Something Old, Something New...

happy 2008!

the last time i put up a picture of myself with a new haircut, it was june in boston and i had just gone super-short (see <http://simran.nomadlife.org/2006/06/new-haircut.aspx> for evidence)

this time, i tried ultra-feminine, and i think it works far better than anything i've done before.

pick@flick[r]: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/2157041999>

thank you, butterfly pond!

Pretty Pretty!

(twice, because it has two dials!)

i am now the owner of this beautiful object:

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/522739219>

Still Got Game

wow, it's almost 4 am. that means the battle was on for over an hour.

i lost my queen early in the game, and for a long while there thought i was totally screwed.

but in the end, even though it took 72 moves (we're no pros): checkmate, baby.

pick@flick(r): <http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/490441018>

White: [redacted]
Black: wzlychica5 (that would be me)

1. d2-d4 e7-e6
2. g1-f3 f8-b4+
3. c2-c3 b4-a5
4. h2-h4 g8-f6
5. d1-d3 o-o
6. h4-h5 d7-d5
7. g2-g3 f6-g4
8. c1-g5 d8xg5
9. f3xg5 c8-d7
10. f1-h3 f7-f5
11. f2-f3 g4-f2
12. e1xf2 a7-a6
13. c3-c4 b8-c6
14. b1-c3 c6-b4
15. d3-d2 d5xc4
16. d4-d5 e6xd5
17. c3xd5 d7-c6
18. d5-e7+ g8-h8
19. h3xf5 f8xf5
20. e7-g6+ h7xg6
21. h5xg6+ h8-g8
22. h1-h7 g8-f8
23. g5-e6+ f8-e7
24. d2-e3 b4-c2
25. h7xg7+ e7-f6
26. g7-f7+ f6xg6
27. g3-g4 f5xf7
28. e3-e4+ g6-f6
29. e4-f5+ f6-e7
30. f5-g6 a8-h8
31. a1-g1 h8-h2+
32. g1-g2 a5-b6+
33. e2-e3 c2xe3
34. f2-e2 h2xg2+
35. e2-e1 b6-a5+
36. b2-b4 a5xb4++

rematch tomorrow night, en vivo.

bring it.

***

update, friday, may 11, 2007:

the score is now up to 3-1. some people are clearly gluttons for punishment.

Where Would You Go?

or where would you guess i would go?

(i ask because so many people, when i tell them i'm picking between grad programs, respond in ways that lead me to believe that they think my decision should be based entirely on aesthetics. and because polls are fun -- when people respond to them!)

pick(s)@flick(r):

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/446726442/>

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/446726440/>

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/446726438/>

i have to know by april 15, but even if you read this after that, feel free to leave comments on architectural appeal in the comments section.

Any Given Wednesday

anjuna flea market. it's world-famous, and like most things erin and i saw on our trip, recommended by lonely planet.

the approach is by sea, around the low cliffs that separate baga and anjuna. the water is blue and clear and cool. the boatmen grin as they collect their too-high fee. the sand at the beach is black (probably from diesel, although i like to think it's because anjuna beach is special and made of old volcanoes or something.)

the heat is intense, the crowd largely white, the music throbbing. the hawkers are persistent, the wares in abundance, the colours riveting.

take a look -- dozens of pick[s]@flick[r]:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/sets/72157594563568737/>

(please note: the artiste thinks the set is best enjoyed in slideshow mode, to let the profusion and the colours really sink in)

Say What?

from an NYT article on the increasing ubiquity of advertising:
Last month, after some “Got Milk?” billboards started emitting the odor of chocolate chip cookies at San Francisco bus stops, many people complained, and the city told the California Milk Processing Board to turn off the smell.

from the first day of french class:
teacher: "when you think of french, or france, what comes to your mind?"
totally ghaat but very enthusiastic student: "the eiffel tower, and leonardo da vinci."

and from the talented hand of one ms. spacecoyote (<http://spacecoyote.com>): the simpsonzu! <http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/46036660/>
(mirror pick@flick[r], in case she gets so popular the link dies: <http://flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/358155313/>)

Create Your Own South Park Character

i get to be a purple-backgrounded wavy-haired balloon-headed angel-winged stubby-legged kid with a halo and pearls.

pick@flick(r): <http://flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/296354083/>

(this is a very important undertaking that is entirely completely totally 100% related to my grad school applications. uhh, yeah.)

do it yourself: <http://images.southparkstudios.com/games/create/>

A Good Matt Is Easy To Find

my new favourite hottie is matt damon, thanks to scorsese's 2-+-hour-long extravamattaganza the departed.

see what i mean? [pick@flick(r): <http://flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/293291739/>]

the cute little nose, the boston accent, the smug grin, the abs, the obvious intelligence, the well-fitting suits, the scheming manipulations, the somehow-ridiculously-irresistible strong silent stereotype, the veins in his arms that stand out when he's on the phone... very nice.

i have liked him ever since the rainmaker and saving private ryan, right through rounders and ocean's 11 and 12 and good will hunting, to the bourne movies. i even liked him in eurotrip, dangnabbit! and let's not forget the ridiculous roles in chasing amy and jersey girl, which also star best buddy and fellow hottie ben affleck in two of his less likable (read: less hot) roles.

