New reads

The book was on the BN bestseller list for a long time - for a reason. Utterly optimistic and beautifully written. One of those books that you finish off in a go - even if it means you are skimping on your beauty sleep.

The predecessor of a chick-flick romantic comedy. Reading a British author made me realise how Americanized my English became over the past decade. Good for a weekend on a porch. Light heated, cliched - but fun.

The most remarkable thing about the book is the author - who penned it when he was 21 - Ben Shapiro, all of 25 years now is a man with strong values and will, though he came across as a little prejudiced towards the "Democrat" presidents and wannabes. Easy read - thoughtful, thought provoking and relatable to the "Indian" mindset.

You cling to my clothing
Like an extension of my being.
Your smiles and your tantrums
Amuse me to no end.
You fill my house
And my heart with a special light.
You give me happiness
In abundance.

Dress-up.

The other day, when entering into an enthralling retail therapy at walmart to load some daily essentials, I saw an older lady stride gracefully ahead of me - she wasn't your average older lady, may be she was, I am not sure, but she didn't seem like one, or dressed like one I should say. Her pants and tunic were a rich, deep purple, a hue that could put our own Barney the dinosaur's shade to shame - and her hat was an elaborate red, looking like a disguised Christmas tree sitting on carefully curled blond tresses - sequins, feathers and all that. I thought "Red Hat society" and wanted to approach the lady and say a nice thing or two about how gorgeous she looked had it not been for the burden of lugging along a 30 pound toddler on my hip and pushing the over sized cart. There was no way I could keep pace with her without running after her and making her feel stalked.
I gave up glancing longingly at the satchel purse she was carrying on her arm - a basket weave purple and red, made out of the seat belt material that I once saw advertised in a mag as practically indestructible and the current trend.
The lady, the attire and the accessories alerted my like a can of coke and I chanted the name "red hat society" in my mind like it were a mantra.
I give myself a lot of credit for psychic abilities. I was once told by a psychic (no I didn't make this up) that I was like her in a desperate attempt to make me agree to get a reading. I did not cave in By the way! Anyway, the psychic abilities in question are being discussed since the name "Red hat society" was something I'd heard while flipping channels and landed up on the shopping channel which is a very safe and entertaining option for time killing. I heard the show host mention the name red hat society and didn't hang around enough to figure out what it was.
Anyway, this lady, as I'd learned consulting Google later on, is indeed an ostentatiously proud member of the red hat society, a group of older ladies who dress in purple outfits and red hats and meet up for socials. Wikipedia listed the origin and how the society came into being. I was very much amused by the creativity and zeal behind the idea of dressing up like little girls would, in an attempt to pretend play, in a self-reminder sort of way, that no matter how old we get, we always hold on to the child in us. During my initial days in the USA, I was endlessly fascinated by the idea of celebrating Halloween by dressing up and actually going on the streets asking for candy! The whole idea was so out of the box - kind of like something a person like me would think of - spooky, and crazily funny. When I took a stroll on the culde-sac and sported moms and dads in costumes like pirates and Greek princesses, I had a feeling of taking a time machine and going back in time to watch fantasy characters. The whole experience was out of the world and one of a kind.
Dressing up holds a very symbolic meaning to me - unconsciously, we put up an external appearance in a 'look at how I am feeling' sort of way. We dress up for celebrations, dress down for shopping and undress - well, you get the idea - I was talking about showers dirty minds! LOL.

rated pg 13.

Which brings us back to the red hat society. It seems that ladies under 50 need not apply - or may be they could, if they are willing to be under age and wear pink hats.
I wish I had the creativity to think of red bikinis - I meant sarees - or salwars. Okay, forget it:-)) I am happy I have a blog entry which doesn't look like a kid going trick or treating - or so I believe - you are free to disagree ;-))

Nonsense.

What do you blog about when you actually have nothing blog worthy? What do you blog about when the laptop is broke and the pictures you uploaded are in an inaccessible hard drive?? What do you blog about when the pleasure centers in the brain crave for hot chocolate and moist cakes and your bathroom scales is screaming in horror every time you step on it??
What do you blog about when the toddler puts a ban on 'laptopping' and insists on sitting on you head every time you open the slow functioning, prehistoric 'substitute laptop' that dies the moment the electricity plug unplugs?? Does it help your creative juices to flow when your Brain is slug as a snail and your thoughts are as creepily slimy? When the Blue bird comes hopping on the dandelion laden lawn with drying patches like a bald head and looks around for food, it kind of reminds you about your own quest of finding a ponderable thought to think aloud and to blog about.

