July 1, 2 and 3

July 1st -  What are your goals for this month?

To complete the July challenge!
To lose 2 kgs

To spend!

July 2nd - If you could offer a new born child only one piece of advice what would it be?

Ans : GO BACK!

July 3rd - What was the last movie that you saw in a theater?

Ans : Silver Lining Playbooks

In my last post I had mentioned about the aussie slang It's exxy - means its expensive! :)

Hooroo!

July 2013 Challenge- Here I come!

In my last post, I know I said I will complete the May challenge. And that was because I wanted some prompts to keep me going. But guess what? Looks like there are no dearths for challenges in the blogging world.
Paula at Paula's Place has a challenge all setup for July..

So here I take the plunge. (again!)
Given the history with me and blog challenges, I hope I complete at-least this one!

I leave you today with another Australian slang I learnt recently

It's exxy!!!

Take a guess what it means. No, no googling! (pssst, its not what you think (at least it was not what I thought (tee hee!) ) )

Hello World!

Disappearing without as much as a goodbye is unpardonable, I know. But you know what? It's a manufacturing defect. I do it all the time. In real life too. I keep hearing things like "don't you dare do the Houdini on me again", " are you still alive?!",  "You, Richard Parker", etc from my friends.
But now and then, I just slip into my cocoon and I have absolutely no idea why. (Maybe I just run out of things to say (or in this case 'write').
So like I was saying, it is a manufacturing defect. And if any of you have any complaints, take it up with my manufacturer. I am sure He must be running a customer support that you can contact. :D

So that out of the way, let's get down to business.

First off, I have an update - I found myself a job. Actually, that's not entirely true.  I din't find myself a job. My friend found one for me. Thanks S!


and Secondly, since I left the BEDIM challenge halfway..er..quarter-way, I thought I will try and complete it anyways. But only at my pace (giggle!)

That's all for now! I hope all of you are fighting fit!
Hooroo! (btw that's a slang in Australia meaning Goodbye!)

7. i Am aFraiD oF..

Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

I am petrified of absolutely anything and everything

I am afraid of the dark! (Don't keep staring into this photo.. Its got nothing in there except DARK!)

I am afraid of what the future might hold.

I am afraid of change.

I am afraid of roller coasters.

I am afraid of hospitals.

I am afraid of dogs and la cucarachas.

I am afraid of ghosts.

I am afraid of losing my loved ones.

I am afraid of lightning and thunder. (You can find me under the cot mostly, when it thunders)
I am afraid of not having a kid call me mommy.

I am afraid of death (or the oblivion of what awaits me after)

I am afraid to think that I still have 24 more posts to go before I complete BEDIM challenge (sigh!)

6. wHat dO I Do?

Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Ok Day 6 is NOT good. Anyone who has read this post of mine, will know how much I like being asked this question. For those of you who don't, here's a detail of one typical weekday of my life.

Now, it is surprising how simple things can create a jolt in one's life. (Like today, it nearly jolted my husband just to see me awake at 8:00 am in the morning). Fine! I am not a morning person. ok? I usually wake up around 8:30 - 9 ish (Its not like I have a job to get to or something)

Usually I finish all the morning rituals (includes all the brushing, washing, breakfast, etc) and then make myself a tea (yeah that's right. I am a tea person) at around 10-ish.

With my tea, I switch on my laptop. First thing I check is all the comments from my previous posts followed by reading all the posts of my blogging friends. From 12:00-1, I watch the re-run of Charmed on Channel 11. (I am a witch fan, remember?)

And then I make lunch, eat lunch, check if I have any more blog comments... take a walk in the park, make dinner, check for comments....pack next day's lunch for hus, sketch (if i feel like), check for comments... dance around a little bit, watch a movie, check for comments... eat dinner, do dishes, check for comments... skype friends, blog my BEDIM post, check for more comments..switch off laptop, read book, pray and sleep!

Voila! there you have it! Well, any comments?

5. pUbliCly pRofeSsinG mY lOvE..

Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member

I am a neophyte to blogging and I haven't had a chance to know my fellow bloggers as much as I would love to. So I decided to go with a real-life friend. 

Certain people come into your life for a reason. They are with you throughout when you need them.  

You laugh together. You cry together.You do all the crazy things together. 