(no i will not say why i watched jersey girl in the first place.)

[coming back to the departed, as an aside, since we're discussing the oh-so-profound topic of how good matt damon looks and how well he acts: i don't really know what to say about the film, i am so blown away by all the plot twists and flying brainbits (hello, don and a scanner darkly and face/off and kill bill and n other movies that involve skullduggery, last-minute prestidigitation, and lots of blood)... so i will quote my new favourite catchphrase, harvard professor james simpson's "herewith my basic response": go watch! but let the record state that i am primarily blown away by matt damon. bonus: if you don't like matt damon, there's always leo. or jack nicholson, or mark "marky mark" wahlberg, or alec baldwin, or even vera farmiga (she of the cheekbones), depending on your tastes. but really, you should like matt damon. i mean, really.]

*cough* ok, i feel like i'm 16 again. and he's married and entirely unattainable (as if i stood a chance in hell in any case).

but you know what? matt damon matt damon matt damon. deal!

in more positive news, my favourite voice does not belong to a hollywood actor, and i am lucky enough to hear it every so often. i'll take what i can get.

Ugh

i just got a facebook message from this random guy from IIT roorkee.

the message said "hello simi how are you?"
(which made me grimace)

then i looked at the guy's profile picture.

entirely undesirable pick@flick[r]: <http://flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/255519190/>

pretty grim, huh?

that's just half the ridiculousness.. there is also the following proud statement:
The Favourite Music goes as per the mood i can never stick to some or the other type of music regularly most of the time you can find Enigma being played in my room...!!! Early in the morning ofcourse very few times i could get to see the sunrise....then it would be definitely Vocal or Carnatic.....after some time it would be Devotional Songs for few minutes...at all other times it could be any thing like, MLTR, Bryan Adams, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Avril Lavigne, Linkin Park etc......else it can be some telugu and hindi music like A.R.R, Jagjeet, Special titles by Mukesh, Rafi.....etc....

this is not to mention that dexter's laboratory comes first on the list of favourite TV shows of an adult with a phd in physics... and that the chap is single and looking for relationships (big surprise, there).

tsk, tsk. if this is the kind of man i'm going to be subjected to through the india network....

(i am currently so repulsed that i am contemplating the possibility of a little craigslist-experiment-esque exercise, with one simple rule: if you harass me online, i'm going to expose you on this blog. but for my own sake i'm hoping the crazies and fuglies just stay in their own corners of the internetosphere, so that my blog will be saved the trauma and my hope of finding men worth my attentions does not get permanently extinguished.)

Tagged

by the rai boy (blog at <http://karan.nomadlife.org>):

(i was all excited that i hadn't been tagged yet, but the universe works in funny ways so of course i got tagged. and bloggers got to be nice to other bloggers... it's one of the rules. so here goes.)

i am thinking about...
home

i said...
"i'll see you when i see you"/"hasta luego"/"see you soon" to everyone i could remember to say it to; to the rest i said "bye!" and instantly wanted to take it back (karan johar, i blame you)

i want to...
break free (sorry, couldn't resist. it's the result of too much queen during my formative years). ok, let's make that "invent a cure for snoring -- and snore moments."

i wish...
i could have my cake and eat it too (if you don't get it, text ian and ask.)

i miss...
my old apartment. pick(s)@flick(r):
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/224410494/>>
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/224409776/>>
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/224408928/>>
(also, lying on bed head on shoulder staring at ceiling)
and doing the sudoku

i hear...
the sound of the rain on wood, tar, metal. it's so comforting!

i wonder...
what the future will dish out next

i regret...
stressing myself out excessively

i am...
sleepy (but i'll sleep when i'm dead)
type A
multifaceted

i sing...
frou frou, bryan adams, the corrs, and diva songs (whitney, mariah, lauryn et al, holla!) -- mostly in my head though

i cry...
as much as i want. and it feels good. and don't you tell me not to.

i am not always...
impenetrable, inscrutable, complex, unbending, heartless, or incorrigible. i am also not always perfect, but i try to ignore that ineluctable fact.

i write...
fluidly but sporadically. there will however be much more writing in the near future. personal statements, here i come.

i need...
constant reassurance
more 50 cent words (leave me a comment with a fancypants english word and its meaning :))
less sugar
to be better at chess

i should try...
to let it drop. (but i can never let it drop.)
oh, and to stay in touch more.

i finish...
everything and get an A.

i will not tag anyone because i don't believe in torture.

JFK-LHR-BOM

From			To		Distance		Time
	JFK (40°38'23"N 73°46'44"W)		LHR (51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W)		5554 km		7:30
	LHR (51°28'39"N 00°27'41"W)		BOM (19°05'19"N 72°52'05"E)		7221 km		9:45

2 segment path: 12775 km
17 hours, 15 minutes

plus the almost-month of lagtime in between.

[pick@flick(r): <http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/210248347/>]

thank goodness for, at long long last, knowing.

***

update, thursday, august 17, 2006:
flying business class. through delhi. it'll take an hour longer, but hopefully it'll be mildly more comfortable.

thank god for frequent flyer miles (kilometres?)

New Haircut

'twas about time, too.

pick@flick(r):
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlfish1303/173844297/>