C for a Cluster

There was this porous, spongey material...often occurring in shades of creme and white - often adorned with a luscious layer of richly colored fluffy stuff. There was the occasional rose, molded out of edible material and color that stained the tongues and teeth in an inexplicable shade of gaudy pink. Sometimes, the shading was coveted and gaped at in the mirror with a strange awe. It tasted more like a chemical than candied sugar, but that didn't deter us from claiming to want it or eat it.

 There were layers and layers, literal and the not so, to the simple pleasure of devouring a piece of cake and how it enticed me every single time I lay my eyes on a piece, though it was occasional. The usual birthday, the Christmas cake or the New year one. That's it? - yes, just three definite occasions and then the bonus, rare and random ones.

Cake continues to be a great draw for me - and sometimes I wonder if all the idioms, expressions and adages were coined just keeping my awe for the yummy treat! -

Now, that was a pice of cake, making this entry into my A-Z journey, but no, it won't be all!


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Clueless and confused, I embarked on a journey with my husband, shunning my small town roots, to this land,  to Golden California. Ever since, this had effortlessly replaced my little idyllic town on the banks of a perennial river, somewhere in the lush lands of South east Asia.  I look at the ocean, the numerous shades and genes of diversity that color this land, the magical allure of Golden gate bridge, the steely cold pangs of the Pacific that lick my feet with their froth every time I take a stroll on the beach and feel the crunch of Sourdough on my taste buds, I feel a part of my very existence merging into this piece of land....

If C has to denote something, it has to be my home sweet home :-)



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I have a friend - almost a family member. But not the one that is typical to either of these groups. He keeps me company, humors me, flatters me and makes me giggle to myself in moments of my solitude. I look for resemblances, for matching points of view. I watch him in awe for the way he articulates and  simplifies truths of life - for his math atheism. For his unconditional bond with an imaginary friend. Calvin can easily make a place in my family tree...he could be one of my ancestors, he could be one of my offsprings - heck, he could be me! I banter in elaborate vocabulary - Calvin does that! I question the need of calculation and arithmetic (ditto, Calvin) He has replaced voids caused by realtime folks, he pops in my mind, hallucinating around my senses, offering me life advice. If I am Remy the rat, He is Gustav, the chef that acts as my guide.

A list without Calvin under the alphabet "c" is complete - Never! And nothing can leave me more content than listing him among my coveted possessions.


Concluding the 'C' is the Calvin fan from Charming California, consuming crumbs of creamy cake.

Ciao!

:-)

Day 2 - B for Banal

And now the real challenge starts - of making the title appear a little 'trying to be modest' - and if the challenge is failed - advanced apologies! And yes, sorry for making this an arbitrary one and starting the first two sentences with a conjunction:)

As far as I can manage - no Verse this time around. I don't want the easy way out. The elbow grease, the trying hard enough, the putting in required effort et al come into play. If I am doing it anyway, why not do it the right way? So here goes another dose of prose - (well, just a bunch of non poetic blah blah to be more precise but the rhyming of dose and prose was kind of irresistible.) On retrospect, I should have made this blog about just that - Blog! I should've no?

I keep saying Ten, but I am close to being eleven years old in the blog world. Just last night, I did a stroll back the memory lane into the recent past and was humored by my own thoughts and bits n pieces of ideas. Was a good idea, this Blog thingie. It really does give me a place I call  my own - sometimes conveniently forgetting that, albeit a small chunk, I do have an audience. If anyone of you, writers, non writers, thinkers, non thinkers are wondering what it would be like to have a blog, let me tell you, it is like having this 'resort' on cyber space, where you can be yourself and go on a vacation from the toxic world. (And at free of cost to boot) Yes, we do live in an overload of all things - good, bad and ugly. The space to introspect, create and reflect is as pious as our body. So blog equals to body on a very figurative perspective - an alternate being where you could choose to be your own critique, shrink, friend, philosopher, guide etc...and the beauty comes in when you have others peeping into the world of yours.  I keep saying this - who knows? An offspring might discover you generations down - in your now seemingly insignificant banter. So folks, if you are cogitating on a blog of your own - jump the gun, right now! (and keep at it, that's the trickier part)

I could go on and on when I call it Banal - but I are going to be considering - I mean, I am going to be considerate - to myself of course ;-) And save the Banal stuff and recycle it calling it Cliched, Dull, Everyday, Hackneyed, Insipid...(you get the drift don't you? ;-) in the coming days of Alphabetical blogging!
But like I said, all that matters is keeping at it!