They have seen you in the worst and don't pass any judgements. They make you feel on top of the world. They endure all your crazy tantrums just ensuring they are there for you.They pick you up when you fall down. They fight with you. They make-up with you. They listen to you. They teach you to trust.

And yes! I am lucky to have one such friend. 

Thank you for being there, A!

4. mY faVoRiTe quOtE..

Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

I have never been a great fan of quotes. But if I have to pick one its got to be this.

“For every quote out there, there is an equal and opposite quote somewhere else!”

And why I love it? because it is so true.

A silent man is a wise one.

A man without words is a man without thoughts.

What will be, will be.

Life is what you make it.

Never too old to learn.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Cross your bridges when you come to them.

Forewarned is forearmed.

3. I aM unComFortable wheN...

Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable

I am uncomfortable when...


When I just can't stop laughing no matter how much I try!

When I stand out in a crowd.

When I enter the church late, during sermon and have to walk all the way past the staring eyes to the very first pew which, incidentally, happens to be the only one empty!

When I am home alone (for the night.)

When the doctor says "please get into the hospital gown"

When someone comes to me and waves vigorously saying a big HELLO and I have no clue whatsoever as to who that person is.

When I accidentally hit the send button on an email which I was NOT intending to send!

When I am around people who smoke.

When the person at the next table just cannot stop staring at my plate.

When I have to eat a seemingly large burger in front of meticulously dressed executives picking at their salads.

When people assume they know what I am going to do next and get offended when I end up not doing what they assumed.

When I hear the words "we need to talk" .

When I have guests over for dinner.

When people look at me and say "Oh My God, you are married for 10 years? I thought you were just out of college!"

When someone asks me about something that I am supposed to be proficient in and all of a sudden I just draw a blank.

When I have just done something silly hoping nobody would have noticed and turn around to see a group of people staring at me.

When I am asked to write about things that make me uncomfortable and I just can't seem to stop writing!

2. SomeThinG I Am GoOd aT...

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

Today's prompt is a really difficult one. Not because I don't know what I am good at, but because I am good at so many things (you can find the list below), that it is difficult to choose one.

After much deliberation I decided to pick "The Art of Procrastination".

"What you can do tomorrow, you dare NOT do today!"

There are many ways to procrastinate.
Keep your mind engrossed in doing something fun that you don't remember the work you actually have to do. My favorite is playing Farmville, it just sucks time right out of your day like magic!

There is a very popular myth that procrastination is bad. Don't you ever fall for it! that is a hoax!

For there are many a benefits to procrastinating

if you procrastinate a task long enough, eventually someone else will do it for you!
And the adrenaline rush you get when you do something in the 11th hour is just an out-of-the-world experience! (Just like how I have been stalling this post up until the last minute! Well, actually it is already May 3rd (00:45) here in Sydney!)

So what are you waiting for? Just go for it!!

I am NOT a bitch! a witch? maybe.... but definitely not a bitch!

Normally I sleep peacefully. I rarely dream and even if I do, I don't remember them in the morning.
But last night was an exception. I had a really weird dream and remembered every bit of it in the morning!

Now, typically in instances like this, I send my dreams to The Dream Dinosaur Girl who then translates it into a lovely painting as you can see here
Lovely, isn't it?

 But since The Dream Dinosaur Girl has been mourning for her pink Towel for the last 2 months and no amount of convincing (i told her there are plenty of pink towels out there in the world) has brought her out of her mourning, I decided to take matters into my own hands!

So here's how my dream went.

I was sitting in my room watching TV but the TV was on mute!(weird, I know) and then I hear whispers. So I switch off the TV and listen carefully.

They are talking something about a witch..something about ME being  a witch!!
Now I am really all ears and try to find out where the voices are coming from. I see a hole on the floor adn I jump into it (without a moments hesitation!).
The hole opens into a big ballroom and who do I see there?
 Sabrina, Alex Russo, Paige, Phoebe, Prue and Piper Halliwell!! (that is the first time I have seen all the four Charmed sisters in one room)
All sitting there and discussing how I am supposed to be a witch! I am standing behind a pillar making sure they don't see me.

But from behind comes Elphaba - The Wicked Witch of the West with her green face!!
She looks at me skeptically and asks.

"Who are you?"
"I am a witch!"
"You are a bitch?"
"No, No, I am a witch!!"
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A BITCH,, LADY?!?"
"Oh My God, NO, NO, I said I AM A WITCH!!"
"oh, now I get it! YOU WANT to be a BITCH?"
Immediately, She says a spell and turns me into a bitch!

