Of 30 days challenges...

I was browsing my usual blog reading list this morning and came across this inspiring TED talk by Matt Cutts on trying something new for 30 days. (http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html) What a simple but powerful idea! It talks about simple but sustainable changes for 30 days as a way to build habits whether you want to add or give up something from your life.

I have been having this feeling of being stuck in a mental rut for a while now - everything is great but something that challenges me personally is missing. Sometimes I wonder if this is because we live in the US - all your basic needs are met, the quality of life is amazing, everything is at your fingertips so you finally have time to set personal goals for yourself. I think that's good....this itch to grow. When I was living in India 3 years ago, mundane things like the day to day hassles of just getting to work and back occupied my days...there was hardly any time to think about what I wanted to do. Then maybe, I am just stuck in a rut :)

I have decided to start small and do three things for my first 30 day challenge...these are things that I already do in some way, shape or form but have been unsuccessful in making a habit of even though all 3 things will have lasting benefits on the quality of my life. Here goes:

1. Waking up at 6 am each morning: Sounds pretty simple but if you are me - not. Ask my husband or my boss who sees me walk in at 8.30 am each day.
2. Some form of work-out each day for 30 minutes: Gym, classes, hiking, walk, anything
3. Meditating 20 minutes each day: Important for my sanity and those around me...refer # 1

So, whats your 30 day challenge?

Pliss to give me some coffee!

I feel like a mumbling idiot at Starbucks Coffee...literally. I am sorry Starbucks, I am not a regular at your stores, nor do I know exactly what I want the moment I walk in. Call me slow, but I need to go through the huge menu you have, figure out if I want a latte, a cappuccino, an espresso, a frappuccino, chai latte or a Tall, Grande or Venti size (wait a second, isn't that Italian? Of course I am smart enough to figure out which is which from the price tag but I need a moment). Please tell the person taking my order not to look at me like I descended from some alien spaceship that doesn't speak their language (whaaaat...you don't have a favorite?). I also think your drinks are overpriced although there is a distinct coolness to walking out with a starbucks or just lounging around in the store arising from the aforesaid pricey-ness.

Thank you but I am good with my humble instant Nescafe coffee.

If any of you don't believe me, there is a whole page dedicated to this at http://www.wikihow.com/Order-at-Starbucks. Really??

P.S: Pliss to = Cheesy way of saying  "Please"

Gamers redux

For the last few weeks now, I have been tucking myself in bed to the sound of ecstatic birds and the crash of strategically placed pieces of glass, wood and concrete. There is also the intermittent mutter of disgust, disappointment and occasionally grunt of grim satisfaction. In case you have not figured it out yet, the wife has fallen for the latest mobile game craze - angry birds.

Just so we are clear, my wife is no gamer. But for some reason angry birds has awakened her hidden urge to destroy egg-stealing hogs. So what is it that causes a person, who otherwise has disdain for all forms of gaming, to actually be addicted to one themselves?

There obviously is no formula, otherwise I'd be rich now, but I'd argue that we are now in a position where it is actually possible to create these mass-market game hits. There have been a lot of people making numerous breakthroughs before my wife could take immense pleasure in hurling birds at remorselessly idle pigs.

Availability: In the beginning gaming required that you have a desktop and no human friends. Or have a Playstation and know other people that had no friends. With the smart phone, now having a life is not detrimental to imaginary achievements. Zynga discovered this and has been unbelievably successful (hint Farmville). Mobile games take accessibility to a whole new level.

Believability: "Here, see this triangle - imagine that is a inter-Galactic fighter". Luckily we don't have to do that anymore. There is no need to appeal to the inner child - things in games look as they are supposed to. This isn't photo realism, and it is not expected to be. When the inexplicably flightless birds are raring to hurl themselves, you almost want to help them out. And that has involved a vast number of improvements - experience in making games to enough processing power to support it. Without the 1GHz processors in our mobiles, games would still be leaving a lot to the imagination.

Relateable: Getting things to seem natural is a very difficult task. Cause and effect, it seems, is not that easy with bits and bytes. Early games had to invent arcane rules to compensate. And keeping track of those rules led to the creation of the stereotypical nerd with his glasses and rule books. Angry birds is quite different. It has a flawlessly simple, natural physics engine that responds differently to even minute differences in action. That suddenly makes the game an extension of what people recognize otherwise - making it vastly more relateable.

"I finally understand Civil engineering ... and where to hit to cause the most damage" - this from my wife getting more proficient with her birds. And that is the crux of a good game. All she cares about are the birds, the physics and the app. Hiding the simple fact from my wife, that she is playing a game, has been the biggest success of angry birds. There is a lot that needs to happen, technologically, to be able to achieve that sleight of hand. I think we are there now. Which is why as I am writing this, it still sounds like a war zone in the next seat.

The Fourth Milestone

So once upon a time there was this young girl who always wanted to marry someone who would be loving, caring, understanding, humble, funny, intelligent, not obsessed with career or money and who read books, liked to travel and could have intelligent conversations…one who was on the same “wavelength”. She didn’t know that someone was listening up there and whispered “Granted”.

So babes, here we are – on our fourth anniversary and I thought what better way than to gift you a blog post J Happy Anniversary! I cannot imagine spending my life with anyone else – who else would love a moron like me? We have been through so much with our long distance marriage and now that we are together, the pain just seems sweeter – I am so proud of us!