 Please keep company - most kindly! :)

Day 1 - This and That

A very ardent supporter and well wisher of mine pinged me a couple of days ago, reminding me of the A-Z challenge that had become a tradition of sorts in my blogging journey for the past four years.

" Well, you are not too late yet, don't rob the world of your thoughts" the encouragement went on. And tell you what? - that qualifies as an answer to one of those 'What's the nicest thing you'd heard about yourself' questions! -) So, for obvious reasons, revived by the pleasant nudge that came my way, I decided to give it a try my own way - cause I was too self absorbed to realize it was April and too condescending of my own works to realize they'd be missed :-D

So, here I go, trying my shot at blogging each day of April - Ironically, Sundays were supposed to be days off - since I am doing it my own way, I thought it would be a good opportunity to keep at the daily writing and upping my blog count for the year - and of course, I did rule out the 'block' as imaginative in my previous ponders - so all the more reason to bounce back! Thus Sunday becomes the day one.

If you had any idea of how my previous attempts at A-Z went, they were hard core - picking one alphabet a day and trying to feign a verse with that themed letter. Honestly, verses come easier to me for some reason - they are less demanding of format, grammar and flow, and I effortlessly pick a few words, tie them up with a thought and an exaggerated dose of artistic liberties and call it a day! - A couple of years, I did the group blog thingie - it was nice. Now who doesn't like the ego stroked and cajoled and after all that "I am not ambitious' banter, it is a fact that everyone likes a kind word thrown at them once in a while - nothing succeeds like succulent words of appreciation. But somehow, the introvert kicks in violently and I retire back into my snail shell of being alone and being left alone - which are by the way, not as depressing as they sound! Alone and lonely are separate words with separate meanings. A wise soul once told me that if you like your own company, you can never be lonely! - I know, this reeks of self absorption, but if it simplifies your life - why not??

Technically, I should be blogging about something with the alphabet 'A' - I was majorly attracted to blog about 'assumptions', as I see the world runs on them - on your assumptions, on mine and the ones that our neighbor and his brother has about you, me and the world in general. If there is one single, solitary thing I'd like to work on to simplify life - it would be the caution in making assumptions. They somehow shut the 360 degree view to things, narrowing the view to a sentiment that might or might not be true. It further complicates our thoughts, our reactions, our reasoning and at a deeper level - our lives!

This thought is something that can't be skimmed through in a rush, so I thought I'd blog about 'Ahem' - not the 'ahem ahem' - like clearing the throat, but the sanskrit word 'Ahem' as in "I" - the big bad and ugly 'Ego' in other words! It is startling how my nine year old has one, slightly larger than her 4'5" frame and I do see it occurring everywhere, age and gender no bar! But then again, how can I really confine the vastness of the subject in one simple entry? I cannot! Can I?

Totally displaying my adult ADD, I need to add that the New Yorker really puts my attention span and comprehension skills to test. I do enjoy it when I am utterly it moment,concentrating on what is being said - which unfortunately gets me to the fact that we as humans are stunted in our attention span. We are not as good listeners as we are thinkers and speakers. Note to self - work on listening. As they are not many speakers when I listen, if you discount the little girl that remembers to tell me some random fact about deers (the new non fiction book she's read) for the umpteenth time and makes me wonder how she remembers the fact but forgets that she repeated it enough times to cause brain shut down in me) I decided to work on the concentration skills - which might at some deeper level, inspire a wish to meditate - one can hope, can't one?? And, sincere thanks to New Yorker for driving home that point!

I shall come back, more this and thats' ? The occasional easier ways out in the form of poetry? The desperate 'photo entry' to keep the 'blog each day' sentiment going...I know not what all I'd resort to. But it is going to be a month of putting the 'concentration' on a task to challenge.

I am too laid back for them Challenges, till one is thrown my way! And then, magically - a well hidden program to keep up, pops in and does the trick!

Thank God for forgotten and hidden potential, great friends, true inspirations and the motivation to keep on.

So, after all, A is for an Attempt (yet again) :)