I start running (yeah with four legs and a tail in between!) 
The other witches run over hearing the commotion. I SO want to tell them all about what just happened but the only thing that comes out of my mouth is "woof, woof, bow, bow"

After a long discussion, they seem to convince Elphaba that I am a witch and NOT a bitch!
They quickly whip up a potion to make me human again.
All the seven witches say a spell and throw the potion on me.
And the whole place blows up in a loud explosion!

I woke up in the morning sweating and the first thing I checked was if I still had a tail. Thank God, I din't!!

I am still wondering what triggered off that dream. I know lately I have been obsessed with all the witch series on TV but come on, a bitch?!?
 And I really don't recall Elphaba of being short of hearing!!

Will I ever do it again!?

There is no way this is happening... I can't take it anymore...my heart is pumping.. .I shut my eyes tight and SCREEE...EE....EEEEAMMMM!!

Just moments earlier I had been happily laughing away at all that water splashing on to my face which was displaced by young kids jumping into the pool!

So how did I end up screaming?
Blame. My. legs. Yes, My Legs! The Idiots!!

Earlier this day, the entire family was planning on a day out with a bunch of kids.
I wasn't in the best of moods. So don't blame if I was not all too excited when finally the place decided was 'The Amusement Park!' (How amusing!). Could my day get any worse?

Twenty minutes and two hours later, we were all in this huge amusement park with everyone enjoying the rides and me?
oh, I was having loads of fun babysitting the wallets, hand bags, shoes and expensive cameras! OK lets face it. I am a wimp when it comes to rides and roller coasters and all those stupid contraptions with ridiculous fancy names, that guarantee to shorten your life through fear!

So there I was sitting by the pool and enjoying the cool water, splash on to my face, when I see two members of the family stomping and arguing with each other on top of their voices.
I could feel a smile spread across my face! There's nothing like a great family feud to brighten up your day! (as long as are you are not in the middle of it).
I even walk up-to them trying to eavesdrop on what they are fighting over. They see me and come over to me for my opinion! I feel a twinge of excitement! They want me to be Judge Judy!

Family Member1 : She does not want to come with me on the roller coaster

Family Member2: But he knows how I hate it

FM1: Come on, you can't come all the way here and not go on the roller coaster

Me and My Big Mouth : He has a point you know? It might be exciting !

FM2 : ..but I don't want to and ask him not to force me.

FM1 : I am not forcing you. I am just asking you to shed your fear.

Me and My Big Mouth (again):   come on, it is just a roller coaster. why don't you try it?

FM2 : If he was forcing you, would you go?
(Blast! In all the excitement I forgot how I hate roller coasters too!)

Me : yes of course I would. (I can almost touch the halo on my head)

FM2 : then why don't you?

FM1 : that's a good idea, why don't you come with me instead?

ME: urmm..me?...errr...r u sure?  (damn the halo!)

He started pulling me towards that monstrous looking creature and my legs follow suit, with FM2 standing there and grinning with contentment. (so much for playing Judge Judy!)
You legs, You idiots, stop! hello.. I said stop!

But where would they listen? They were happily walking (even running) towards the roller coaster and settling themselves well inside.

The thing starts moving....oh my God.. what have I gotten myself into?  I want to get down now... oh my God...I look at the operator, beseeching him to stop....he gives a nonchalant wave of his hand.....oh my God...please help me....Its approaching the first drop...oh my God.. my heart is racing... I even say a silent prayer and then all I hear is a piercing AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I was surprised that I actually did end up having fun. (only at hindsight though)
But will I ever do it again? lets just say, next time, I am more than willing to settle for a vicarious experience!

Life's like that... Really!

We were having guests for dinner! OK, so that's not a life-altering event you might think.
But considering that I am the worst cook mankind has ever known, it might just end up as a life-altering event ( for them! )

I made a million plans to avoid them. I even considered putting up a "Wrong way - Go Back" sign (that we so often find on Australian motorways) on our front door.
But like all my plans, even this one was an epic fail!

In the past, I would have died of anxiety (will they eat this?, will they like what I cook? Is the house clean enough?)
or would have had a nervous breakdown
or would have ended up breaking a few plates and glasses in the buzz of cooking.



