the act of being holy

Being holy comes at a price...apparently. We are back from our "pilgrimmage" of sorts. It was a 12 hour bus ride each way. Then once we got to the temple it was slight madness. There is something about most Hindu worshippers that cannot be justifiably described. Its like in the presence of God, or even otherwise, all civic sense, common sense, and courtesy is inherently lost. If you ever find yourself so desperate late at night...go to a crowded temple... There is nothing quite like being groped and handled by villagers and wannabe tycoons in the presence of God. I'd of taken a picture for you but cameras were not allowed on the temple premises. Good thing...having it in my hand might have incited a panic of epic proportions.
Then my uncle's cell phone got swiped right from his belt case. How the hell does that happen?!? And at a place of worship!! Only in India. Incredible India.

Hallelujah...the stars align

My family is obsessed with astrology. Before anything is done, an auspicious time must be found. Before any couple can come together, their stars must be found to align. Before you even switch on a new computer for the first time you must consult a special calendar indicating the auspicious day and time. It's "buggin'." I had to wait until this past Saturday at 9:15am to get my ears re-pierced.

So my sister has been dating this German guy for quite some time. He's a great guy. It's pretty serious and on the verge of a big announcement. My mother just started acknowledging it and subsequently the entire family now knows. My chill aunt already refers to him as my brother-in-law. For some reason that sounds nice. Anyways, its just hilarious to me that this all means nothing until horoscopes and stars have been analyzed and it is determined that these two lovebirds are a "match". Well, today word came that the stars are aligned. So, its official. Supriya and Ludger are a match. They can go forth and prosper. How sweet.

I think the next time I buy a toothbrush I may have to consult our priest for a little astrological guidance.

all the people

think about all the people you see on your way to work/school/play. all the people you see crossing the road, driving in their cars, walking out of a store, going for a jog... all these people have a story. all these people have someone they love, someone they miss, someone they are eager to see, someone they hope to never see. all these people have something that makes them happy and something that makes them sad. each person you see is so intricate, so complex, so different, yet inherently so simple.
how many people do you see on your way to wherever you are going in the morning? multiply that by about 200. that is how many people I see and that is how many stories surround me each time I step out of the door here.
it is amazing the range of people you can see after each and every step, each and every glance in another direction. and with that you can see so much emotion, you get a rudimentary glimpse into so many lives. one person begs for scraps from a well dressed housewive in a fancy, shiny, new European car. one of them is upset because she is late for a lunch date, the other is upset because she has not had water to drink for days.
everyone has a story. these stories are not laid out for us in black and white, so its up to us to read into them and read into anyone we come into contact with. we shouldn't assume we know each other solely based on our outward appearance. delve a little deeper. get to the heart of the matter. determine what makes that person tick, who or what that person loves, who that person misses, who they are eager to see, and who they hope to never see again.

some updates and some babble

Currently enjoying a relaxing Boxing Day. For all who don't know what Boxing Day is (I assume just because I had no clue but do now thanks to the wonder that is Wikipedia)...it is a holiday celebrated in much of Europe and observed here in India the day after Christmas. The historical significance is that the day after Christmas, the lords of every manor would hand boxes filled with goods and gifts to all serfs of the house. It's basically a continuation of the Christmas holiday.

So today I'll celebrate Boxing Day by spending all my aunts money on new threads and gadgets. Did I tell you I LOVE that my mom has so many generous siblings?! Jk, they are great.
And I am going with my uncle to check out plasma tvs. Yes, they have plasmas in India ;)

Next topic... I'll be home on Thursday Jan 4th. But of course once that day comes I'll be all depressed and sad after leaving here. It always happens.

And no, "my favorite person ever" (in the photos) is not my bf. Yeah, he is damn cute, but he is my little cousin. A cool guy, very funny, and just a blast to be around.

So my posts have been rather boring as of late I admit. I'm working on something good for you guys. Just been in a lazy state of mind here because its been such a nice vacation.

