, all wrapped up in a tiny four-letter box". Anonymous
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Monday, September 24, 2007
09:18 p.m.
tonight, my mom made delicious dal curry which I ate with rice and pyerih and then she handed me freshly cut honey dew melons...I'm so full and sleepy :) Going to bed early tonight to make up for the no-sleep I got this weekend.
After getting back so late on Saturday night, I didn't fall asleep until after 3am and then got up bright and early at 7:30 on Sunday morning and headed to Chinatown for my Mandarin class. I am amazed at how much I'm learning after only 3 weeks. We've begun writing now and I'm recognizing characters again! This is fantastic!! :D I thought I'd forgotten a lot of my Mandarin I learned back in 2003 and 2004 but I actually remembered a lot! YAAY :)
After Mandarin class, my friend Luis and I met with his wife, Jane Marie, and a friend Mike from my local Westchester anime/manga meetup group and had lunch at 'Congee' - this place on Bowery Street in Chinatown. I had 'Healthy Vegetable Congee' with 6 'steamed breads' - congee, by the way, is the traditional chinese breakfast food - it's rice porridge and you can put anything in it - vegetables, chicken, beef etc. Afterwards, I took Mike to Elizabeth Center where I showed him all the anime stores there then down to Bayard Street's Chinatown Ice Cream factory and on to enjoy the Harvest Moon Festival that was taking place on Sunday. Took pictures of the singers and festivities. Across the street in Little Italy, the San Genaro Festival was still going on too! Didn't come home Sunday until after 6pm and went to bed very early after telling my folks about the Sikh Heritage Awards Gala.
Long day of work....super tired and sleepy now and going to bed. *HUGS* to all.
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2007 Sikh Heritage Awards Gala
Sunday, September 23, 2007
01:25 a.m.
Tonight I attended a beautiful event called the Sikh Heritage Awards Gala which seeks to honour distinguished individuals who have made great progress and contributions for the community and culture. The event was held at Cipriani's on Wall Street and it was absolutely stunning - beautiful tables set with large vases of flowers with delicious wine, dinner and desserts. I was seated at table 34 and met some fascinating and truly wonderful people.
I'm working on writing up everything I learned from attending this event for an article I'm submitting both to my community's cultural newspaper as well as for the new magazine I'm writing for. I took a ton of pictures to accompany the article. Sukhwinder Singh performed awesome music and I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
Two of THE most fascinating indivuals I met tonight were seated right next to me at the table, Inder and Vicky Bindra, who happened to be the heads of a cancer charity organization called the Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation and their organization is based here in New York. Vicky is this beautiful woman who I thought was Indian but who is actually Colombian - they took the time to answer my interview questions for the article and thoroughly impressed me with their kindness as well as their knowledge. I look forward to seeing them again.
My sister Nithi's housewarming was awesome too, by the way :) We drove all the way out to Connecticut and ate and laughed - was fun to meet all her friends. I'm worn out and need to change out of my red lenga now and get ready for bed - I have to be up at 7am tomorrow morning to get ready for Mandarin class in chinatown (and dammit I didn't study at ALL and I think we had homework and I forgot to do it). After class, I'll be enjoying the Harvest Moon Festival in Chinatown with my friends Chelsea and Luis and with members of my Japanese Anime & Manga group.
Hope ya'll had a fabulous Saturday! See you tomorrow! :)
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Incredible India Festival in NYC (Celebrating 60 years)
Saturday, September 22, 2007
12:27 p.m.
Today begins Indian Heritage week in NYC with a myriad of LIVE shows and exhibits and performances throughout Manhattan. It's been titled "Incredible !ndia @ 60" <-- click on this link for the flyer listing all the events and shows. I plan to attend a lot of the events tomorrow evening after celebrating the Harvest Moon Festival in Chinatown with friends.
