HCFC-22, CFCs and everything "nice"

It looks like HCFC-22 made it to the headlines once again. Also known as Chlorodifluoromethane, halocarbon R22 or Freon 22, HCFC-22 was used as an alternative to the not-so-ozone-friendly CFC's in air-conditioners and roof top conditioning. Although it is only 5% as harmful as the CFC's, the increasing use of air conditioners around the globe, especially in India and southern China, has put scientists into really speculating the extent of ozone depletion.
Having lived in India for a while, I know the number of air conditioners one house can install for a mere family. Even when there's no one present in the house, the conditioning goes on, almost 24/7 (I say almost, because if people had their way, they would have it on all day, but power outtages don't seem to be on their side). My father made it a point never to have an A/C. We used the ol' cooler or evaporative coolers, which functioned on the basic principle of water evaporation. You can read about such coolers here. We had the money to get our entire house centrally air-conditoned, but we never did (Oh, the memories we have of standing in front of the coolers and doing kareoke...). It saved electricity, and it was a lot more environment-friendly. One big one placed strategically, and you have the entire house cooled within seconds (and it stays cool long after you've turned it off).

I'm not going to play the blame game and say I'm the most eco-friendly person you'll ever come across and everyone else is to blame for using air-conditioners. But its time we all stand up together and realize the consequences. My question is this: Why not use evaporative coolers? Instead of scientists looking for another gas that is maybe 2% as harmful as CFC's, why don't we do our part and utilize much more environment friendly air conditioning methods? I don't really care about the advantages an A/C has over a cooler. They aren't many and not very substantial either (especially when it comes to doing your part in not depleting the ozone layer).

People might well, argue like always do and whine about why they're the ones to blame, when the rest of the world uses the same technology, and might continue to do so if they did change. The answer, as it always is is BE THE CHANGE TO SEE CHANGE. Why China and India? Because these two countries have the most populous as of now (and by a huge margin from the third most populous country). They are also in the warmer regions, so they require air conditioning of some sort. The label of Its only 5% as harmful as the CFCs doesn't work in the countries's favor either because of the enormous amounts of HCFC-22 let out by the billions of air-conditioners used.

The problem is that a lot of the developing countries enjoy the backseat when it comes to global warming and environmental issues. Many companies help these countries to come up with newer chemicals, but fails to manufacture newer and environ-friendly chemicals. Everything that is environ-friendly is expensive and obviously, no one buys something expensive when you can get the same job done at a much lower price. This low-cost job doesn't consider environmental aspects, but it gets the job done. CFCs are still in the market in India (as I got to know when I was there over winter break). They are cheaper, and people using older cars prefer their air-conditioners to be fixed the old way. No one really seemed to give a rat's ass about the environment or how much CFC is being let out by just one car.

Then they say its legal because people are still selling it and a majority of the people are using it. Yes, its still sold. So are drugs to minors. In Gore's documentary, An Inconvinient Truth, the developed nations are targetted to a large extent. It's the western hemisphere that takes 80% of the blame for whatever holes we have in the ozone layer and the marine life at risk due to oil spills, etc etc. But it IS the world we're talking about, right? And whether the country's developed or under-developed... is it not part of the globe? Does the label of "developing" give the country the right to pollute at everyone's expense? I don't think so. When it comes to the environment, everyone is to blame or be patted on the back. The environment has no boundries. And so shouldn't the people in it create any on such issues that concern humanity as a whole.

It's HCFC-22 now. R-410A next. And something else after a decade. Is that the answer then? A better than worse answer? For how long can we keep fooling ourselves that some better man-made chemical can solve all our environmental issues? Has ANY man-made chemical benefitted the environment for long? Sadly, no.

