Of me

A very good evening!!

I'm very judgmental. I've been told so various times. & I know it. So it turns out that I need to go a bit judgy on me.

I honestly don't think that I have that many nice qualities. For instance only today, MC replied to something I said with "akka!! you can be so cruel"

Self analysis is never easy. One tends to think of all the nice qualities that one thinks he or she possesses. We are obviously very biased to our own selves. Rather egoistic.

I've realised that in a fight, I usually tend to think that I'm always in the right. There is of course no doubt that I am always in the correct. But to show the world that I'm indeed a nice person, maybe I need to give a little more leeway to the other person.

So in a nutshell, (as if!) here's me.

I believe, there are two kinds of people. Those who make lists & those who don't. I'm the third kind.
I'm selectively OCD. Sometimes I don't like people for no apparent reason. Those who I love, I love like mad.

I have only a very few friends other than on FB. Two very close ones actually. Why? Because I can never be bothered to keep up friendships. It takes so much energy and effort. The two that remain have stood the test of time. Even them sometimes I go on without talking for weeks or a month. But we can always pick up the threads at anytime.

I like fantasy novels. I read saucy historical romances. If I could have one super hero ability it would be to fly and have huge wings. You know like angel from X-men.

I'm crabby. I'm bubbly. I'm fat. I also have a nasty temper that flares out if I'm not in control.  I don't like talking about politics & I hate sports.I'm nerdy. I like exams & pretend not to like them.

I realise that most people won't like me after reading this. Most people woudn't want to read rants about another. I'll get over it.

Live Long & Prosper.

My other blog & homemade pasta

Good morning!

So you know my other blog right.? http://craftinesswhatnot.blogspot.com

Just wanted to let you know. There's a new post on home made pasta. You should try out definitely.


Have a great day!!

Among the pages : American Gods

hat I'm not is a book critique. Err.. Maybe I am. I mean I have spent countless hours discussing this & that book with various people, (i.e, Hubs, sis, my almost twin friend etc..). Does that make me a critique? Does my ability to make a good cheese cake make me Gordon Ramsay? ( I wish!) You get the point.

All these being said, I do love, adore books. Books therefore invariably feature in my "things that make me happy list" (hubs and family being in the people that make me happy list). The things that make me happy list contains the following & not in the same order every time.

1. The smell of books.
2. Butter. (Obviously! Have you seen me lately?)
3. Old furniture
4. Dettol soap
5. Garlic.
6. Butter. (did I say that already?)
7. Ginger tea.

See, I'm a very simple person.

In addition, to my delight, I have found out that (contrary to the popular belief) there are a multitude of people in our generation who could not simply survive without a book in their hands.

To come to the point of this blog post I thought I'd share with the world my two pence on what I'm reading.

AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman

I finished this one a month or so ago I think. I have read a few of  Neil Gaiman's books in the past & am a huge fan of the Sandman. (thanks to my brother). While I think that Gaiman is a literary genius, this particular book was extraordinary. It is no wonder it has received so many awards.

American Gods centres around an ex-convict named Shadow and his adventures with the stuff of mythology. Its main theme that (As far as I can see it) Gods as we know them will cease to exist as our belief in them wanes & new ones are born when we start believing in new things is indeed fascinating. That is to say, some Gods of olden days have already gone extinct as we no longer believe in them and forgotten them while certain new Gods have sprung up. The Media, Technology etc.

The story follows Shadow as he makes his way through America facing challenges, battling enemies & solving mysteries to his ultimate revelation. He does all these while being in the employment of a certain mysterious Mr Wednesday.

I could not but notice the similarity between the aforementioned theme and of some of the characters found in Sandman.

I'm only vaguely familiar with the persistent Norse mythology in the book. (Having read Sophie's world). Because of this I found this subject very interesting.

Only the connection between Shadow & Mr Wednesday was kind of cliche for me.

Alright, alright. Enough ruining it for you by giving away the story.

If you ever read it, let me know. I of course do recommend it heartily.

Here's what you should do. Get the book. Fill a bowl with something to munch. Find a nook. Hide. Get comfortable. Read.

BookBaker Out.

On Public Radio

On my way to Colombo from out today I had two strange encounters. One I will recount later. The other heard on a Sinhalese radio station played in the bus was indeed shocking.

This radio station calling them the Number 01 in the country (According to some bizarre poll apparently) was playing their afternoon show.