Tonight, however.....one of the women attorneys I met on Wednesday, at that South Asian Attorneys' forum, turns out she is one of the organizers of the 2007 Sikh Heritage Awards Gala taking place tonight at 7 p.m. at Cipriani on Wall Street. She, very kindly, has invited me to attend the event - a dinner & dance and awards show - Shonali Bose who wrote, directed and produced Amu will be honoured tonight here and a bunch of other dignitaries and influential Indians and politicians will be there.
I hope I can attend but my sister Nithi's housewarming is this afternoon at 3 p.m. in Connecticut and it's a big deal - whole family is attending and it's important to her. In our world, family always comes first. Hopefully I can make it back with enough time to make the cocktail hours or the speeches which begin at 8. I've gotta pack an Indian salvar or other nice outfit to wear to this event.
It's almost 12:30 and I need to shower and get ready. *HUGS* to all!
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Friday, September 21, 2007
09:09 p.m.
my love, my love, I hope you're well, and what you've done is right. It's been such hell, I wish you well, I hope you're safe tonight...it's been so long coming, and longer it lasts....when it's lasted 3 even....I'm helping it pass by loving you, more and more.
My little play on the words of Dido's song "Isobel" - beautiful song - makes me cry.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Reveling in warm September days....it ain't autumn yet! ;)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
11:20 p.m.
hello warm weather!!! It's mid-late September but it still feels like summer! After a week or so here where we believed fall had arrived early - with mornings in the 40's and 50's and everyone going back to wearing black and donning their trendy fall boots - suddenly in the past couple days, our weather did a turn-a-round! New York's been having gorgeous, sunny and *warm* in-the-80's weather! It's forecasted to last through next Tuesday before dipping into the mid and upper 70's next Wednesday and on down into the 60's thereafter.
I am determined to hold on to summer until it is *officially* the first day of autumn (which is this Sunday at 5:51 a.m.) or when the weather *definitely* stops being in the 80's and mid to upper 70's. Today, I packed my Steve Madden silver metallic bag, slipped on my favorite Ralph Lauren silver wedge sandals and wore this blue and white polka-dot halter dress with a billowy skirt that I topped off with a little short-sleeve white cropped jacket. I felt summery dujour ;)
I hate to be cold! I hate the feeling of shivering and having my nose & fingers freezing outside in the bitter cold winter wind and air. In New York, the winter and colder months feel just so long and so intense that when we get humidity-free warm summer-like days - it's a gift!
The stores here rushed (in August) to put out the winter weather clothing and some stores even had Halloween things out on Labor Day. Seriously???? Can't they just WAIT until October 1st?? I don't know about you, but I like enjoying the seasons until the last moment and slowly easing into the next. For me, Autumn doesn't really truly begin until October 1st and the few days before it are when we ease in. I'll be ready to greet fall starting next Thursday/Friday ;)
Was watching my recorded eps of Regis & Kelly tonight and, in this morning's last segment of the show, they had this psychic medium come on the show who can see dead ghosts! He spoke to audience and staff members about what their dearly departed were trying to let them know. Was eerie how accurate this guy was.......kinda makes you wonder do people really live on in some way after death or is this guy just imagining it all and picking up on people's memories and energies in a psychic sense and believing it's their loved ones but simply hallucinating that?
No rumination for me tonight - super tired from my late night last night and going to bed now. *HUGS* to one and all! Hope you're all havin' a great night!
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
11:10 p.m.
After work tonight, I headed over to Park Avenue around 6:30 p.m. to attend this networking event for Indian female attorneys hosted by the South Asian Women's Leadership Forum - it was fantastic! I met so many great Indian women ranging from those who were brand new to law and who had just taken the bar exam this summer - and others who had worked in law for years. If you know me, you know I never attend these things cause I'm too busy focusing on all my other activities, but because this was law-related and Indian-related, I figured 'why not?'
All in all, I had a blast and wore my poor little feet out in my 4-inch Kenneth Cole chocolate leather heels - well worth it. I'm home now and battling a sore throat, stuffy nose and trying to control the sneezing. Drinking tea and relaxing before I get up tomorrow morning and do it all over again.