Personally, I sort of dislike blogging about global warming/environmetal issues because I know once a reader sees the "global warming" tag, they think "how boring", or even "here we go again, another rant". I blog about something I care, maybe make people think for a bit, but then you hit the "Next Blog" button and you've forgotten everything. Also a lot of such rants make people think "All they do is yap/talk. No one acts on it. If they were taking some action, they wouldn't be blogging about it here now would they?" True. I don't drive an electric car, neither do I avoid air-conditioned malls, but that doesn't mean I don't care. I still recycle. I still avoid yellow bulbs and turn off all lights whenever possible. I still never drive over 70mph (that is the speed at which the fuel has the highest efficiency). I never waste food, water. Maybe it is the way I was brought up because I saw a lot of people not have what I have and it made me thankful for what I was given and all the stories I've read of the consequences of the little things we do. But what I'm trying to say is, if at all this post or any documentary concerning our environment you see... give it the honor of some thought and implement tiny changes in your life that can make a huge difference if it becomes a habit.

I'd also like to mention the whole idea of the Daylight Savings time being shifted almost a month earlier. The idea behind it is noble and saves a lot of electricity all over the United States. It's a step towards change and a good start to changing our habits. Quote: "Energy savings was the reason given for the addition of four weeks. A California Energy Commission document said studies have generally found that longer daylight hours save money on electricity because people run fewer lights when the sun is shining." (Day Time Will Be Early - Get Set, San Fransisco Chronicle)

So that's my rant for tonight. Let's begin the new month with one change.

Picture courtesy: In the middle of a shave, O Kyoto by Nik Scott

WMP's new look + 80's + 90's music = perfect

Windows Media Player's come up with a wonderful new look, and to think of it I was putting off the upgrade for over a month now! With the new look returns my interest in the 80s and 90s music. Just listening to Wham! , The Police, Toni Braxton, Seal and the likes brought back childhood memories of dad playing the songs on his favorite "5-star" cassettes, haha. There were a bunch of cassettes that were placed on the top row of the music shelf and were his -- hit songs a friend of his used to record for my father. The songs like It's My Life, You're My Heart You're My Soul, etc were the classic hits on our New Year house parties. After all the new generation music, his music would take the floor by storm and everyone would step in with the ones on the dance floor. It was awesome. I don't think I've had a series of New Year parties THAT good since I was 15 or maybe 16. So this week was about re-visiting old songs and going over ol' memories.

The campaign for real beauty

Isn't it IRONIC that Dove, a cosmetic-based corporation, should start a Campaign for Real Beauty? We've all seen the ads. They've been on air for a while now.

Defining Beauty
Many a time I've found myself asking whoever created these "guidelines" for beauty. Who said that having a 26inch waist was ideal, or the oval-shaped face was most desired by women. When did the perfect profile mean a straight nose, perfect chin, no double-chin, etc etc. Can you define beauty in your own words? Shouldn't beauty, literally, be in the eyes of the beholder? If you argue that that statement still holds true, why do we have women being categorized into "cute", "hot", "gorgeous", "sweet, but not sexy", "ugly", "unattractive"? Or even men being rated as "geeky", "hot", "hunk-ish"? Shouldn't you be deciding who looks a particular way, and not using the rules set down by commercials, products, magazines, music divas and peers to make a conclusion? But why draw a conclusion on someone's outward appearance? If we were all born blind, would it matter? Would we still go to a website and rate women?

On the Picture
Look at the picture. Do half of the women in the world look like this? Let's get real. A trip down to the nudie beach can be quite eye-opening if you think women look like this most of the time. But yes, according to the numerous campaigns, these women are a step-down from the runway models. Most real women wouldn't pose in underwear for a beauty campaign. BEfore I forget, courtesy for this picture goes to Dove's website, who's image caption was img_curvy_girls (which I believe says image of curvy girls). So now curvy is the new "in"? What about a bunch of those who look, well, not curvy?

Beauty and Race
If beauty can be defined, so can race. As I mentioned above, if we were born blind, beauty would hold no importance to us. The same way, if we were born colour-blind, no one would give jack about a person's race (to a large extent). Racism arises from the discrimination against one's race. Discrimination against one's "beauty" or appearance would be called... ? We don't have a word for it, of course. Racism is rebelled against in most places around the world. They say it cannot be tolerated. They say the person experiencing such a behavior becomes upset and is effected mentally and emotionally. Since God knows when, race has been an underlying cause for most of the wars fought and has sadly, taken many lives. But is that statistic as alarming as people dying from anorexia? Does a comment, "Who'd go out with YOU?" take an emotional toll as a similar moderate racist comment? So I say they're similar. One is already being addressed all over the globe by caring individuals who live by example. The other is being done by the forerunners of beauty promotion.