But this time, it was different. It din't matter to me if they liked what I cooked or not. My heart was not pounding nineteen to the dozen. I was not running around like a headless chicken in the kitchen!


The guests came over, spoke, ate, drank and left. And I was surprisingly calm and poised the whole time.
And the most surprising part? I din't even chitter-chatter like I normally do to hide my nervousness!


God ! (hmmm ok probably not the best time to seek God's attention. He must be really busy right now dealing with all the dead ones. what with all the shootings, bombings, accidents and explosions - It must be a Population Explosion up there!)

Gosh! I don't know what brought about this phase. what came over me? Was I possessed? Is this what they call growing up (which is very unlikely considering we are talking about me!) or is there any other plausible explanation for this behavior? Will this phase even last?

I guess only time will tell!
But frankly, the whole while, I missed the old ME!

A short break

Nina Gray: Hello dear blog, if I told you something, would you get angry ?

My Blog: depends on what you say

NG: hmmm..actually I would not be able to write to you for the next 3 weeks.

MG: What?!? 3 weeks??? what did I do now??

NG : 3 weeks is a loong time, I know. And it's not you. It's me.

MG : what happened?

NG: I am going away for sometime and would not be reachable.

MG : oh! not fair!

NG: But think about all the peace who will get  when I am gone! And hopefully I will get some clicks to show you when I get back. 

MG :hmm that's right.. I will be waiting.

NG: I will miss you for sure!

MG: Me too

So until we meet again Be Good, Feel Good and Do Good!

The Gods Must Be Crazy!

"You are speeding!!!!"
"PLEASE SLOW DOWN!"
"There is a truck behind us.Please be careful.."
"Please keep to the left lane!"

O.K. That's me in a car (my husband is driving, of course).
Alright. Before you all start judging me, let me tell you this.
For one, I was being polite! Did you count the number of  'Pleases'?
And secondly, for a girl who has been under a bus and lived to tell the tale, this behavior is tolerable!
Yes, I have been there, where no one has ever dared to be.
"Literally under the bus!" Thank you for the Bravery Award! {blushing}

But that's not what I am getting at today. It's US ( No, not the United States). By US, I mean My Husband and Me.

For the first few years of our marriage, I thought it was God's Big Joke to get us married. (It must have been getting really boring up there). We were so different, we could have been from 2 different planets.
Our conversations sounded like Morse codes.

HE:  Beeeep, beeep....
ME:  Bip, bip, bip, bip, beeeeeep...

And other times it were like lexical ambiguities

HE: Woman off to jail for sex with boys
ME: Why? She din't find any boys outside the jail to have sex with?

HE: Stolen painting found by tree
ME: A tree found a stolen painting? now, that's strange!

And mostly we were eating each others souls out!!

ME : GET LOST, YOU DOG!!
HE: OK MRS DOG!
ME: AAARRGGGHH!!!

It's been 10 years now! Not that anything much has changed (we still are a weird couple), but somehow our marriage survived this far. I am still trying to figure out the reason.
Maybe over the years we discovered little things about each other that kept us together, maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome or maybe it's just that God must be really craving for some entertainment!

Well, whatever be the reason, the moral of the story is  "If your marriage is weird in the first few years, give it 10 years and it will still be weird! ......and also that I am shit scared of travelling on road"



PS: Hodophobia, that's what the fear of travelling on road is called!

The Inspirer!

First The Versatile, then The Dearest and Now The Inspirer!

Aunt Mary at Easy Way (A Blog For Children) has awarded me 'A Very Inspiring Blogger' Award!

Aunt Mary's Blog - Though  the blog claims to be for Children, it definitely holds a lot of lessons that grown-ups can learn too! So if you haven't visited it already, go ahead and click!
Thank you Aunt Mary!

And here are 2 random facts about me

1. I really did enjoy this reaction from Jennifer as Seth sings "We haven't seen Jennifer Lawrences' ** at all!" lol.

Image Source

2. And no, I don't feel sorry for the Hollywood ladies who were mentioned in The Oscar Song.
     It's 'You-have-it, You-flaunt-it. They-see-it, They-mock-it' policy!
 
