Monday, January 28, 2008

Pink nail polish is good for health

For those of you who wear nail polish, I would like you all to start wearing pink nail polish. There are rich health benefits to pink nail polish. To those of you who don't wear nail polish, I suggest starting off with pink nail polish. All non-pink nail related problems could disappear, and your nails could once again come to the pink of your youth and prime.

Okay...Okay I am coming to the story. My daughter and I went strolling through the aisles aimlessly one rainy day. She walks up to the cosmetic section, and picks up pink nail polish. I asked her why she needs nail polish in the first place. Her face had a serious expression while she explains:

Amma, I need this pink nail polish because it is good for health!

Everytime I pick up vegetables, fruits or any produce, she asks me why. I explain that I am buying it because it is good for health. I guess she thought it was a use-it-for-all-occasions type of statement - sigh!

Friday, January 25, 2008

There was a group called 'Pessimism'
They used a term: 'deadlines'.

There was another group called 'Optimism'
They used terms: 'achieve-lines' or 'goal-lines'.

Guess the happier group (there is something in a name don't you think?!)
Deadlines sound so ominous for something you are trying to achieve in a regular work-day.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

What is a widget?

A widget is an application you can easily stick to your own blog page - it is a small window that has been programmed to show you what you want. Check out the Dilbert widget on my blog. The dilbert widget is free for downloading now, and is available in various sizes from http://widget.dilbert.com

How cool is that?!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Has anyone eaten Durian?

Durian: The King of Fruits

I spent the whole day with my nose puckered up to avoid the strong stench emanating from my neighbouring cubicle. To me the smell (or stench!) was over-bearing. A close enough description would be: When one takes heavy antibiotics, and also take B-complex tablets along with it, this stench seems to be there in one's pee! In one word: unpleasant!

My colleagues told me it was Durian flavoured wafers that gave that smell. They tried hard to sell durian cookies to me - if you can just shut the smell out, and eat it, it will be lovely. One or to adventurous ones tried it, and endorsed their claims of it being very tasty. But my nose (I have had reason to comment on the length of my dear bulb on several occasions, so I shall refrain) is just too sharp for that sort of thing. I wiki-ed Durian, and found it looks like a jackfruit, and is supposed to taste great.

Interesting piece of info that I could not cross-verify anywhere: apparently eating durian in Thailand in Public is banned, though Thailand is a major exporter of Durian - all thanks to its distinctive odour!

If anyone does try Durian despite the smell, do let me know how it tastes.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

"Hey! How are you?" I hear a genuinely surprised voice. A familiar face comes into focus, and my bleary mind finally places the face as one of the commuters I used to see everyday on the public transit. I remember talking to her once or twice, but the details of the conversations are blotched out. Gone. Erased. Clean slate.

My expression has turned from a dazed one into a smile that shows vague recognition, as I reply - "Good...how are you? I haven't see you in a long time!"

I can feel my nerves rattle like a toy held over the head of a giggling 4 month old, as she remembers how far my workspot is from the transit terminal, the name of my office, and even my daughter. She fondly asks after my daughter, and I am still trying to get her name! How I wish my brain had a search functionality that could access archived areas of the "past" database.

I remember she has children, and ask vague questions about their well-being. I hope she doesn't sense my desperation, but I am sure she does. I hastily take leave, still wracking my brain. It starts with an 'N' - I start down the path of listing all the names I know starting with 'N' and cross them out with plausible explanations. I know this will nag me till the next time a similar incident happens, and I start out with another alphabet.

I read somewhere that names can be remembered if you wish to remember it. But here is the thing: I seldom ask anyone's name with the intention of not remembering it. I want to remember it, I can't.

Any pointers to help me would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Disneyland: A trip to the magical kingdom

Every time I go to Disneyland, I become a small girl again. This time was more magical than ever. You see this time I truly had a little princess with me.

One of the things I find about Disneyland is that we can never be dressed right for the place. To elaborate further, this time my sleigh(read: bulky stroller) was loaded with woollen like it was truly travelling to and from the North Pole. We had gone when the low temperature in Bay area was hovering around 0 degrees celcius. So, we dressed in layers, took along additional jackets and coats that would have put an eskimo watching a polar bear in the cold to shame. Guess what? The day was so fine, we were hot in t-shirts and jeans! So, I spent a wonderful day in a wonderful land with a huge bag containing jackets strung across my back! This...when I had the foresight to check the weather prior to the trip, and the temperature indicated a low of 3 degrees celcius on the aforesaid day - sigh!

The last time I went was August of 2005, and we spent the majority of the day skulking around in the shade, and fanning ourselves with the disney map because the temperature hovered around 90 degrees fahrenheit! We got active only by 6p.m. and rushed from corner to corner after that.

While I always enjoyed the music at Disneyland, this time it was more meaningful because my daughter was singing all these songs at home, and for the first time I knew all the songs being sung! I gaped at the parade, and loudly sighed everytime I saw a character I knew my daughter would recognize. Kee was so excited with all the activity in the morning, that she fell into a deep slumber just as the parade started. The parade went like this:
" Oh .. see snow white. Oh no....kunju please get up. Oh..mickey mouse. Oh no...please get up"
I admire myself for mentioning said phrases for every set in the parade tirelessly much to the chagrin of folks around me. At one point, I thought the parade was going to stop, and Mickey would come by and say, "Don't worry - she can see me in the evening, can't she?!"

I even tried to pluck her eyelids open, but she wouldn't budge. I call myself a dutiful mother because I wriggled through the crowds, and found her a spot on the dustbin where she could see the 6 p.m. parade from - then I stopped whining about her missing the parade.

To beat the crowd weaving out after the fireworks, we left before the fireworks, and asked a Disney employee how to get to our parking lot. She helpfully pointed us in exactly the opposite direction, and we ran and jumped into the trolley - daughter, stroller, bag of jackets, old parents and all. We realised what happened after reaching the destination, and doubled back to the park entrance. Now, we ran towards the right direction, this time without opening out the stroller. I don't know why we did not think of opening the stroller, but my husband ran carrying the bulky stroller folded and held most uncomfortably. I shall have to save this for another blog, but there is no comfortable way to carry a stroller and a car seat!

I ran behind him carrying the following:
1) My 3 year old daughter who was in splits laughing. I don't know why she found my predicament so amusing, maybe it felt like a bumpy safari - I would never know, but I couldn't help laughing with her too!
2) A huge bag weighing around about the same as my daughter with the jackets for protecting us against the cold on my back. I must mention I was sweating profusely with all the running!
3) A camera
4) A handbag

I was running at a pretty decent pace. That explains why people were staring at me like I was an ostrich taking weight training and sprinting to an extreme!

Disney managed to spin its magic as always, and we reluctantly plucked ourselves away from the magical kingdom to the real world in the right trolley towards the right parking lot in splits of laughter that had other tired folks jealous.