Re-defining Beauty
Is it not time to embrace people for who they are, for the ideals they stand by and move on from this superficial world we've created? After all, they are like us. They grumble to go to work so early in the morning, they go to schools, they come back home, eat dinner and watch TV like the rest of us. But the only difference between them and the others is that they were born in such a way and which, is beyond their control. They were not born with the "B gene", the beauty gene. So they resorted to the options offered by society, and tried to fit in with the people they saw on a flat-screen. They still weren't satisfied. So once again, they fell at the merciful hands of cosmetics, surgery, etc. A couple people out of a million were satisfied by the end of it all. They WERE the perfect homosapiens, with el natural looking looks that fooled others. But what they didn't realize that in the process of fooling the world, they were fooling themselves. The world loved them for who they were not. The world wanted a Marilyn Monroe, a Jackie Kennedy, a Paris Hilton, a Salma Hayek, a Beyonce. The not-so-perfect people conformed to become like one of those women, in the process losing any originality that would have come with age. Were they happy? That is a matter of personal consciousness. Were the majority happy? No. Was the world happy to learn about the truth at some point in time? Definitely not. The world called them liars. Not Monroe or Hilton. The world put on a halo and everyone became angels, prophesizing real beauty. They campaigned for real beauty in the day. But they were back to their true, shallow selves by night. It took too much energy to change the world. It was no point starting with themselves, when the world would not follow. After all, what can a small group of people believing in re-defining beauty do to bring change? The world would see it as a passing phase.

Read Isabella Mori's Carnival of Eating Disorders. It's truely enlightening with references to many more people's thoughts.

Bloggerama Updates

I'm back! And alive 'n kicking. First off, a very happy new year to everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration and stuck to their new year resolutions through January ;) I didn't keep any last year and the year before that out of fear of not keeping up with any the previous years, but this year I did. And so far, I've stuck with it! I need to put a reminder on here to make a post about Resolutions 101 another day. Secondly, CHECK OUT THE NEW BLOGGER FEATURES!! (I'm floored)

As I wished (and God willed), I've started working this quarter. As our university follows the co-op program, we alternate 4 quarters working and studying. I love my current job. Its in the Marketing/Engineering department, and being not much of a technical person (I made it quite clear in my multiple interviews with my company), I think it suits me perfectly. It basically involves talking to our customers (who range from the US government to GM) who use our products, listen to the issues they're having with the products, think of a possible solution, solve and work with the Engineering department (the techie guys down in the labs) and bring the best possible service to the customers' doorstep. One of the main reasons I chose this job over the engineering one (which in fact, should have been my first choice as I'm an engineering major), is the people interaction the job entails. The Marketing job gives you the taste of the real world, real people, real customers and has you interacting with more people, as opposed to the Engineering job, which has one sitting infront of the computer, performing tests and basically using all the technical expertise to perform projects (and the MArketing people are involved in that too). I won't say I'm a hardcore people-person, but I somehow measure my success and personal satisfaction to the number of people I've helped in a day, or when it comes to my job, how many people I've been of avail to. 30 minutes of not talking to a person really has me fidgeting! And 'til now, I interact with people from all departments and its been a good time.

Anyway, moving on, Valentine's Day is coming up! Okay, maybe I shouldn't have sounded as excited, but hell... all these Hallmark greetings and tiny "gifts" on Facebook people keep sending makes you excited and feelin' good about the whole thing. On Saturday, we visited a friend who had had a pretty nasty accident and broken 3-4 ribs, and possibly injured a couple more (hope for the best for him). Over the regular banter, we started to talk about V-day and how it came into existence. I faintly recalled reading somewhere years ago it was because some St. Valentine was killed. It never made me think of the meaning behind the day. And now when I think of it, the more I'm convinced that we have skewed the meaning behind the day to something completely different. There are stories of a Valentine who was imprisoned and who performed a miracle on the jailor's daughter and the night before he was beheaded, signed a note with, "From your Valentine". But the story about the Bishop in Italy who secretrly maried off couples contrary to the Roman laws prevailing then. It is said he was burnt at the stake for it.