Say what do you -? When the block happens to a writer as petty as you??

Quote

Being modern is an attitude, not an attribute - Aarti's mom.

Never failing!

On a day to day basis, a lot of things disappoint me - not that I am hard to please, may be a little I am, LOL, but when my hubby doesn't call if he is getting later than the time he mentioned or when Aarti wants to go on a Telly marathon I get it - disappointment - loud and clear. Now, there are things that never disappoint me - like A R Rahman's music. His music always makes me feel better, livelier and happier. Just the other day, when the slow, solo number Dheemi Dheemi in Deepa Mehta's 1947 Earth (performed by Hariharan) was playing in Santu's car stereo, I gazed out of the window and found the otherwise mundane and blah looking hills covered with dried grass very very beautiful. I almost felt a dopamine kind of surge that is associated with being in love. I was relaxed, happy and strangely content at the end of a jam-packed, monotonous day. All due to a random Rahman composition. The song, along with unexplainable joy bought with it a series of reminiscences - The way I listened to the album on repeat whole day when it debuted and the way Rahul Khanna swept my world off my feet with his charm and good looks and the way the lyrics and the rendering of the lyrics made me feel perpetually in the feeling of realising being in love.
I had to dissect the experience in my usual signature way and I pondered over the lyrics. They say that 'Your body is a sensual and soft smell, and when you are near me, how can my heart not get enticed??' Okay - this is a loose translation, kind of like a 'think aloud' admiration of how well the physical attraction of a courtship amalgamates with the emotional attachment to a person. Curiosity led me to check out how the song was pictured. It was the usual, no frill, artsy Deepa Mehta way where Nandita Das and Rahul Khanna (sigh) ride doubles on a bicycle in what seems to be an endless journey thru blah surroundings. In my own imagination, I envisioned a slow motioned run of the Heroine thru the woods while the Hero sits on the grass gaping admiringly at her. May be a Johar or a Chopra would have done justice to the hopelessly romantic number - and no offense to the realistic Mehta style.
Anyway, I just seem to have realised that a physical aspect to a man woman attraction is almost like the soul of a relationship. Is it not this extra element that distinguishes our relationships with our friends/siblings from that of our loves?? And to celebrate it, we have the likes of Rahman, Akthar and Bhansali. If you want to feel a soul stirring joy, listen to the song - I promise - it won't disappoint!

Balderdash in the attempt of rhyming.

I love fresh flowers in my vase
And my daugher's warm embrace.
I love painting my finger nails
and Department store sales.
Sales that have steep discounts
So that they don't empty honey's bank accounts.

I love well made meals.
And sparkly high hells.
Birds in my backyard make my day
they fly in to fly my blues away.
The Telly brings its happiness too
While I watch the re-run of Friends
And my kiddo watches Winnie the pooh!


I like smiles on faces
and meeting people in new places.
Travelling I love as well
as long as there is no farewell
That needs to be said to new found friends
when the joyful journey ends.


I love singing songs
writing poems and sing alongs.
My blog, I like scribbling here
As much as it might appear.
But one thing makes me as glad as can be
Whether you agree or disagree -
I like your comments
So keep them coming
and I shall find more things I love
In the process of a writer becoming!

ROFLOL.

It's late night and I obviously need sleep:=))

All I want.

I tucked away the baby tooth
Wrapped in a tissue
Under my pillow.
And made a wish, not for money!

The fallen eyelash
Was collected with care
Placed on my left hand
And blown away gently -
I made a wish, not for fortune.

The rainbow appeared pretty and bright
I made a wish as I shut my eyes tight
Not for a name, not for Fame.

Each year till I grew up
Old enough and impure too -
I wrote a note and made a wish
For Santa to deliver on Christmas eve.
I wished not for toys or gifts

As I blew out the birthday candles
And counted my years and blessings
I made a wish - but not for jewels
Or cars or vacations.

The shooting stars appear now and then
Prompting me and tempting me
With a promise that my wish be granted
And so I wish, but not for success.

I wish upon everything wishable
I wish I wish with all my heart
Not for Gold, nor silver too -
All I want is simple and true
It's love and laughter and being with you!