Oh, and once again...Daniel Craig is HOT. Casino Royale sucks.
Again...Daniel HOT. Royale NOT.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Today, in honor of the birth of Jesus (who by the way I assume has great difficulty blowing out all those candles on the his cake) I visited a temple. I think the drunk Christmas carolers at 3am kind of put me off to any sort of Christmas celebration this year. You have never heard christmas carols until you have heard drunk Indian Christians banging on drums and shouting Hark the Herald Angels Sing at the top of their lungs.

ramblings from far far away

Me and my favorite person ever


first of all, what is up with my blog template. its having issues. where did my green tictacs go?

second of all, I am tired. sleep is hard to come by here at this point in my life. either I am too excited to sleep or when I finally get the feeling of dozing off some car alarm starts blaring or some drunk guys start screaming. why does India sound like Harlem? (no I have never been to Harlem).

third of all, the weather here is amazing. 70s and cool breeze...sweatshirt weather at night. LOVE it. you are jealous i know.

fourth of all, i love gossiping with my aunts. especially when its about other aunts. :D

fifth of all, going to see Daniel Craig as Bond tomorrow. HOT. very HOT.

sixth and most important of all, my family is awesome...especially my favorite person ever...

whirling wind

...and what a crazy 5 days it has been. Today is the first day I'm somewhat back to normal. Normal sleep being the most important.
So, I'm currently on the second and final stop of my whirlwind international adventure. Germany was awesome. From the second I got there I was immediately immersed in a sense of overwhelming culture confusion. It's just different over there. Right down to speeding down the Autobahn at 235km/hr. To me that meant watching the needle stick in the red zone and being thankful for not eating anything on the plane hours earlier. Then we drove up a long, windy, icy mountain road to get to a little town in the Black Forest. Mind you, Germans don't like to drive slow on long, windy, icy mountain roads either. Needless to say, I have counted my blessings.
So I get to Schramberg, a little town deep in the black forest, where my friend and his family live. The weekend was great. They put me up in the guest house. Uh huh, I said guest house. I was as shocked as you may be. I ate great food and even played Risk until 2am with my friend and his dad. It was something else to have this president of a multinational company sitting down with me of all people to play boards games on a Saturday night. He was so genuine and so down-to-earth. Absolutely nothing like what you expect or hear of American big businessmen to be like.
So then Sunday night I get put up in a 4 star hotel in Archern that is run by my friend's sisters. In the morning I get a taxi to the train station so I can catch a train to Frankfurt for my flight to India. Ummm yeah, you try doing all that only knowing about 5 words of German. Not easy. Basically, all I have to say is that Germans on the whole are not the kindest of people. Not unless they have to be, or unless they know you already. I was carrying 3 bags (one of them a large suitcase) totaling probably 90 lbs around the train station, up into the train, through the train cars, and back out again and not once did anyone offer any help. They just watched, most of them stared. One guy wouldn't let me sit next to him and told me to go to the next car. So I got up and moved on, dead weight bags in tow. Oh and I ended up only finding place in the smoking train car. For 1.5 hours. That was awesome.
Well then I get to the airport, check in, loiter around the monstrosity that is Frankfurt International Airport for 3 hours as tired as I have ever felt in my life. I get to the gate, hand over my boarding pass, and the ticket agent pulls me aside and tells me to wait right there. So there I was thinking this was a great way to finish out the day. She'll think I am packing heat or something and this will turn into some huge CNN news headline of some sort. Then....she handed me a seat in Business Class. Niiiiiiice. At that point my idea of Germans had changed once again.


Christmas Market at Gegenbach
Advent Calendar


Narrow residential lanes

Me like bagels

I gotta say SNL has been weak in recent, well, for many years. Just when you think it's getting good, they lay off the funny guys. Yet, this week, they did manage to make me laugh...

In case you missed it...Take a look at the best SNL short since Lazy Sunday. It's wrong, but if you have any clue as to how crazy Mel Gibson is I'm sure you'll laugh also.

More tragic than the movies II

Link to story

More tragic than the movies

I can't get this out of my head.


This story has been on my mind all day. Actually it's been on my mind for a few days now, ever since I heard about it. I have no connection whatsoever to these people, but I just can't get them out of my head. Up until today there was some hope. Now that's all gone.
I can't help but think that this is one of the most heroic, inspiring, and tragic stories I have heard of in a long, long time. It reminds me of just how fragile life is and just how fast life can spin out of control. Literally one wrong turn can be the beginning of the end.
There is so much to this story that is being told. From a mother nursing her young children to keep them alive in 20 degree weather for over one week to a father courageously venturing off into unknown wilderness to save his family. And yet I'm sure there is so much more to be told. I think this guy was one of a kind, and I think his kids will always be proud of what he did for them.
I don't really know what else there is that can be said about this sequence of events. I'm almost at a loss for words just because it seems so unreal...yet somehow so human.