So am I the only one who thinks that the logic of celebrating someone's death is somewhat twisted? I've personally not heard of people "celebrating" former President's assassinations. Or Martin Luther King or Gandhi's deaths. We always have a moment of silence for them. Then why in the case of this Valentine (whoever he might be and for whatever reason he was killed), do we do the opposite and celebrate love? Does anyone know when he was born? Woudln't THAT be the appropriate day to celebrate Valentines Day? Its just one of those things you think about and wonder how in the world did it ever come to the way it is today. Recently, after I was intrigued by such thoughts and seeked familiarity, I came across a number of schools around the world that honor the 14th of February as a mourning day for the death of a certain Valentine. For instance, a City Montessori School in Lucknow (the largest school in the world, as of 2001) is one of them. You can read about it here. Its something to think about, yeah?

(that would mean I won't be doing anything out of the ordinary this V-day)

And that would be my chit-chat for today. Everyone have a good Monday! (although I'm not sure of Monday and "good" go hand in hand, especially with the worst snowstorm headed once again our way... but do drive safe this evening, there's always someone waiting for you at home). I'll be back with more hot topics to talk about later on this week. Until then.

-Mia

The good, the bad and the beautiful

the Good: I got 2 freakin' co-op job offers from BIG BIG companies!! And maybe more to come? (although I don't think it wise to disclose their names... well, hell... maybe someday when I'm comfortable with the whole internet-spy-thing... and I don't want ppl from work googling the name of the company and finding this blog and find me bitching about them lol just kiddin')

the Bad: Exams... like I said to a friend earlier, I'm a part of the biggest congregation of the best last-minute bullshitters in the world. Sigh.

the Beautiful: My new Creative Zen M mp3 player :D beautiful, people... its b-e-a-uuutiful... Happy sigh.

Bearcats Knock No. 7 Rutgers From the Unbeaten Ranks, 30-11

LOL we storm our field after we beat Rutgers, the No.7 in the nation from its unbeatable ranks. GO BEARCATS! I was only there until half-time, but it never struck me we could defeat 'em! But I guess we did :D

Dress to Impress

So how far would you go to dress to literally impress? I'd say a lot, considering you're applying for a job in big shot companies. Today I bought the most expensive suit EVER in my life... a $90 (after discount even) business suit. 90 freaking dollars!!! For ONE suit!!! In which, I have to admit, I looked quite nice and all CEO material, haha. The career fair's coming up, my resumes are sent out tomorrow and interviews should start around the end of next week and go up to November. That means a busier life than usual. I'll keep this place posted on how I did on particular interviews and the hilarity that shouldn't (under normal circumstances) be associated with it. Starting January, I hope to get a co-op to my liking. So starts the lengthy preparation to it. And I still have to buy shoes and a skirt! Its fun and lovely to dress up and stuff... I'm liking it so far. Except the $$ part.

I'm so 19

Did I have a birthday post last year? I think I did... damn, I was hoping this would be a first. I personally do not put up posts about my birthday, but I think this one had to be done -- this being my last teen birthday and all!

So I'm 19. And proud of it? It means freedom to me. Freedom to do what I want, freedom to choose and freedom to be free (?). Its the year of my Zahir. The year when I'm totally consumed by turning older, better (as a person) and being someone who I always wanted to be. I guess I always was the person I wanted to be... but only on the inside. Now, I see it being reflected in who I am to the world. No longer is my inner voice and thought my "message". I am my message. I can be who I want to be. I can change how I want.

That's the freedom that is my Zahir. I revel in it. I encourage it in others and make them see it and realize how important it is. Few have seen it, few choose to ignore it. But I think thats what makes the world around us interesting and prevents our lives from being mundane. (What's Zahir? I've been reading the book by Coelho... so it might seem as though its goen to my head haha).