The presenter, a girl with a strange accent (Haven't you noticed how they all speak as Sinhalese was their 2nd, no 10th language and not the mother tongue?), announced the next part of a radio drama (I'm not sure of the correct terminology here). You get the idea right, people act out a story on air. And this radio drama, I don't mean Muwan Pelassa. This was one of those cheap, petty, trashy ones, girls with smoky voices & guys trying to lure these girls in and ensuing love stories.

This particular programme was announced to be a radio movie. (Obe aadaraneeya guvanviduli chithrapatiya) BAH! What on earth is a guvanviduli chithrapatiya?

From the bits & pieces I caught, first there was a girl who tricked a guy on a motor bike to give her a ride home. (Pick her up & drop her home).  Here's the shocking part. Between every two words she used one of the following words. “Ulama, Gona, Ibba, Booruwa, Gon balla “& so on & so forth. And the guy also responded in a similar manner. “Ibbiye, modiye" et cetera.

This was followed by a few songs (Who makes these songs?) after which the next part of the "guvanviduli chithrapatiya" resumed.

Apparently in this part (I'm not sure if it's the same girl or a different one), a girl had just gotten home but had not noticed that there was a guy in her living room. (Yes very film noir).  Only after she folded her umbrella, took her own time, finished a phone call (all this while the guy observing her) she turned & was startled to see this guy in her living room.

The guy having enquired as to why she lets/brings this other guy to her house when he's not around was met with yet another tirade (I'm not sure if it was his first, I strongly doubt it however) in the aforesaid manner with her denial of sorts of his accusations. "ibba" & "ulama" seemed to be the favourite words of the heroin.

At this point, of course he had no recourse but to interrogate her more & prove that she indeed was not very honest with her replies. Meanwhile, not offended at all by his accusations or tone of voice or the choice of words (as it should be in a Mills & Boon novel) she, causing distress to many listeners wondered in her head why she wasn't at all offended and proceeded to. (WAIT FOR IT) hide her face in her hands and burst into a fit of giggles.

Thankfully, the programme ended then. Or it didn't & I was just brain dead.

Firstly, when on earth did people start speaking like that? Is it some novel idea that calling names is flirtatious?

Secondly, ON PUBLIC RADIO?

Thirdly, on a programme obviously targeted at the young crowd?

Goodness! Can someone please put them out of their misery? They sounded so needing it.

Do they think that it's OK to portray on radio that for any guy it's alright to come uninvited & be in a girl's (Or anyone else's) house unannounced? Like a serial killer or a rapist. Really? Seriously?

And since when is it OK for public radio to encourage girls to trick random guys to pick them off the road?

And, since when, (let me re-iterate) since when is it OK to talk to people like that?

And the accents? What's up with that? Even people I know who have lived their whole lives abroad speak better Sinhala. You can't speak a language? Learn it. Till you do, speak in a language you can in a relevant radio station.  Better yet, don't join a media station.

Public radio is not the personal play ground of presenters (or producers) for flirty bantam. People are listening & throwing up all over the place.

This particular radio station is not the only guilty one of course. Many many others are. Thankfully, most of the English channels aren't so bad. At least they play a whole lot of music & don't have "guvanviduli chithrapatiya" But then those who listen to the English stations are a tiny tiny portion.

Me having to listen to these stations are a sad by-product of bus travel like for many others. I've seen many who twist their faces listening to these. No wonder that these stations have to give away cash prizes to their listeners for doing so.

Oh yeah. This particular station's English channel was closed down a few years ago for misreporting.

There is no doubt that media should be responsible. Socially responsible. If this is a far cry, they should at least be decent, sociable and not spread vulgarity. Because the masses are easily gullible & deceivable on norms and such.

So the responsibility lies in not misleading the masses. Can't lead them in the right direction? Fine. Don't. Just don't lead them in the other way either.  If you can't do good, stay in the middle.

Click. My Man.

Drops of Jupiter, originally uploaded by Thanushka Jayasundera.

So My man. Clicks away. Every spare second he gets.
Aaannndd.. he's pretty good at it too.. :D

Check out his pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thanushka/

salt

ilent tears, unheard,
invisible in the periphery,
unnoticed
noticed but not cared,
are the salty drops
from a severed heart.

Happy birthday amma!

The wonderful lady who gave birth to me celebrates her birthday today. Here's to her!

There is no doubt that she is the best mother in the world. Me, nangi & malli can all attest to that.

She's a celebrated lawyer in our home town. Even though the life of a lawyer can be very hectic, when were little, we only wore the clothes she sewed for us. She was always making things. She still does, when she finds the time.

She's one of those people being the eldest of the family who can proudly say that she dragged the rest of the family ashore from deep murky waters.

