actuality.log

There haven’t been updates recently because I’ve been doing stuff. My new years eve was spent at this marathon comedy session at a neighbouring comedy club. It was very good, but not awesome. I can’t laugh-laugh at non-relationship humour anymore. Coupling and Sex and the City have spoiled me silly.

I’ve been reading a lot. I can’t believe how much fun that’s been. My current reading list includes books on photography, classics like “Great Expectations”, and ridiculously advanced mechanics books that regard General Relativity style non-linear field theories in physics as “fairly elementary”. Believe it or not, I now actually feel like I’m getting close to entering the “Gates of Coolness”, where I am actually comfortable with my comprehension of things around me and my ability to express them succinctly.

I’ve also begun to see why I’m working on a “Doctor of Philosphy” and not “Uber master of this sub-subset of science”. A lot of things are beginning to make sense, and reading’s helping. Needless to say, I’ve thought of a cheeky title for the dissertation, as well as a humourous disclaimer, but I seriously doubt I’d get away with having them in there.

I am uninspired, but happy. Actually, I am inspired, just not in a way that I thought I wanted to be. Speaking of which, I’ve almost homed in on the primary trait that’d determine whether I’d love to spend the rest of my life with someone, or not. I can’t word it yet, but it’s now a crystalline concept.

And that feels good.

If you look carefully at the word resolution, it just means “resolve to do something”. No one ever said anything about that something being good. So, I plan to make 2005 the year of superficiality and self-centeredness. Without further ado, here are my resolutions for this new year.

– Since we’ve worked long and hard on our insides (and admittedly peaked), from now on we work on the outside. The deal will be to get trim and toned (whatever that means). There will be major hair related changes, head, face and body.

– Start learning a dance and pottery.

– Start/Join a band and/or get back to practicing/learning, in earnest, vocals/an instrument.

– Make recent investments on photography things worthwile. Actually read technical things and get better, rather than arbitrarily going out and taking pictures. Start shooting portraits of people. On a related note, fix up portion of studio to actually make it a studio. In other words, work on the “starving artist” image.

– Get done with classes and such so I’m a full fledged researcher sort with no real exam style deadlines, unless of course I go ahead with the masters in math as well.

– Work my way out of this creativity rut. In other words, finish at least one major creative project.
* at least one of four books,
* learn portrait photography (as mentioned above), meet hot wannabe model chick
* figure out how to realize the comic (whose pilot and first few slides are in my head and on drawing boards around the house),
* learn a form of animation (and I’m leaning toward stop-motion animation) and exploit it,
* frequent comedy clubs more, and not just as a patron.

– Needless to say, exploit all the above to boost my image, superficially.

– No donating a third of what I make. Because I am a person, and should have needs too. If not, I should fake them.

If you stay tuned, you will see how I fared with last years resolutions. Probably tomorrow, or something.

Since I don’t understand the concept of self restraint, or bankruptcy, I now own this.

I’m so glad this happened.

I was having some issues with her weight and general friendliness. I didn’t particularly peel through the rough exterior to get a peek at her sensitive insides. Though I prided myself at being able to ‘push all the right buttons’, she was a struggle from the get go. It always seemed like so much work to get the response I wanted, and even that seemed unnatural and forced.

I was, at points, beginning to question whether the initial attraction clouded the harsh reality, she just wasn’t right for me. But a most remarkable thing has happened over the past few days. We decided to use this time off to attempt to get closer. I just knew getting away for a long weekend and spending a lot of time together will turn things around. I got to hold her close in ways and do things I hadn’t imagined possible before. It felt perfect. I got to know so much more about her than I had over all the other time I’d spent with her.

I realise how into her I am. How much the ex doesn’t matter. How special it’s capable of being if the settings are right. I am quite certain she’s the one I want.

For now, anyway.

Did I say ‘her’ all along? I meant ‘it’, my new camera. The old one, though still insanely awesome in my heart, is dead. And so begins a new dawn.