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to give me a semi-surprise party on the first day of my 3-day long weekend birthday. And also to my friends who gave me the pleasure of having their lovely company the second day and friends from India, Canada and the UK, who called and spent their SIM cards for me, hehe. Thank you! ALSO, a thankkk you to the ppl who kept checking on my blog :-)

Flattered

"You're now in my top 3 fav photographers..."

-SM, a message left on my photoblog

Thank you for making my day/night! I'm truely humbled.

Dog Days

Summer's finally here people.

My break started with the fortunate onset of the FIFA World Cup and most football fans can imagine the life I've had since then. With no concrete plans, I don't know how my supposedly last non-academic summer break is going to go. But I do know for sure this will not be anything like the past one (where I was home-alone for a bloody long time) or the one before that (where I was flying from one city to another getting paperowork done for a new school and a new life... all over again). I want stability, I want to experience what it feels when people say these are the dog days. Though the possibility of is bleak, I'll keep y'all updated of my mucho interesting life in the da Nati and hopefully, somewhere else too through my new blog Dog Days, which is dedicated for the summer only. I didn't feel like changing the template of Eeperz to a more summer-y theme, so I got another blog to do that. Talk about convinience haha. I haven't blogged on it yet... my blogging-slack doesn't seem to cease o.O So I'll be around and have a greeeat summer !

Until then.

Summer Plans

So what's everyone up to this summer?

(upcoming post : Reasons Why One-Liner Blogposts Should Be Brought Back Into Fashion)

Music Hosting

A couple of friends caught on with a music hosting website (Castpost) I use for "podcasting", i.e. just embed music into your blog for others to listen. Miles had a few technical issues with it the other day as the player caught up a lot and prevented him from listening to the Holy Pussycat Dolls.

...

A lot of other people have been having similar problems. Well, there isn't any specific solution, but I'd recommend you Refresh the page, or hit Pause and let the music file stream (this solves the problem for people living far apart).

I've tried a lot of hosting sites earlier. This one's proven to be the latest and the best so far. The thing is, Blogger isn't really built to embed music, create podcasts, etc. Wordpress, myspace and other blogging sites are more for that kind of thing. They have options of converting your blogs into podcasts or directly upload music. And of course, we won't give up on Blogger so soon eh. So if the tips above don't work, you can switch to another host. Filelodge was one of my first host sites (it's free). The admins keep upgrading it a lot... so there's a lot of "down-time". I'd recommended a podcast fanatic friend to use Bolt (the link takes you specifically to the audio webhosting site). It's free too. It allows mic options too, which is kinda cool. His podcast is "flourishing", so I can say Bolt could be better than Podcast! And if nothing works out... there's always YouTube (I think it uploads music too).

Click on the links below to listen to sound quality/upload speed for tracks I've put up. Have fun browsing! I'll update if something else comes along.

Long White Cross - Pluto (using Bolt - you don't have to embed it, click on the link instead)




(using Filelodge - this isn't really a music file but its hilarious)

Bush + Rice conversation
My December - Linkin Park

early morning blues

I guess everyone has one of those mornings when you feel p***ed off for no apparent reason. Well, there are a couple of reasons but they hardly have a connection and sound trivial after a day or two.

Right now, THIS INSTANT I'm irritated with the whole blogging scenario. Rewinding a few years, I remember creating this blog to post jokes, forwards and the other trivial stuff that takes up more space in the blogosphere. Then there are days when I write long ass entries and start having second thoughts about posting them on here because I think its way too personal and just makes me sound opinionated. Its like I want to post it, but something holds me back and I just kick a wall and save it as a draft. Anyway, moving on...

I don't understand why people have to be such stuck-ups and be all expressionless and shyt when you're with them, trying to joke and have a good time. It does your head in, spoils your mood and makes you wonder wtf are you even bothering to be with such a person, trying to lift their mood when its not worth it in the end. I mean seriously. It was going great with one person, then the SU (stuck-up) person comes along and you think, "Okay well, maybe I could use a change in company." Nah-uh! Baaaad decision. Two minutes into the conversation and you want to sock the person and tell them to take a break and act like they're trying to have a good time if it isn't too much trouble.