She has been married to the love of her life for more than 26 years now and is living proof that love can endure anything.

She loves the three of us unconditionally even though sometimes our unintentional harsh words hurt her. When we go home, she still lays the table for us in the finest of china. She always did. She makes the most delicious aggala. :)

These few lines do not, never will, justify all that she is, all that she does & all that she means to us.

From the three of us, Happy birthday amma!

Fallen Crow

I was walking home a little while ago. As I turned to our lane I started hearing the caw of a thousand birds quaking the whole neighbourhood.

In front of the apartment-block before ours, was lying a fallen crow gasping for breath, in the searing sun.

For a moment I think, I stood there staring at it. Then I rushed home to see if my brother was home.He wasn't. I ran back. I knew the bird needed help. But I wasn't sure if I should touch it. So in our back yard I found a piece of a wooden board that was lying around.

Having laid this on the floor before the crow, I was standing there wondering how to get the crow on the pallet when thankfully a man from next door came to help. Unlike me, he took the bird in his hands, laid it on the board & carried it to a log that we use as a pedestal for a birdbath basin.

I hurried & got a bowl of water some of which the man tried to pour into the crow's beak. It was still gasping for breath.(That what I was hoping at least, that it was merely gasping for breath). Then deciding that there was nothing else he could do the man walked away. I thanked him & just stood there with the bowl of water in my hands.

I stroked its feathers a bit to see if it would shuffle. It wouldn't. After a while I gave it more water. When I tried a second time to give it water it moved a bit & tried to lift its wings. And it also seemed to be breathing with less difficulty.

Because I thought it was recovering I came inside & changed my clothes.And went back.

The crow had fallen back on the ground, dead.

I couldn't save it.  

The supernatural

Hey folks!!

Long time no see eh? I've been busy.. But that's no excuse. Things I've been busy with? More on that later.

So here's the thing? Do you believe in the supernatural? the spooky? And no, I don't mean Sam & Dean Winchester or Bella swan & Edward Cullen or the rest. I mean real life supernatural stuff.

Like do you think that people will linger on after death because they're stuck in the great in-between. Because they no longer belong to our world, but for some reason cannot go on to the next one either.

Most people will cite religion to exemplify their point of view I'm sure. I'm not talking about what Buddhism teaches us. (I personally believe in rebirth but am to a great extent illiterate about the concepts, I'm ashamed to say.)Or what all other religions teach.

All I'm wondering is, is it out there? a separate dimension that is beyond our perception. Do people like in the movie 6th sense, die, but linger on not knowing that they have died. And do they knowingly or unknowingly cause the living trouble? Even if they don't behave like poltergeists, attach themselves to certain objects that they cared for when they were alive and don't want to move on.

Finally, when you hear stories about such happenings, do you say "hmmm, really?" and go on to narrate a story you heard earlier or say "nah, BS".

BookBaker out.

The funniest thing

Desolation is the funniest thing.

It saps one's will to move forward or in any other direction.

Until, all one can do is sit in one place and stare at a dot on the floor.

Desolation is the funniest thing.

The Frog

Guy : "Hey Would you like to dance?"
Girl : " Err.... sorry... what?"
Guy : " Would you like to dance?"
Girl : " I'd like to......"

Time passes. One of them gets offensive.

Guy : " Err... So  can you? I mean, get up & come to the dance floor?"
Girl : " ah ha.. Erm.. So can you????"
Guy : "what?"
Girl : "dance?"
Guy :"YEAH!!!!!!" (#$#^*&^*(**#@)
Girl : "can you dance the Chacha?"
Guy : " YEAH!"
Girl : "The jive?"
Guy : "YEAH!"
Girl : "The boogie?"
Guy : "What?"
Girl : "Erm.. Can you sing"
Guy : "Eh?"
Girl : "Can you draw?"
        "Can you paint me on a canvas?"
Guy : "Okkkkkkayy... "
Girl : "Can you lead me to the dance floor?"
Guy : "Forget I asked."
Girl : "Can you, or can you not, turn into a handsome prince if I kissed you?"
Guy : "I.said.Forget.it."

So, as we all know, a guy who can't stand for two minutes to answer her innocent questions isn't worth it. So she did. What he said. Forget.

Happiest times

Four years. We celebrated four years today.

A very happy anniversary to you my darling..

To celebrate, we went & had hoppers with katta sambola and then watalappan & plain tea.

The best anniversary celebration ever. :)

What I really wanted to say to him, but couldn't find the words was..

"Thank you for loving me, For accepting me for my neurotic self. For being there with me through thick & thin.

