Hic hic hooray!

You know one good thing about me, is how willing i am to admire people who embody values that i don't have. I see them as being superior to me. Stronger, more (or maybe differently) able than me.

Teetotallers are not amongst that admired lot.

I see no virtue in being a teetotaller. I think everyone should drink and enjoy. The real test of strength, i feel, is to passionately love (what other way is there, to love?) your drink and yet not be slave to it.

Think about it. Is there anything quite like having your favorite alcohol in your favorite glassware/crystal, in the company of your favorite person/ people, at your favorite place with your favorite music playing. Nopes, i can't think of any. Sex comes close, but nah. It's not as sureshot a formula for a good time as alcohol.

And am happy to note that ten years of being at it (the alcohool), and i still enjoy it as much. More, perhaps. Even better, i see that i'm holding my drink better and better, which is a great feeling too. Getting drunk to the point of having your lights out and getting wasted all over the place, is so not desirable or cool.

Also maybe because am married now, unlike before i don't automatically gravitate towards my cell-phone anymore as soon as that happy buzz starts in my head. Which means no stupid messages sent to people i love (openly or secretly; long list.), hate (mostly openly; not a long list) or fear (mostly secretly; very short list). Which in turn means no blushes the morning after, no sheepish aplogies or explanations, no unnecessary waste of good money on stupid cause. So yes, there's been significant progress there. Ditching the phone when drunk... big relief.

Another thing that delights me is that finally finally i'm beginning to be able to tell a good scotch from a decent whisky. And you know what? I don't like Glenfiddich. I find its smell and taste a little too sandy for my taste. Good ol THC suits me very well, and Black Label of course is very good. Surprisingly, Black Dog - a brand i always looked down upon because of the wierd name, i discovered is very good too.

Scotch is of course, "my poison", but all the other forms are great too. Vodka is yummy, Bacardi is divine. Wine i love love love. Gin not so much, but nevertheless have been there and done that...the whole gimlet phase. Breezers are babystuff and beer is the ultimate buddy ol' pal. Liquers are a litte too sweet but if you can stop worrying about the calories, too yummy to pass up. You can gimme Irish Cream anyday, anywhere and watch me throw caution to the winds and shamelessly tank up on it.

So net net, i think i'm arriving as a seasoned alcophile. And that does make me swell a little with pride. Whoopie!

H O W E V E R

Getting high, and in that state deciding to write a blogpost, is NOT a good idea methinks, and it has got to stop. The post below this one is testimonial to that. There are also a few others, some that are still in the archives, and some that were hastily pulled off the morning after a binge.

But then again, its all just harmless fun, so what does it matter?

So eat, drink and be merry... Time flies when you're having rum!

Cheers!

Rainy day in Barcelona

I'm reminded suddenly of that cold April day
It rained all night and all day long

We had small umbrellas and big rucksacks

You and i like Audrey sang were

Two drifters

Off to see the world

Two feathers carried by the wind

Light and willing

Ready to fly, ready to be led

So little seemed to be in our control

We walked all day

It rained all day

There was wind

and it was cold

Our clothes were wet

And so were the shoes

We were tired and broke

The museum was shut

We lost our way

On a lonely mountain

We took the wrong bus

And some boys teased us

And through it all, we were wet!

And yet

We took some good pictures

Of naked Greek men

We giggled at them and

Made some jokes

Rode ticketless on the down bus

Felt very clever

We were the divas

Just ignored those blokes

We bought some hot coffee

Or was it hot chocolate?

Only remember how good it felt

Both inside and out
Our poor, frozen hands

Later that night we dried our shoes

On the heater in the room

We rested our weary feet

and has some cheap wine

That day was ours

We'd lived it well

We'd been tested

And lived to tell

And we were happy

I remember we smiled

We talked till we slept

Without turning out the light

Sweet dreams all the way

And am thinking now

As i thought back then

What a perfect day!

"Marriage means change". My wise ol mum announced a few days before my wedding. She was in that phase of imparting pearls of wisdom at all kinds of times and while doing all kinds of chores. When this particular nugget came my way, i think we were wrapping gifts for the groom's family in yards of golden mesh and ribbon.

"Don't be a pig, don't resist", she went on, displaying her awe-inspiring faith in my maturity levels. "Embrace change. Much of what you hold dear now - things, people - you may have to let go of. Things that you care naught about now, will become the most important. Keep your eyes and ears open, use your head.. be sensible and smart." She paused, gave me a look of that great affection and pity that only a mother of a bride-t0-be is capable of, and which can move you to tears. Sure enough, the next moment we had both burst into tears and were hugging and howling.

"Mammma... i don't wanna get married.... puhlleeeease!", I howled.

Thwackkk! The tears (hers) had stopped. The affectionate look had vaporized without a trace and i had instead the very stern looking mother i was more used to. "Shut up! You'll be fine. See daddy and me...we've been married for nearly 30 yrs now". She was back to packing the gifts, resolutely refusing to acknowledge the hurt-at-being-spurned look on my face. Mom always thought i was one for histrionics, you see.

Comical it seems in retrospect now, but it wasn't then. It happened again and again - this little routine of advicegiving-affectionshowing-bothcrying-meprotesting-megettingthwackk.

The problem was, with all the advise everyone had to offer, it seemed quite as though i were being readied for a concentration camp. All that talk about change, change, change! I, like millions before me, was petrified of living with my decision to get married, and live with a man i had chosen to spend the rest of my life with.

And am relieved and glad to see that like millions before me, i'm doing very well living with the same man. As for the changes, well, some are a tad irksome, but most are good. In fact, fun. Here's an example.