Hope you all are havin' an awesome night! *HUGS* to one and all.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Meteorite Falls in Peru and sickens 600
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
08:32 p.m.
"A fireball fell from the sky and slammed into southern Peru over the weekend, creating a huge crater that emitted a sickeningly smelly gas . . . More than 600 villagers fell ill . . . Video reports from the scene, near the remote Andean village of Carancas along Peru's border with Bolivia, showed what appeared to be a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide), 20-foot-deep (6-meter-deep) impact crater with a bubbling pool of water at the bottom. Authorities said that the crater was made Saturday by a falling meteorite. Agence France Presse quoted a local official, Marco Limache, as saying that 'boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby.' Limache told RPP that the gases emanating from the crater caused nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and stomach pain — so much so that authorities were considering calling a state of emergency. The newspaper La Republica reported that seven policemen became ill and were taken to a hospital." Read the Full Story - there is also a video of the meteorite and crater.
Not often that a huge meteorite and crater like that makes the news.
Went jogging at 6:15 on this beautiful pre-autumn evening and the white half-moon was out....it lent such a magical effect.....the geese were still puttering away in the woods before the lake....funny how I don't see them splashing or swimming in the lake anymore - maybe it's too cold? I'm sadly awaiting their departure - once they're gone, it means winter is about to set in...
jogged uphill to my first ever kindergarten school which we coincidentally now live near so many years later....was a surreal feeling of almost like having come back full circle though not quite ;) Now just got outta the shower and am going to have my mom's delicious dinner! :D One of my friends at work brought me delicious challah bread from her mom who made it in honour of Rosh Hashanah - my mom and dad ate it as soon as I came home from work tonight - they love it as much as I do ;)
Tonight is an archaeology night. I was supposed to go to a lecture at Columbia University tonight on the Inka and how they amassed their knowledge but wasn't feeling up to it and decided to come home instead....good decision....I loved my jog and think I'll spend the night munching on challah and beef curry and reading my new issue of Archaeology Magazine and catching up on all the latest discoveries.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
10:52 p.m.
many years ago, I wrote a song for Ricky that I planned to sing to him on our wedding day as I walked down the aisle to him. I wrote it for him while he still lived on 23rd Street....
tonight....the words of that song I wrote so long ago, have run through my head a million times.....the music would be violins and cellos and bass.....I would be asking the musicians I perform with, a string quartet, to perform it in the church.......
the words now....seem to carry even more meaning....the melody and words sing in my head...so beautifully.....it is one of the most beautiful, meaningful and heartfelt songs I've ever written.....my gift to him....
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Saturday, September 15, 2007
11:59 p.m.
just got home - it's past midnight and I have had such a busy and full Saturday. Got up around 10am, had mummy's yummy upa mav, made vienna mousse coffee and read the paper, then got ready and headed out upstate to North Salem to take the members of the local Japanese Anime and Manga meetup group I started this summer to the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden. Today was the opening day of a new exhibit, so we were treated to delicious free food of various deli meats, cheese, crackers and wine; we strolled the gardens, had food at their cafe and then attended the Japanese Tea Ceremony class which was really cool! Afterwards, I drove back home and caught the train into the city for my co-worker Kerri's "Wii" party. All my friends from work were there: Mark, Greg and his girlfriend Terry, Stephanie and her brother Quincy were all there and we had a blast! After that, around 9, Kerri and I went to see if we could catch my new guitarist playing at an Open Mic - turns out the show ended at 9pm but I found him and his friends outside the place and they invited us to have dinner at this Indian restaurant by 31st and 5th Avenue. The group is entirely made up of Indian musicians and I had to much fun meeting them. Tomorrow I have to get up early to go to Chinese class in Chinatown - 2nd week of class and I can't wait to learn to read, write and speak Mandarin and to see my friends Chelsea and Luis. Time for bed. *HUGS* to all!
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The Dark is Rising - read the books - don't bother with the movie
Friday, September 14, 2007
9:49 p.m.