I love you, more than life itself & I hope you know it."

That's all.

Lesson at staying cool - Akkosa Sutta

Akkosa Sutta. By proclaiming the Akkosa Sutta, Lord Buddha teaches us of not taking offense. I find this very inspiring.

Once the Blessed One was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo Grove near the Squirrels' Feeding Place. Now the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja heard this: "The brahman Bharadvaja, it seems, has become a monk under the Great Monk Gotama." Angry and unhappy, he went to where the Blessed One was. Having approached the Blessed One, he abused and criticized the Blessed One in foul and harsh words. 

Thus reviled, the Blessed One spoke to the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja: 'Well, brahman, do friends, confidants, relatives, kinsmen and guests visit you?"

"Yes, Gotama, sometimes friends, confidants, relatives, kinsmen and guests do visit me."

"Well, brahman, do you not offer them snacks or food or tidbits?"

"Yes, Gotama, sometimes I do offer them snacks or food or tidbits."

"But if, brahman, they do not accept it, who gets it?"

"If Gotama, they do not accept it, I get it back."

"Even so, brahman, you are abusing us who do not abuse, you are angry with us who do not get angry, you are quarreling with us who do not quarrel. All this of yours we don't accept. You alone, brahman, get it back; all this, brahman, belongs to you."

"When, brahman, one abuses back when abused, repays anger in kind, and quarrels back when quarreled with, this is called, brahman, associating with each other and exchanging mutually. This association and mutual exchange we do not engage in. Therefore you alone, brahman, get it back; all this, brahman, belongs to you."

"People, including the king, know the Venerable Gotama thus: 'The Monk Gotama is the Worthy One.' When does the Venerable Gotama become angry?"

Said the Buddha:

"Where is anger for one freed from anger, Who is subdued and lives perfectly equanimous, Who truly knowing is wholly freed, Supremely tranquil and equipoised? He who repays an angry man in kind Is worse than the angry man; Who does not repay anger in kind, He alone wins the battle hard to win. He promotes the weal of both, His own, as well as of the other. Knowing that the other man is angry, He mindfully maintains his peace And endures the anger of both, His own, as well as of the other, Even if the people ignorant of true wisdom Consider him a fool thereby." 

When the Lord proclaimed this, the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja said this to the Blessed One: "Wonderful, indeed, O Venerable Gotama! Herewith I go to the Venerable Gotama for refuge, to his Teaching and to his Holy Order of Monks. Most venerable sir, may I have the privilege to receive at the hands of the revered Lord Gotama the initial monastic ordination and also the higher ordination of a bhikkhu."

And the brahman Akkosa Bharadvaja received at the hands of the Blessed One the initial monastic ordination and he also received the higher ordination of a bhikkhu. And within a short time of his ordination, the Venerable Akkosa Bharadvaja, living alone, secluded, diligent, zealous and unrelenting, reached that incomparable consummation of holiness for which sons of noble families, having totally abandoned the household life, take to the life of homelessness. With direct knowledge he realized the ultimate, then and there, and lived having access to it. He saw with his supernormal vision: "Ceased is rebirth, lived is the holy life, completed is the spiritual task and henceforth there is nothing higher to be achieved."

The Venerable Akkosa Bharadvaja, indeed, became one of the Arahats.

The point here is I think, that no matter what anyone says to you, you shouldn't give two hoots about it. When people are mean to you, be nice to them. Be Cool. I'm going to try that. 

 

Found at Access to Insight. Traslated into English from Pali by Ven Buddharakkitha. Copied entirely from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn07/sn07.002.budd.html.

What's your dose of tv?

Have you ever found a tv series that you had to watch every week? Or one that was done being aired years ago & you suddenly found it & watched the whole series at one go? I have done both.

I'm not much of a tv junkie. I'm a book junkie. I love, I adore, I could live on books. I also like movies. I guess it's because it's the same reason as for liking books. I like a good story. What I don't like are sad endings. I believe there are enough problems in real life that we don't need more from fiction. There have been so many instances where I've had to try my hand at various antics to get my man to watch happy bubbly movies with me. For him it's all fighting & action. As a result I kind of like action movies too now.

Anyway, back to tv now.

There have been a few tv series that I watched from beginning to end at one go. Of course not in one night. But every night (or day) until I the series was over. These remain my favourite tv shows to date.

1. Friends.

I could watch friends over & over again & every single time bowl over laughing. It never gets old.

