jobs

for a hippie he sure does want strict control of the products and technologies that Apple is associated with.. interesting..

beleive

Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better. But don`t be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying.

- Merry Browne

video chat

what's the deal with the video chats in the big bang theory? why do people turn sideways while talking to characters as if they were actually sitting before them instead of from a laptop screen.. for example while Amy's mom was video chatting with Amy and Sheldon, Amy's mom had to turn to her extreme right to talk to Sheldon.. i mean unless Amy's mom had a larger than life laptop/computer monitor she wouldn't have to do that.. right?

And Thereby Hangs a Tale

***********************Spolier Alert************************
The following paragraph contains detailed discussion of the book 'And Thereby Hangs a Tale by Jeffrey Archer. Viewers of this post planning to read this book are hereby advised to stop reading at this point if interested in reading the book later with the element of surprise.
***********************************************************

Had to include a spoiler alert. It's only fair since I would expect one if it were me. :)

I read a Jeffrey Archer book after a long time. When I started reading the first short story 'Stuck on You' I was quickly surprised. I didn't expect Lord Archer to be this unoriginal! The main idea of this story exactly like the one which I had read in my English book in school! I didn't recall the name of the story or its author but after some googling I found that it was a story called 'The case of the Sharp-eyed Jeweller' by Nicolas Bentley. He had marked this short story as one he heard in real life. So may be he heard the story from someone.

I went on to read the rest. The other stories were a little predictable - typical Jeffrey Archer style. But it was still good. Then I came on to this story 'Blind Date'. To say that I could guess the rest of the story from the 1st paragraph would be an understatement! It was too predictable. After a little more of google's help I found that it was based on a Ruskin Bond story. Hmm.. guess Lord Archer's getting a little rusty.

The story based on the Indian characters made me laugh a little. Though some of the details were true I wondered if they all could be. The story looked more like some anglicized version of an Indian love story. He tried to be as close to the real story I'm sure. It's really based on the fashion designer Nisha Chowdhry and her husband whom Archer met on one of his trips to India (he used the real names). I read that that this story is going to be made into a Bollywood movie! I don't see why they have to do this - because love stories based on caste differences and related masala have been told and retold a thousand times.. Just because Archer made a mention of it makes no change to the situation.

Jeffrey Archer books are mostly feel-good books like Rajni movies. The protagonist in the story is single-minded, knows his/her dreams, is really industrious and after going through various obstacles finally manages to get what he/she is most after. Very insightful observations are also included. Very rarely some of the short stories do end in irony though. That pretty much summarizes his writing style but still I never tire (haven't yet at least) of reading his books. :)

a nice quote

was watching 'Sisterhood of traveling pants' (part 1) when i heard this and it felt nice and thought i'd share it.. Bailey - the girl with the terminal illness - says:

"Ya know, I don't know, Tibby, maybe the truth is there's a little bit of loser in all of us, ya know? Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect. Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things like wearing these pants or getting to a new level of Dragon's Lair - making those count for more than the bad stuff. Maybe we just get through it... and that's all we can ask for. "

:)

blind faith

sometimes i feel this.. how can people pledge allegiance to an organization, person or even country? i'm not sure i can even stand up for myself sometimes.. and i don't mean that dumb self-confidence thing that people do.. u know the one - where people say they were right no matter what they did.. they don't even accept their own mistakes.. i'm not really like that.. sometimes i think its because i don't have enough self-confidence, but that's not true.. over the past few years i've learned enough about myself to know all my good qualities and i'm really confident of myself on a few things.. but i think i make mistakes, do some harm without really thinking.. i cannot say later that i meant to do those things - no i didn't.. i swear i didn't.. there's no reasons for those mistakes.. i'm a good person, but i make mistakes too.. i'm human after all..

so at this stage i cannot even stand for myself other than to say i'm a good person and i try to do the right thing most of the time... how can people support say a leader (political, spiritual, religious) blindly? how can they stand for everything he/she says.. adore everything that comes out of his/her mouth and everything he/she does??

i beleive

that most people are a small step away from insanity.. i think there's a thin line that divides the socially acceptable from the insane..

chim chimney

"chim chimney chim chimney chim chim cheroo
i do what i like and i like what i do..."

the song that's been going on in my head since i got up today.. from the movie 'Mary Poppins'.. :)

i admire

actresses who can carry off a bright red lipstick.. i really do.. :)

Hope is a dangerous thing

There have been many things said about hope. But mostly they have been positive, saying hope is a good feeling. It makes you feel more positive. But I disagree. I've always disagreed with that.

When watching 'Shawshank Redemption' Andy says "Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.". I totally didn't agree. What's the use of having hope? You feel optimistic for like a millisecond? And then what? What if what you hope for doesn't happen?

I think it makes a lot more sense not to hope but just do what you can right now. Whether what you're rooting for happens or not you'll probably be happy you took some step towards your goal - whatever you can do. Then face whatever happens - whether it's what you hoped for or not. Things we hope for don't always happen and at the end we feel severely disappointed. It's always better to have the mindset to face whatever happens.

I read that according to Zen also hope is not such a good thing. It is better to act in the 'present moment'.