I don't believe this. My absolute favorite book series from when I was little, Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising', has been made into a movie to be released October 5, 2007. I saw it in the paper this morning and was completely excited and happy. But then, tonight, just now actually, I watched the trailer for the movie - and it's ALL WRONG!! They took the book and totally changed really important elements! Will Stanton is supposed to be an 11 year old British boy who is very, very close to his family and intelligent and mature. He's very serious and dedicated to his task as one of the Light - ancient ones who exist in the world always and who must do battle with the Dark. His interactions with his family and Britain is what makes the book so beautiful, along with how he learns about his powers through the Book of Gramayre (which is completely left out). The movie makes him American and...well..dumbs it down into some kind of fun kids fantasy movie but it doesn't do the book justice at all! It's AWFUL! How could they take a beautiful book and change it so drastically?????? :( I'm so disappointed. SO many people are going to see previews for this film and think this is what the books are and that's just not the case. I read an interview in which the guy says that Susan Cooper wishes they had been faithful to the book. I wish so too!
Whoever is reading this, go out and get, or order online, The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. Don't spoil yourself by reading anything about the series other than what I've pasted here (they're not really spoilers). The Dark is Rising is the second of 5 books in the series and the one I recommend you start with because the first book (Over Sea, Under Stone) isn't the best way to start the series and should be read perhaps after 'Greenwitch'. The series just gets better and better from there. Read in this order: The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and last Silver on The Tree (and if you want to, Over Sea, Under Stone).
When I was little (11/12 years old) and finished the last book (Silver on the Tree) in the Dark is Rising Series, I went to the library at school and asked the librarians to help me find the author's address and wrote a letter to Susan Cooper and cried, and cried and cried as I wrote it because I was soooooooo heartbroken that the series ended. I asked her to write more of the story, to not let Will's adventures end there because the Dark always existed in the world, I argued. I also wrote some crazy nonsense things a child will write - things like I thought she was one of the Light. LOL!!!! :) She wrote me back a beautiful letter along with a pamphlet about her as an author, and asked me to read her book 'Seaward' - which I never did because I was so upset that she would not write more of Dark is Rising. She told me Seaward would help me see why the series had to end there. I was stubborn and refused. I remain so ;) But that just shows you that my love for this series goes way way back. It had everything I ever loved - battles between light and dark, British legends (Arthurian tie-ins) and a main character (will stanton) who I really identified with back then. I own several copies of the various books in the series because they printed different editions that were all so beautiful. For example, they don't print this particular style of the Silver on the Tree the last book in the series, anymore, but I own that edition as well as the ones it's most commonly seen in or this edition of Greenwitch I own and of The Grey King. Thank goodness I found and bought those way back when I did. I re-ran into them during my college days.
With my own books and fantasy series I am writing, I never want to relinquish creative rights/control in any derivative works (movies, plays, animated adaptations etc.) because these people will be really irreverent to the material and just do what they think works to make the product sell as a movie - they don't care about being faithful to the book and to the writer. I hate that.
I think the same is true about music and the songwriter. Some people I'd spoken to in the past wanted to turn me into some kind of "image" of what they thought I should be as an artist instead of what I wanted to be. I learned early on to only work with people who would allow me to be who I was and would respect my talent and my values and wholeheartedly support them, instead of trying to tame or change them. In music, I think you can only be truly successful if you are authentic to who you are - no one can point a finger at you and say you're trying to be something you're not.
Wow this was a super long entry. I'm going to have some dinner and watch my recorded ep of Regis & Kelly and go to bed. *HUGS* to all!
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
9:30 p.m.
my friend Raoul in Canada is submitting my videos from my performances last year to this popular Indian website. I didn't think I could send him any other than what I'd uploaded to YouTube.com because the videos were all on my computer which crashed and died this past New Year's. Well - I remembered that my friend Kerri from work had made this DVD last year after recording my performance on her camera. I searched everywhere and found the DVD and bought Ultra Video Splitter and spent the whole night tonight splitting brand new videos from the DVD! :)
Just listening to my performances from last September made me so "wow...I sounded GOOD yo!" :) LOL! :) I performed really, really well that night - my voice was rich and strong, on key and I'm going to ask my friend Paul at work (he's a rapper/hip hop artist) to set me up with his friend who does beats on the keyboard - I need a keyboard accompaniment and want to get back out very soon performing again.