Below are blogs I nominate for 'A very Inspiring Blogger' Award! (In no particular order)

Patches of Heaven
The Soul Tamagotchi
In a Garden Called Life

Fameless Writings
Anymore than a whisper
Diana Steven
Slu's world
Deaf47

The Dream Dinosaur Girl
Free Heads in the Clouds

Rum Punch Drunk
Weird N Wonderful
The Regular Guy NYC
Mulled vine

Fish Ducky
Vintage Cobweb
Delightfully Ludicrous
A piece of SHE

These are blogs I would never miss reading! I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.

As you must have guessed already, of course there are rules!
So here are the rules:  write lovely things about me, gather some random facts, tag others, climb Everest....
Ah well, guess what? here's my version of the rules

1. Just grab the button
2. and take a nice holiday!

Happy Blogging!

Peace be with you!

You know how everything becomes uncontrollably funny when you are not supposed to laugh?

Today is Ash Wednesday. We made it to church just about when the second reading was getting over.
The church was completely full except for the second pew. Normally, we would not prefer the second row, but since we had no choice we placed ourselves there. There was a small girl sitting in the first row who, much to her mother's chagrin, was imitating everything the Father did. It started off as an innocent smile looking at her, when I suddenly remembered my friend telling me about a Father she knew who is really passionate about offering Mass. So much so, that when he says the word Peace, he says it with such ardor ending up stressing the P and the S making it sound like Piss. That's it! It just started. I was snorting, sniffing and snuffling all through the rest of the Mass.

Do you have any idea, how many times the word Piss, oops I mean Peace, is used in the Mass?


Priest: I leave you Peace, my Peace I give you.
All:  Amen.
Priest:  The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
All:  And also with you.
Deacon or Priest:  Let us offer each other a sign of Peace.

All:  Glory to God in the highest, and Peace to his people on earth.

Deacon or Priest:  The Mass is ended, go in Peace.
All:  Thanks be to God!

Disclaimer: No offense meant to the Father, The Holy Mass or The Church. Just that the accent was really funny :D

And this is why I love Horoskopos!

Today's Capricorn Horoscope

February 6, 2013

There can be a lot of fun in chatting it up today, dear Capricorn, and the details of what's being said are not as important as the spirit behind them. It's all about the feeling, and you're feeling it! In general, your spirit is playful these days, dear Capricorn, as you are learning to express your more childlike, playful, and creative side without apology. The temptation to spin a tall tale can run high today, but if you keep it to the level of fantasy, nobody gets hurt. Watch also for self-deceit, and incomplete information.

Today, I had this overwhelming zeal to look at my horoscope as soon as I woke up.
What you find above is my horoscope for today. Since I live in Australia, technically, their today is already my tomorrow. So I am actually living it out on Feb 7, 2013. But believe it or not, my horoscope predicted exactly how my day turned out to be!

So here's how it went.

There can be a lot of fun in chatting it up today, dear Capricorn, and the details of what's being said are not as important as the spirit behind them. It's all about the feeling, and you're feeling it!

Yes I did have a lot of  fun chatting today with one of my friends on skype. As predicted, the details were not important, as we were playing Dumb Charades (yeah over skype). And in the spirit of the game, to act out the word "bottom", he even showed his bum to the camera, pointing his index finger at it. (Yeah I get it, 'the spirit behind' is more important !). You betcha, I am feeling it alright!

In general, your spirit is playful these days, dear Capricorn, as you are learning to express your more childlike, playful, and creative side without apology. 

Later, as I was browsing through the net, one website suggested egg yolk mixed with fenugreek seeds is an excellent remedy for hair-fall when applied for one hour. Great! Since my spirit is playful these days and  I had nothing better to do, I decided to make this mixture. I also added a few of my own ingredients like lime juice (for dandruff), cinnamon (for shine) and ground pepper (for hair growth) into it (my creative side at work you see!) and applied this mixture on my hair, which I regretted immediately because my husband who never ever calls from work, decided that this was the perfect time to give me a call. Impeccable timings, Your Highness!

I managed to hold the phone at an arms length and ask him what it was that he wanted. He mumbled something about forgetting the house key and opening the door.
Since it was only 15 mts up since I had smothered my head in egg yolk, I decided to let my husband in and then wash myself.

Finally I heard the knock and opened the door asking "How the hell did you forget...."
And imagine my surprise when I see my husband's colleague staring at me in disbelief, as there was egg and lime juice dripping on my forehead, ears and neck and I was standing there in rags, smelling like a skunk in a garbage disposal room!