Are there statements people make, that you just can't tolerate? I can name a few right off my head because thats what I've been hearing this week. "I don't care." "It doesn't matter." "Whatever." wtf? You ask them nicely where they want to go, eat, hang out, grab a pop, anything!

And then the select friends on your list, whether it be Facebook, Hi5, that sit in the same room as you do and don't even bother to say Hi. Now this one really irritates the hell out of me. Earlier I used to say a Hi or whatever when they didn't but now I don't even make the effort. This "friend" came and sat next to me for a full 15-20 minutes while I was working on a project and didn't even bother to say anything. I didn't notice until she got up and left and I was like, "hey! that was so-and-so!" I'm very much tempted to strike her name and many others' off my friend list online, but that would just be childish huh.

And I won't even want to go into the way people you know behave on-campus when they see you. A "Hey! How are you?" and the person walks away even before you have a chance to open your mouth. I know you're in a hurry, but ffs. I found it really rude at first, but now I'm used to it. Now I just smile and walk-on by, and leave them hanging if they're waiting for an answer. Not with everyone of course. Just people like I mentioned above. A friend told me once we live in a critical, cold, selfish world and I refused to believe him. I always looked for the good in people. Its a shame I have to alter my ways towards certain people. It really is. Can't the world just be friendly and nice and easy to get along with? Can't people see the good in others too and understand people's feelings? I guess thats too much to ask.

With just a week left for the quarter to end, I'm down with a terrible cold that doesn't seem to go away and leads to feverish nights. I hate it. It prevents me from doing well on last-minute projects, quizzes, exams and ... its just terrible. Maybe thats the reason I'm having a bad start. I woke up late today and in the hurry to do a lot of things with 2 hands in 5 minutes, I forgot to take my medicine and a library book thats due soon. Now I'm sniffling all over the place like a maniac and hoping the due date magically gets extended.

Hmm, I actually feel better now. I think I'll make it through Physics without sleeping, then I'll treat myself to my favorite Skeller cheese sticks, get my project done, enjoy my 3-day weekend and have fun. Yeah... that sounds nice. I like blogging. This is good... real good.

or maybe not. Vote for Taylor Hicks!

Vote for Catherine McPhee ! 'cuz I'm too lazy.

here's to good friends...

Thank you.

It is rare indeed to have friends who care and stand by even after knowing all the shades of greys and blacks in you. I consider myself lucky to have such friends - even if they're few, miles apart and I get to see/talk with them once in a few months. I love you guys and you know who y'all are... All I can come up with are these 2 simple words at this moment. I'd dedicate a million songs to you, but who needs songs and poems when all that I feel is right there for you to see. And who would understand better :)

God... I miss talking to my friends online. Its been so long since I've logged onto MSN and "chilled", "been random" and replied to a "Hey! sup?" with a "Heeey back :-) nm, u?" Of course we all love the chat lingo now eh.


PEACE. haha... or rather lmfao

This was actually fun...

Tagged by a friend who doesn't wanna be named on here because "he's too cool for this". Who cares... I got tagged - twice, in a week. w00t? Atleast you don't get to hear about my same ol' shyt. Meme's are way more... entertaining.

Seven things I plan to do before I die:
1. Own a jetplane
2. Fly it
3. Pick up my hawt ex from his rooftop Angelina Jolie style
4. Flip bottles 'n glasses like a bartender
5. Bungee jump
6. Forget to hand my ex his parachute
7. Never stop doing whatever I wanna do (?)