2.Avatar the last air bender

Yes I like cartoon. I like fantasy cartoon. I like super human abilities. I'd love to be the Avatar & be super at water bending, air bending, earth bending & fire bending.
What are you guys laughing at? No one ever said I wasn't geeky.

3. SUPERNATURAL
See how it's in capital. I watched the first 4 reasons at one go. Fortunately I was unemployed at the moment & I watched it I don't know for how many hours a day. But there was a time when I went to sleep I would dream of  angel wings & stuff.

What prompted me to write this? I just watched the latest episode. That was one good episode.

Supernatural. Recommended.

Geek update for the day. Yessir. Done

What's your dose of tv? I'm tagging MC, BI, Exon, Suri & CupCake. 

Book Baker out.

Pettah

Pettah! The enigma. I think it's strange that the busiest part of the capitol is evasive to most of us. The crowded streets, shouting people, road-side dirt, the innumerable vendors, people, people & more people.

In all my life (shamefully) I must have been to Pettah a maximum of 5 times. When I was a child, no one ever took me there & after I grew up I was so scared of going there that I never tried. But secretly I envied all those who braved it & survived. People who said "You know I bought this at Pettah, that at Pettah, & oh so cheap!" while I paid tenner for the same thing somewhere else.

Once to my utmost horror at my previous work place, my boss dragged me off to Pettah to buy Christmas decor. She knew all the places to go to & how to get there & the only thing I could do was tag along whining all the way. That was my first ever Pettah encounter.

My second was with my mother & an aunt. All I sadly remember is buying a saree at Ranjanas & then being brutally dragged all over the place. I had a very surreal, in a maze feeling, I must tell you.  

And then a few months ago, I decided that beads & stones I use in my craft stuff were getting too expensive to be bought at that "palace" in Borella. I knew what I had to do. Ford the murky waters known as Pettah. After getting the know how & where to & how to from a "Pettah Elder" I found my way to the 1st cross street. Ah! Paradise! so many little "kades" decorating the road sides. Yards & yards of trimming & ribbons of colours of the rainbow. Beads! sequins! stones! buttons! elastic! faux pearls! I couldn't believe it. It indeed was a crafter's paradise. And happily, I got a good bargain. Yippee!!

Then again, twice in the last month I went to Pettah. To Malwaththa street. The shoe shopper's paradise. I should rephrase that. A Guys shoe shopper's paradise. What a shame. No shoes for us ladies there. Anyway, there you can get lovely, all very fashionable (Very Barney Stinson looking ones) men's shoes for cheap, if you know how to bargain.

Today, I went there with my sister. Her first time at Pettah of course. Here are the things she did. Not in order.
1. She squirmed
2. She whined
3. She Spoke in English (Loudly)
4. Held my hand all through out.
5. Complained that she was sure I didn't know our way out.
6. Tried to buy goodies with her credit card.

All forgiven.

And, we were rather un-Pettahly dressed by the way. Skinny jeans & ruffly tops-tsk tsk- not the thing for Pettah.

If you haven't been there yet, it's definitely time to check the place out.

Book Baker Out.

New year resolutions?

A very happy new year everyone!!!! Have a fabulous one!!
I feel like I need to make resolutions. New year resolutions. I feel like I HAVE to make them. Usually every year I make them. As the Thirty First night wanes & a new day & a new year begins. I also usually put them on paper.

But this year I didn't. Maybe it was because I was busy sewing up a saree jacket to wear with my new saree to work today. (Did I mention that I'm back in the dreary workforce again?).


So, here I am still deciding on my new year resolutions.

On a side note, remember my "going to learn a craft a month" resolution? I learnt to crochet a granny square. (I kind of learnt it in November but I finally made granny square coasters in earth colours and I love them)

I also finally sewed a saree jacket by myself. As mentioned earlier as I started this in the fianl hours of December 2009 & finished in the first hours of January 2010 I wonder if it qualifies to be my craft of the month for January 2010.

Forget craft. What did I do in 2009?

I left the workplace I had worked for five years.I was unemployed for 8 months. With no unemployment benefits by the way.(We don't have them here). Started blogging. Found out how much I like handy crafts.Started writing a book. Started working again.

Found out that love indeed is your saving grace. Yes it is. 

I need to tell my parents that without them I don't know where I'd be.

To my brother, I'm glad I have you to pet & spoil.

To my sweet little sister, you have always been there for me, and I hope I have been for you too.

To my love, my one true love, you're the butter to my bread & the breath to my life.

For all of these people, I'm resolved to be a better person. In every way.  



Happy new year everyone, Here's to new beginnings & first steps.


Book Baker Out.