If and when those videos are up, I'll post a link to them here.
Darlene oh god you have no idea how much I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee christmas in NYC! There's no where else on earth I'd rather be during Christmas than HERE! :) And WHEN, pray tell, ARE we going to hang out? I'm usually the one with the super busy schedule - where are you!? :) *HUGS* Sean LOL! What's your 1st class? Ramona hahaha thanks! Not fast enough in my eyes ;) i wanted the bridesmaid and everything DONE by November - I think I can still do it ;) A lot of people who're Christian here in the U.S. also have to take a course and get a certificate before they can get married by their church as well. How is your new job in the city going? Callie sad but true huh? How're you otherwise? Hope all is well! Azure Kaze yeah, unfortunately seems to be the case...how're you? What've you been upto lately? MILLIE I haven't seen you in so long! How're you my favorite little barista!!! What's new in your world? Marcia where have you been!??? I change the comment board thing ages ago! :) I see college really HAS taken all your time! :) *HUGS* How did you test in Int'l Pol. Econ go? That sounds like SUCH an interesting class - I took a similar class back in college myself - you must be having SO MUCH FUN! I want details! Are you ever online? IM me on AIM or something! :)
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
11:13 p.m.
what a full day I had. Work in the morning at the office became going to a deposition on the east side which was enjoyable and then going to get my engagement dress altered at my tailors back on the west side. My engagement dress is a gorgeous strapless orange and gold creation I bought 2 years ago with beading across the bodice as well as on the long gold train - perfect for October and autumn. After work, headed back to the east side to get my haircut and after a stop at starbucks for a 'short, decaf, soy pumpkin spice latte' (gotta love their seasonal specials), attended a special meeting of Amnesty International focusing on Children's Rights.
As many of you know, I've long been interested in advocating for children's right but couldn't find a proper venue to take action. Right now, organizations are focusing on the issue of child sex trafficking. I posted here a few months ago about the Red Light CHildren Campaign and how they were working to stop the child sex industry internationally as well as domestically. Well tonight I proposed that AI actually work with lawyers who are members who want to do pro bono work to help children who are victims of this horrible practice. Turns out many children, right here in New York state, are arrested and charged as prostitutes even though they're 13, 14 (definitely underage) but were given an ID that says they're 18 (or 25) and that, of those found, the ones from other countries (trafficking victims) are given full legal rights for being international victims but the domestic American victims get jailed and charged for prostitution when, in fact, they were forced or coerced into this business. These kids need legal services by people who care about stopping this practice. I want to be one of the lawyers doing this. I'm not sure how to make this happen - it's not something I can devote a full-time job to - it has to be something I help out with on my own time as much as I can - but it has to be done and the more lawyers I get into this - the better. I told the group leader of tonight's AI meeting I'd come up with a proposal. Think I'll work on it tomorrow.
I spend so much time writing children's stories because I want to encourage the innocence and imagination of the child....I, myself, am a child at heart. So, when I learn of these atrocities being committed upon innocent little children - as young as 4 or 5 years old...it makes me sick....it makes me cry. If we don't do something, who will? I learned tonight that TWO(2) MILLION children are victims of the sex trade. That's 2-million children who have been abused sexually. It makes me want to do something to help the victims and make sure it doesn't happen to any other child in our world.
I just got back home a little while ago and it's been a long day and I'm super-tired. Thank you to everyone whose left me comments - I'll respond to all messages tomorrow night. *HUGS* to all!
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
07:25 p.m.
I think the cicadas have disappeared. I can't hear them anymore. Another sign that the season shall soon change. Already one of the trees on the southside of my home is shedding its leaves. I'm thankful that all the others are still lush and green. I want to hold onto the summer and its feeling for as long as I possibly can....