I don’t think words can express how much you mean to me and how you have enriched me and my life in so many ways…I will give it a try anyways (you think I don’t notice, don’t you?) :)

• For how you stay awake in the morning after the alarm goes off, just to make sure I wake up on time while I try to pretend the alarm never rang
• For how you don’t get mad or don’t even scream at me even though I made you late for many a 8 am meeting, some of them with your boss
• For how you are not vindictive towards anybody
• For how respectful you are towards everyone, no matter their position
• For how you are not obsessed with money and that you believe so strongly in the concept of karma and always want to give back more than what you have received from the universe
• For always how people from different cultures and age groups think you are cool and fun to hang out with
• For indulging all my cousins
• For how much my family loves you
• For how much your family looks up to you
• For the great relationship you have with your brother and how much you mentor him
• For being so amazing with kids and how much they love you instantly
• For being so excited about trying out new things
• For just being so patient when I am being plain obnoxious
• For introducing me to the wonderful world of movies and Battlestar Galactica
• For your photographs!!
• For being so creative and introducing me to the world of blogs & blogging.
• For being a jack of all trades – writing, art, tech, mech, photograpy, cooking everything
• For letting me be such a child sometimes
• For teaching me that shouting is not the way to get your work done or voice heard and that a smile goes a long way
• For making me learn that it is okay to let go sometimes
• For making me less stuck up, less prudish and just more fun
• For giving me the chance to travel so many fun, interesting places with you
• For showing me how to appreciate the simple pleasures of life and be thankful
• For indulging my crazy ever growing shoe collection
• For praising how wonderful my cooking is even if I just microwaved a frozen store bought meal (Can any woman get luckier??)
• For making me a special doughnut uttapam when I was not feeling well
• For making such wonderful dosas, sambhar & aloo masala :)

 We must truly be blessed…Here’s to us and many many more to come!

Lots and lots of love

Bugs

The Magnet Travelogues

Nrk is strange sort of a pack rat - he collects the weirdest things - boarding passes from every flight he has ever taken (over 150); plastic cards from grocery story membership to expired credit cards; and touristy brochures. The collectible I find most normal though are his magnets.

R stumbled upon this hobby when he started traveling extensively for work few years ago...I am not much of a collector but who knew that the ubiquitous magnet could be such a great story teller? Now no magnet goes on the fridge without my nod of approval! We usually buy a magnet that most represents a place or reminds us of something special like a view or an activity we enjoyed in that place. It makes for wonderful memories and doubles up as a great conversation starter when friends come over.


My favorites are a Scottish bagpipe that plays "Scotland the Brave" , a flip-flop from Florida, a bunch of magnets reminding us of our wonderful honeymoon in Malaysia, a huge red lobster from Maine and a San Francisco cable car with tiny passengers inside. I will let the pictures do the talking...

One side effect though is that our fridge doors are jam packed with these tiny story-tellers and creak every time I open them. Soon we will need to buy a new fridge coz we aint stoppin' travelin' baby!

Vegas baby!

There is not much that can be said about Vegas, that has not been said before. But having been there fore the first time last week, it is almost worth repeating it all over again. Vegas is simultaneously an embodiment to the success of human endeavor while being a symbol of the excesses that the very same success can bring about.

Vegas is a large city, the most populous in all of Nevada with more than half a million people. Yet when one talks about Vegas, one refers to the 4 mile stretch of land that lies just north of the airport - the Vegas strip - which is home to the probably the heaviest concentrations of hotels, casinos and other tourist attractions. And nowhere is the sharp contrast of a place and its surroundings more palpable than this stretch of land in Vegas. One could argue that the Manhattan in New York presents such a dramatic study in contrasts. But unlike the purity of Vegas, Manhattan is more of a mixed, fluid form of excess. In New York, you will see the worker squeeze past the tourist, the eye-sore next to the latest high-rise.

Vegas doesn't brook such differences. Everyone there is present for just one goal - to have fun. And no matter what that definition of fun is, Vegas is glad to cater to it. Once you are on the strip, it is difficult to imagine and world outside that has other, different demands.

Las Vegas is situated in a desert. One has to but drive a couple of miles east of the strip to see the hard baked earth and its thorny vegetation. On the strip however, the hotels do not even have the small card that says "Save water if you can - reuse towels". Forget conservation, but the lack of acknowledgment of the realities of its location is the cloak that Vegas cheerfully covers itself in, in its pursuit of fun.

The hotels are another study by itself. What would you say of the Venetian, a hotel that borrows so heavily from Italian architectural elements, shamelessly pandering gondola rides to the masses. Do you decry the death of a certain royalty with the jean clad in the marbled halls of the hotel, or do you stand in adoration of the gaudy tribute to the times of yore? What about the tropical forest in the middle of the Flamingo hotel - worry about the waterfalls or just enjoy the paradise walled in concrete?

When a place deviates from its natural center, there are always repercussions. The fact that Vegas has been able to take us so far from reality, for so long, is in itself a tribute to a certain obstinate inertia of human nature. I loved our time at the Sin City, but in a time of duress, it does well to reflect upon the nature of extremes. And no place to do that better, than Fabulous Las Vegas!

The Door Dilemma

Ever wondered what is the perfect distance for you to hold open a door for someone? Its a no-brainer if someone is right behind you - you obviously don't want to smash their noses. Now imagine someone is a bit far off, perhaps enjoying a chat with their friend on their way out from work and you hold open the door as a courtesy and they suddenly realize they need to rush towards the door, with their 3 different bags in tow, friend be damned. By the time they reach you, they are huffing and puffing and muttering thanks to you. Or NOT. And here you stand wondering puhleez...why cant that lady walk faster...I am not the doorman!! It happens to me practically everyday at work and some people are smart enough to say..."Go on" but most of the time, the door holder aka me and the "holdee" are grinning sheepishly at each other. I dont want people to think I am rude...Anybody else have this situation?