I had many interests as a child and teenager and young adult, but movies never really was a part of that. I never much cared about films...in fact i used to tell sis that i had trouble sitting through most movies coz i ran out of patience. And as a result i missed many. Make that most.

And it was ok really coz i didn't even know what i was missing out on.

And then i got married to a guy who talks, walks, dreams, eats, drinks, sleeps movies. He's a walking encyclopedia on Hollywood trivia, and knows more about this one area, than my collective knowledge of several other things.

When he got to know about my lack of knowledge of (and apparent interest in) cinema, it messed his head pretty bad. He was this bag of mixed emotions... he couldn't believe it (i had told him i could count on fingers the number of movies i had ever seen in my life), he was appalled ("do you have annny idea what you have missed in life????"), he marvelled at fate ("how amazing that i should fall in love with a girl who is a blank slate on the one thing that i hold dearest!"), and... he was also a little excited - at the prospect of showing this dazzling new world to me... showing me the wonders that his 1000+ dvds - patiently and proudly amassed from around the globe - held.

"Watch a movie a day", he said, "and you will still not be done after 2 yrs. You have time.. make the most of it".

Ok, i thought, why not. After all, movies = entertainment, and i like entertainment.

He introduced me to IMDb and its famous Top 250 list, and to Rotten Tomatoes. To the various famous lists and annual surveys. To the Oscars. To the greats of every decade, the award winners, the losers, the never-wons, the farces - - - the works.

And now, i like movies, and am happy he took my under his wing as far as this was concerned. I still don't watch a movie a day; am nowhere close to having seen all best movies he has, let aside all the rest of them. I woke up in the middle of the night this year to watch the Academy awards ceremony, and i know i will do it again next year.

When he goes on and on about his favorite films, their moments, the actors - i roll my eyes and make fun of him, and laugh, and refuse to pay attention - simply to irk him... but really, i find it terribly sweet to see him all worked up about this little obsession of his.

Yes, marriage demands change. In your lifestyle, in your perspective on things. But you know what, keep your eyes and ears (and mind) open, and you'll get by just fine.

Like my friend KD says, "When you see life is calling, hang up the other line!"

For a broader mind and a slimmer waist

So here’s a question for you: What is the similarity between writing (as in a blog), and gymming?
Great stress busters, did you say? Very good, that’s correct.
What else?
They make you look good? Yes, of course. To yourself and to the world... right, right.
What else? Think.

Well there is one more. And that is -- how difficult it is to get back to either after a break. No matter how regular you are with one or the other, if you take even a 3 day break from the routine, it’s entirely possible that you will allow lethargy and inertia to take over and go on to little by little extend the break to several months. If you were like me, this would happen to you unfailingly, every time.

Now see, till late last year, i used to blog regularly. I had a crazy job that demanded 24-7 attention and at least 95 hrs per week of work, with high-strung people for subordinates, superiors, clients and vendors. And yet, i used to blog. Regularly.
I had given up all my other interests, and if there was one thing i held on to, it was the blog. I used to write.

In fact, i had (have...) not one, but two blogs.
One was (is?) a happy blog which got all the happy updates (a promotion at work, a good short 8-hr day at work, a sick boss (or client), a fire...or a flood...or anything else disrupting work... you get the drift, right?); and the other was a dark blog... where i vented about all things bugging, infuriating and depressing – i.e. work-related.

And i neglected neither blog. In spite of the crazy work and insane, unrelenting stress, I found something to write about on the happy blog. At times i made up happy stuff just in order to do justice to the Happiness journal. As for the dark blog, there was never a dearth of things to write about. In fact there was an excess, and I had to spend time and prioritize my peeves and then write about the worst of the lot. Not every day, but surely every week, every month. I wrote.

Heck... i was getting married early one morning, and the previous night... i wrote.

And then i quit my job, got married, moved to a new city and started a brand new life. A brand new life; the shackles of employment in that rat-hole were gone. I found my wings, and happy as a lark i sang and danced, drunk in the delight of freedom. Since then, I have travelled, been to exciting new places, had several new experiences, done a spot of acting on stage and a bit of social work with a local NGO. I now spend my days doing all the crazy things i dreamt of doing. i take arty pictures with my fancy camera; i paint, do the crossword, play music, watch movies (oh so many movies!), I read, i cook, i clean... and decorate...and shop, and invite friends over... and sometimes... many times – i just sit and do nothing. Or i sleep.
Oh, and sometimes, i gym.

You would think that with all this new stuff happening in my life, with my mind-expanding new experiences, and plentiful free time, i would be ready to explode with things to write about; that i would fill up page after page with accounts of my adventures. Well, I thought so too; but only the contrary seems to have happened. I do have things i want to write about, and more than once..several times, i have actually made a mental note of putting pen to paper and updating my journal – if only for posterity sake. But all that intention really never translated into action. After slowing down to a trickle, my pace of posting new stuff came to a complete standstill a few months earlier. And the funniest part is that i didn’t even miss it so much, except at times when something stupendous happened.

So today, many months and much guilty procrastination and not a little encouragement (from dear darling hubby) later, i started writing this report, hoping to rekindle an old flame and get my creative juices flowing. Not because i’m an ace writer who, like my friend RV will have publishers knocking at her door after reading her blog, not because i have a 100 readers who have been having withdrawal symptoms with me not writing, not because of any reason that has anything to do with anyone else. Simply because i liked blogging. Like.

And that’s it. That is what i wanted to say, at least for now. So here’s hoping i will be more regular here onwards.

Alright then, next step – get to the gym... it’s been a month since i stepped on that holy ground!

Here’s to getting back!