The fairer sex, the weaker Sex!!

I have a obsessive compulsive disorder - of following the copy and jingles of TV commercials. As a kid I used to sing for an audience in my class, the now obliterated Cadbury's Dollops Ice cream commercial. "Say Lops" - it goes and ends up in a sexy male voice concluding "Don't just say ice cream - say Lops" LOL

Recently another jingle for Walmart caught my ear. A husky female voice sings


- How lovely to be a woman
The wait was well worth while
How lovely to wear mascara
And smile a woman's smile -

while the focus lies on women of all ages applying makeup and choosing from the brands at Walmart. Indeed, I realize!, that it is lovely to be a woman. To have endless options in dressing, accessorizing and making faces up while the males around us can at the most have options for their laptop bags, dress shoes that come in shades of brown and black and probably sunglasses and wrist watches. The fairer sex seems to have a royal treatment in this department - the getting dressed department. But as I sing the catchy tune of walmart commercial while stirring the streamed rice, I realised that being a woman is not always lovely, or about wearing mascara or even smiling - since being a woman can be a vulnerability that can be exploited. A pain than can be excruciating depending on what part of the world you are fortunate or unfortunate enough to have taken birth in.

Consider genocidal Darfur for instance, where rape is used as a weapon to terrorize women and entire communities. Sadly enough, no woman or girl is safe there, or some of the male dominated countries where women are more of wall flowers or door mats or meagre channels of having male heirs. Sadly enough, the instinct to look at women as objects to satiate sexual hunger is predominant in all cultures and countries. It is still unsafe for women to travel alone after a certain time of night, no matter where she lives. Women are looked down upon as sexual objects and not as human beings.Birth of girl children is mourned - All this in the current day and age, very very sadly.

As I ponder about how much fun a woman has shopping for shoes and handbags, I wonder how many women out there actually walk miles bare feet and lead lives without ever knowing that they could have their own handbags to carry their money. On one hand I see the four friends in Sex and the city, living empowered lives and looking for love and lust in the big Apple and on the other I read about sexually assaulted underage girls in Godforsaken places like Darfur. While I feel extremely fortunate and blessed to have the privilege to think my thoughts and live my life on my terms and not on the man's that I am married to, I feel the necessity to reach out and give something to the other human beings of my sex. Please make a difference - donate to educate a girl child at www.ashanet.org or to one of those UN relief camps in Sudan or just think of dropping off your outgrown wardrobe at a local abused woman shelter. Reach out and help and then putting on mascara or wearing stilettos becomes optional, since feeling good is the beginning of being beautiful.

Baba, the Blog Baba...

Mr. Amithab Bachchan, the man himself and my Blog idol and Blogbaba - as I fondly call him replied to my comments to his 506th post, two of them actually, that I posted on the same date - comments to his 506th post on september 9th 09.

laxmi addanki says:
September 9, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Blogbaba -
Been waiting for this since your last post

Much love
L addanki.


ab says:
September 10, 2009 at 5:22 pm
waiting for what .. another post well here it is …



laxmi addanki says:
September 9, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Don’t fret about the Urban Legend history of stanford Blogbaba - Sometimes the underlying message is more important than whether it is a fact or a fiction. Our elders tell us lots of stories - we get the message but dont really bother to check whether thier anecdotes are facts or fiction. Sometimes we derive more pleasure in finding other’s mistakes than our own. LOL. When you call us your family, the need to explain your genuine mistakes ceases.

Your messages are always precious. I cant get enough of them.

Luv
L addanki.



ab says:
September 10, 2009 at 5:30 pm
thank you yes .. it is good to read the good even if there is error

Priceless.

These daily cares
Newspapers and junk mail
Cluttering the crevices of the house
Piles of dirty dishes
Deshelved toys and craft supplies
Needing to be picked hour after hour
Meals to be cooked
Beds to be made
Heaps of clothes filling the hampers
Calls to be answered
Mails to be replied to
Barthday parties, weddings, baby showers
Countdown for weekends
Planned trips
Strolls in the parks
Playing the first teacher to kids
Cleaning the countertops
while hating the grout
Scrubbing the toilet bowls
Vaccuming the carpets
Not even mentioning
The dusting, the mopping, the shopping and chopping.
Who says a home maker doesn't work?
She just doesn't get paid for it!!