I see the beauty in the seasons and their change, I love them all, actually; but, I am always, always sad when summer changes into fall and when winter sets in. There is something so...sad and foreboding about it. Summer is so happy, full of family and fun and sweet days outdoors with iced tea and lying on my hammock (like I did early Sunday morning watching the day rise over me). The fall brings with it the chill, dark clothing, and the disappearance of the birds and animals I so love to watch outside my home.
I can still hear the crickets chirping now and the many other insects buzzing in the woods. I love my home and neighborhood and its abundant wildlife. It gives me constant inspiration for the fantasy world story I have been writing. I'm still on the lookout for the coyote that visited last year.
Now, almost like an answer to my wish, the rainclouds that poured buckets of rain today have given away to setting rays of the sun....the sky is all pink, gold, maroon and violet now.......so beautiful....
I know I'll have to accept the changing of the seaons - they come whether we want them to or not, whether we're ready for them or not....kind of like the big changes in life....I'm only realizing now, at this age, how very much I like things to stay the way they are....here in my happy home, with my loving parents and my sisters and with my loving Ricky in my life.....I can honestly say that for all my shortcoming, for all my failures and disappointments and wishes that things could be different and better, right now, right here, I am truly blessed, loved and happy. Things can always be better but right now, right here....they are good enough.
Night is falling and the sky has become indigo....it's getting darker with every passing second. I sit here in my room with 3 of my 4 windows open, no lights on, cocooned by the oncoming darkness and listening to the sounds of the birds in the woods and relishing this feeling - this magic. This time is mine and mine alone.....in the distant road, I can hear the cars traveling home...to their own families....I'm gong to go downstairs and join mine and have dinner and come back here and write the entire night. The great thing about rainy days and nights is that they are beautiful writing times! :)
Wait...the cicadas - I *do* hear them! :) They must have been taking one of their few breaks ;) hahahaha I am so happy :) summer shall still be around for a little while longer....I shall prepare for the fall though....
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Monday, September 10, 2007
11:26 p.m.
came home from work tonight and after saying hello to the folks and having some of mummy's yummy dinner, went straight to my computer and worked on my fantasy world story. I had last touched it back on August 4th in order to move on to the other books and stories I had to complete, but, now, I am ready to head back into that fantasy world and take it to the next phase of the story. In writing tonight, I surprised myself by how quickly I was able to come up with new plot twists and weave in legends and mythology along with actual knowledge of the real animal world and the way it works.
For example - geese. Did you know that geese, because they are big birds, take responsibility for the safety of other birds when there are predators around? When danger appears, the geese spread their wings, honk loudly and repeatedly in warning, and stomp toward the direction of safety, herding the rest of the flock in front of them. (See Geese Make Good Watch Dogs by Kristie Leigh Karns.)
Geese, ducks and swans will play a large part in one of the upcoming arcs of my fantasy world (they're intelligent creatures who have their own kingdom within the story) and I researched their personalities and habits tonight as I wrote. Loved it.
That's one of the most wonderful things about writing. Not only are you allowing yourself a creative outlet, but you learn so much about the things you already *would* love to learn about but never get the chance or motivation to.
My leading heroine of the story is a healer and I studied a ton of material on medicinal herbs and plants and the story is so much more richer for my knowledge. So am I! :)
Just got out of the shower and am heading to bed. Long day and tomorrow is 9/11....always a sad day to remember.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
10:21 p.m.
I’ve been listening to these new bands and artists I found on Pandora.com today who I LOVE!! Sugar Cult - their song ‘Made a Mistake’ is *awesome*!! I also recommend Breaking Benjamin’s song ‘Follow’ and 12 STONES’ song ‘The Way I feel’ - also check out Matt Nathanson’s ‘Sad Songs.’ These are songs full of quality and substance and by musicians who are dedicated to their art and are not doing music solely for commercial reasons.