Another day, another relationship.

(Yes, I am a geek. And I need a life.)

An earthquake of magnitude 8.9 on the Richter scale (read insane panic and horror) hit somewhere in the sea near north Indonesia. That would have been OK in itself, considering the lives of a few fishes aren’t the highest on my priority list right now, but it caused Tsunami waves crashing into parts of the continent. The current death toll is over 9000 people all over south Asia, over 2000 of that in India, and over 1600 of that in coastal Tamil Nadu (read home home).

From the BBC, in India,

“More than 2000 km of southern coast swamped by tidal waves, including states of Tamil Nadu — whose capital, Madras, was particularly badly hit … water came several kilometres inland.”

I am from Madras. I have family there, people living close to beaches.

“Early morning joggers along the beaches in Madras say huge columns of water surged towards the land without warning.”

I meditated at the beach every morning around sunrise for a good chunk of my life. And no, I don’t jog.

“A nuclear reactor in the state has been shut down after sea water entered an estate housing scientists.”

Yes, we’re semi-advanced, technically.

“Bodies of fishermen are said to be strewn on beaches along the 2000 km southern Indian coastline.”

I don’t know any fisher(wo)men personally.

I know you are probably waiting all eagerly for the conclusion of my earlier science history lesson, but you’ll have to wait a little bit more. This is just too easy. And oh, if you’re so inclined to celebrate such things, Merry Christmas.

A few days ago (I don’t really remember how few), the CEO of bazee (some small Indian online store thing that claims to have made it big since being bought by ebay) was arrested (and later released on bail) for peddling porn. Since I am sure, with no real research, that the Indian laws on distributing porn are nebulous and vague, it saw no real difference between this man actually peddling anything and some random person using his site’s services to auction/sell porn.

Was any of this the site’s parent company’s CEO’s responsibility? Did he deserve to be arrested? Who cares, none of this is really the interesting bit, not by a long shot.

The video in question was apparently this THIRTY-SEVEN SECOND clip involving a couple of high-school (seniors?) sweethearts at Delhi Public School pleasuring themselves orally. The deal here being, they’re not legally-old-enough and the video itself was taken without her knowledge.

A FULL THIRTY-SEVEN SECOND clip.

This bloke shot his activities with his sweetheart on a PHONE and distributed the content via MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING. Here I am, in a “first world” country and everything, and the phone services aren’t that advanced, for any affordable plan. My god-damn phone can’t take a clip that lasts more than 7-8 seconds, even when I GIVE IT A TON OF RAM. And it looks CRAPPY. And I sure as hell can’t “magically send” it to anyone to save my life. Nor will they know what it’s about even if I could, SINCE IT LOOKS CRAPPY.

Seriously now, A FULL THIRTY-SEVEN seconds. Doesn’t anybody take the time to savour anything anymore? But come to think of it, that sounds about right.

Men have issues.

Like unnaturally weak jaws.

Ok, seriously, for real, now. Yes, this was taken without some poor girl’s knowledge, and there is a good chance her life (and the guy’s, and the IIT K dude who sold it, and bazee’s image, and bazee’s CEO) is going to be plagued by said incident. No really, on a more serious note, who cares? Stupid people should be mocked at. If you don’t want to be caught doing something, you don’t do it. Or be smart about it. Like LOOK AROUND. Check out the guy’s phone while you’re checking him out.

I am not really this mean a person, just WTF is going on here? After some thought, it was quite clear.

I always figured I was from some place which frowned upon simple public displays of affection, like holding hands. The thoughts/realizations that things are really extremely different and I was probably “just so undeserving” that I didn’t get to experience squat? got to me. At least I know I wouldn’t have used someone like so, capable phone or not.

And that was the only semi-serious thing in this entire post.

During random browsing, I came across the most amusing ad I’ve seen in a long time. It’s nice to see there are still people out there left with their creativity and a sense of humour.

Taken without permission from Ignited Minds.