Seven things I can do:
1. Cover my feelings prettttty well
2. Play rugby
3. Forget and forgive, not necessarily together
4. Slack endlessly
5. Take risks for "fun"
6. Never do it alone
7. Lie impulsively

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Say "no" to a person in need
2. Stay angry with someone for more than 5 minutes
3. Get along with people who "don't give a shyt" about others
4. Work with any calculator
5. Sing
6. Leave my house without my cellphone
7. NOT wear my heart on my sleeve

Seven things that I find really attractive about the opposite sex:
1. Laugh/Smile
2. Hands
3. Jealousy AND accepting it
4. No bling
5. Takes out time for people he cares about
6. Striped shirts, loosened ties and shirts unbutto... uhm, you know...
7. A little shyness is appreciated

Seven things that I find really attractive about the same sex:
1. Doesn't tell you she has "guy-friends" for God's sake...
2. Sarcasm
3. Does not talk about "others" when we're hanging out
4. Knows how to have fun and yet stay sober
5. Sings at the kareoke
6. Dignity
7. Is nothing like me

Seven things I say the most:
1. "Oh shyt!"
2. "Really?"
3. "Duuuude..."
4. "I don't know"
5. "Excuse me?"
6. "HAHAHAHAH"
7. more "HAHAHAHAHA"

Seven books I love:
1. The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
(my favorite read when I was in boarding school)
2. The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth
(the first book where I couldn't get enough of the last chapter)
3. Learning Italian for Dummies
(because I like learning new languages)
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
(I like the entire series actually, but this one was exceptionally well-written)
5. Princess Di's Biography by some man...
(because I like to know more about people I admire)
6. Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
(I had to give this book some credit for making me tear up... a LOT)
7. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
(because her book made me think architecture was my dream career for a good 5 years)

Seven people I would like to see take this quiz:
1. You
2. RISHABH! heh
3. My neighbor
4. Prez Bush YEAH!
5. Engineers
6. Jolie
7. Myself, after a year

whatever tag

Tagged by Rishabh... and here I was, thinking meme's and all this was a thing of the past. I wouldn't do it, but he actually mentioned me first haha, so yeah. I'm bored. After so long. I need this (shyt).

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line
"Several methods are available for identifying objects, but no single one is always the best approach" (Data Abstraction and Problem Solving with C++). Aye, I'm the nerd you envy.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can
Have a cast :-( don't ask...

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
That Red Eye movie, on Monday I think.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
11pm

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
10.51pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you
hear?
Ridin' Dirty by Chamillionaire *grins*

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing ?
This morn for university.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Porn. Free, if I may add.

9. What are you wearing?
Whatever it is, it's not doing a good job at blocking the chill.

10. Did you dream last night?
Running away from a train while my lab partner calculated the Doppler effect shyt or something.

11. When did you last laugh?
My physics exam was terrible... so I guess at 12:59pm when the-guy-who's-name-I-always-forget tried to joke about something-I-don't-remember before an exam I-don't-give-a-shyt-about-no-more.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Uncle Sam pointing at ya and saying, "I WANT YOU! TO SPEAK ENGLISH".

13. Seen anything weird lately?
yeaaaaah... I can lick my elbow.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
"Same old shyt" - Rishabh

15. What is the last film you saw?
Red Eye

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
The US porn database.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
I'm obsessed with myself. I don't give a shyt about pr0n.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Regardless of politics and guilt? Dude... I'm going to say free college education for all of us.

19. Do you like to dance?
Yup. But now I entertain private groups and get money offa it.

20. George Bush.
Who? What?

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
L-C-T-ara

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Ruben...

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Uh huh. I can't stick to one place/country for long anyway.

24. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
"For Christ's sake... we don't take hell rejects."

25. 5 people who must also do this in their blog.
1. Rishabh (kidding)
2. Him
3. Her
4. Them
5. You

in a state of shock

I literally was in a state of shock, when I accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake as I was parking and ran over the crosswalk and into the bricks near my neighbor's house... trying to still my shaky self, I somehow gathered myself to get out of the car and see the damage to my car. Thankfully (!) there wasn't any damage except a few displaced bricks which I couldn't put back in place because they were heavy and my shaking hands didn't help either :-\ Thankfully (as my mom pointed out), this wasn't any traffic light and there was no car infront of me... shyt.

Having said that and revealing the consequences of my (sometimes) "wandering" mind, drive safe this weekend everyone. It definitely feels much better to turn off the ignition and smile in relief at the thought of being home - safe and sound.

A song to calm your nerves - Fast Car by Tracy Chapman and The One You Love by Rufus Wainwright (listen to the songs on the right)