I only support artists who work hard to be artists and develop their music and improve their talents. I, myself, work hard every day to be a better singer, writer, performer and work on my songs and stories - I'm dedicated to these passions and they're part of who I am - I don't do it just to make money or sell albums. Commerciality - as pretty as it is - is fluffy and empty if it is without true substance to back it up. Madonna was a commercial pop success because she had true artistry and substance to back her up - she was dedicated to being an artist. I believe in that and that's how I wish to be.
Music is about your soul, your passion, your heart. It’s about conveying a message YOU have to deliver by song and dance. To do that takes serious work and dedication. If you make it big in the world with commercial success - great - but don’t let success and money take you away from what truly is important: family, love, moral values and being true to your art, your passion, your soul.
If I ever make it big - as either a singer or author or both - I pray that I always stay humble and dedicated to being a writer and singer/songwriter - or whatever it is I decide to pursue. I don’t think I would ever throw my career away for the love of alcohol, partying or drugs. I’m not that kind of woman, at all.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
11:16 p.m.
That bloody alarm beeped all night and all day. None of pop's friends could come to help me fix the alarm last night and I had to sleep in the basement (was kinda fun actually). I could still hear it lightly which was problematic - even with the doors all shut, but I was able to block it out by turning my right ear into the couch I was sleeping on downstairs. Back in 6th grade I had an ear infection in my left ear that left a very tiny hole in my left eardrum and a very tiny amount of bone grew over it partially since then. As a result, my hearing in my left ear - which had been my dominant ear until 6th grade - became diminished a bit in comparison to my right ear. That's why, last night, I was able to block the beeping alarm by tucking my right ear into the couch so its better hearing couldn't pick up the light beeping - my left ear wasn't as strong to pick it up, so I slept soundly :)
Woke up naturally to the sunlight coming in through the upper windows and when I walked up out of the basement, the blasted alarm was still beeping. I had gotten used to ignoring the dang thing, though, and promptly returned to ignoring its persistent horn and made coffee and had upa mav and read the paper. After doing like a billion loads of laundry and cleaning the house thoroughly, I went outside and slept on the sofa swing chair in the early afternoon. Could still hear the beeping lightly but the sound of the woods and birds drowned most of it out and I slept pleasantly. Woke up to Papa calling and saying his friend Michael would be coming over soon to fix the alarm. "THANK GOD!!!" He arrived, fixed the god-forsaken thing and left. I promptly left the house and went shopping at Home Goods and Stop&SHop and brought groceries and everything I know my mom and pop will love when they come back from Florida tomorrow (they were away for the past week vacationing in Florida). Mekha's with me now and Mili'll be coming tomorrow back. Also picked up a ton of halloweeny mugs, plates and a huge pitcher and serving dish - when you go to HomeGoods, you never leave with just what you came to purchase - you always find SOMETHING else you just gotta have - or, at least I do ;)
On Friday during lunch, I walked to Borders bookstore at Madison Square Garden and picked up this novel by JACK KEROUAC called 'ON THE ROAD.' I had read about it in that day's amNewYork newspaper. Turns out it was the 50 year anniversary of the publishing of 'ON THE ROAD' written by an author who wrote about NYC and lived here and loved it. A man after my own heart :) The paper quoted one line from the end of the book which was what made me decide I had to buy it - with Kourac saying goodbye to his friend Dean Moriarty and watching the sun go down: "And I sit on the old broken down river pier watching the long, long skies of New Jersey and sense all the raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast." Beautiful, beautiful writing.
Tomorrow morning I go back to Mandarin classes in Chinatown! Both my friends Chelsea and Luis signed up for the classes again too and I'm so excited to have us all together again! I loved going to class and afterwards hitting up a different place for lunch! :)
I'm off for a quick warm shower and to bed. *HUGS* to all and good night! :)
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Friday, September 7, 2007
09:26 p.m.
this is so not cool. I came home after 8 today to find that all the smoke alarms were beeping like crazy but there was no smoke, no fire - everything was fine. My dad called his friend Mario to come over - he believes it's the battery of this one alarm that's beeping and blinking red - it's up on this hugely high ceiling in the main entrance hall to our house and papa doesn't own a home-ladder that can reach that high enough. I've taken every alarm in the house out except for this one beeping monstrosity. I am going nuts. Seriously nuts. Plus, I walked into a ginormous spider's web in the garage while trying to work with the electric box and switch the alarms off there. Ugh.
Have you 'Sloohed' yet? If you love astronomy like I do, then you have to try the *LIVE* telescope missions at Slooh.com! Sign up for a free trial and see nebulae & galaxies right on your computer *LIVE*! I'm there most evenings & weekends. Join the Chat!
Since 1998, I have been designing websites. The following are almost every main site I have ever made.
A Dream I Dream
My personal page with pictures of me and everything I love!
TooyaandAya.com
Devoted to Touya/Tooya and Aya of Ayashi no Ceres!
UsagiandMamoru.com My favorite and best couple ever! Sailor Moon's Usagi and Mamoru (Serena and Darien)
MiakaandTamahome.com My tribute to Fushigi Yuugi's main couple who always have my heart, Miaka and Tamahome!
Kare Kano Love
A Miyazwa and Arima ML - discuss everything Kare Kano here!
Favorite Manga and Anime most everything in Ribon and Nakayoshi!
Alice 19th
Anatolia Story a.k.a. Red River
Ayashi no Ceres/Ceres Celestial Legend
Basara
B.B. Explosion
Call Me Princess
Catcher in the Horoscope or ZODIAC P.I.
Crescent Moon
Cyber Idol MINK
Delicious! (Yui Ayumi)
Dream Saga
Fruits Basket
Fushigi Yuugi
Gals / Super Gals!
Hana Kimi
Hot Gimmick
IMADOKI
Instant Teen (Otona Ni Nuts or Just Add Nuts)
Juvenile Orion
Kaikan Phrase or SENSUAL PHRASE
Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne
Kanata Kara a.k.a. From Far Away
Kare Kano
Kodomo no Omocha
Magic Knights Rayearth
Maria (Naoko Takeuchi)
Marmalade Boy
Max Lovely
Mint No Bokura
Miracle Girls
MODEL
More Starlight to Your Heart
Mouryou Kiden
Neck and Neck
One
Ororon
Othello
Otona Ni Nuts 0r INSTANT TEEN - JUST ADD NUTS
(the) Queen's Knight
Psychic Academy
Random Walk
SailorMoon
Saint Tail / St. Tail
Saiyuki
Sweet & Sensitive
Tokyo Mew Mew
Ultra Maniac
Vampire Game
Wild Act
Words I live by:
Man is never so tall as when he kneels before God - never so great as when he humbles himself before God. And the man who kneels to God can stand up to anything. -Louis H. Evans
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt
"All human wisdom is contained in these two words: wait and hope." - The Count of Monte Cristo
"The winds of God are always blowing but it is up to you to set the sails." - UNKNOWN
"The only dream worth having, I told her, is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead. [Which means:] To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget." - Arundhati Roy
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jogging, Martial Arts Kickboxing, Dance - currently middle eastern dance & bellydance, Tennis, Singing (of course ;) and working on my songs, Reading & writing about all the things I am interested and passionate about, watching tv and movies, painting, drawing, astronomy, rollerblading (and trying to get better at it and ice skating!), obsessive anime and manga fan and professional web designing, ancient studies / ancient civilizations, history and archaeology, world mythology, politics and world affairs, international law, human rights, studying many languages (have studied and continue to study spanish, mandarin chinese, japanese and hindi).
"In ancient Rome, huge feasts were held and houses and halls were decorated with boughs of evergreen trees. In pagan Scandinavia, yule logs were burned because they believed the log could magically make the sun brighter. Europe and many other places still burn the Yule log, but it is now just a symbolic gesture. Scandinavians also listened to minstrel poets sing about ancient legends."