Apparently my husband called to tell me that his friend had forgotten his key and is coming over with him to pick his spare key from us. 

Excellent! I excused myself quickly for a shower (no points for guessing I din't apologize!)

The temptation to spin a tall tale can run high today, but if you keep it to the level of fantasy, nobody gets hurt.Watch also for self-deceit, and incomplete information.

I got into the shower thinking he would be gone by the time I finish. As I stepped out, I peeped to see if he was still there. Yup, very much there! So I changed and came over to make small talk.

And that is when he asked the Forbidden Question. A question that you should never ask someone sitting at home unemployed.

"So what did you do all day?"

uhmm now I cant tell him that I played Dumb Charades for almost half the day, over skype with a friend, can I?
So I quickly tried to spin a tall tale.

"hmmm actually I went out to Olympic park for the first half of the day, rescued a few possums, you know... just the usual stuff."

This is when my neighbor walked by the door, peeped in and said,
"Hey Nina, were you on phone for most part of the day today? I could hear you screaming all the way up to my kitchen!"

"ermm, no, I was out, perhaps, you would have heard the television"

Husband : "You left the television ON the entire day while you were out?"

Gosh! I want to run, now!

Well at-least nobody got hurt. (except maybe my dignity)

So my day ended with my husband's colleague thinking me to be a huge freak and me getting a big lecture on "How I should be more responsible and Save Energy" from my husband and my neighbor wondering which host on Television sounds exactly like me!

So people, next time I get this overwhelming urge to look at my horoscope, please remind me to give myself a good kick!

Etched in my brains for ever...

I recently read an article posted by Kellie at Delightfully ludicrous. As I was reading through the article and the comments, I was reminded of an incident that occurred around 12 years back.

November 1, 2000
In an interesting turn of events, I happened to be in a place called Kerala in India on this particular day.
Some of my friends urged me to go visit a place which was gaining popularity for miracles from The Lady of Kanjikode. I was skeptical and did not want to waste our time visiting baseless miracles while we could be doing a good tour of the place. Now, don't get me wrong, I do Love Jesus Christ and I believe that He is the Son of God and that Mary is divine. But literally believing everything that the Catholic church and the Bible says? Nay! I was way too scientific for that.

My friends succeeded in making me agree to visit the place. A spiritual catholic retreat was occurring on that day, in the local language, on a makeshift altar. Among the first row of audience, a lady draped in a blue sari caught my attention. There was a seemingly unassuming nature about her.
Well, since there was nothing more to see, we decided to head back to our touring, when suddenly the lady fell down from her chair. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be gesturing something that meant 'No, No". Slowly but steadily a mark started appearing on her forehead. It looked like a cross made from blood. I noticed her palms were bleeding too. More like a blood sweat. The crowd was rushing towards her but were too horrified to do anything. I was gobsmacked. I looked at my friends and they were paralyzed too. Finally someone decided to shoo everybody away and we decided to flee.

We just could  not believe what we had seen. I had heard of stigmata before but never ever witnessed one! She was lying right there at our feet.
We never spoke about it. It was like a silent agreement between us.
This is probably the first time I have ever mentioned it in all these years.

Well, does this prove that everything the Bible says is correct or that we were all created and not evolved? I don't think so.

But one thing it sure did was make me realize that there are certain things in this world that are beyond human understanding, that which does not have a plausible scientific explanation, which are abstract, which I would keep a secret for fear of being ridiculed by the world, even though I witnessed it with my own eyes!

The Liebster!

Well well well, another award and this time nominated twice!

First by The Dream Dinosaur Girl
Andre - She writes and paints her dreams.
She will blog about your dreams too. So if you ever have a weird dream, you know whom to contact :)

Second by The Regular Guy NYC
Phil - He rants about his life in New York City.
If you ever want to visit New York, you have to visit his blog first!

The rules
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.
3. Choose people and link them in your post.
4. Go tell them!

Andre's Questions for me

1. What is the best moment of the day?

    The moment when you realize that you still have 10 more minutes to snooze before waking up.

     

2. Imagine you have 15 minutes to pack and leave to any place you want. Where would that be?

    Friend's place

3. Is there something you don't allow yourself?

    To hurt my near and dear ones

4. Your first memory as a child.

     Playing on a swing

5. Who is your favorite celebrity?

     Jesus Christ

6. Your favorite object.
     Phone

7. Something you wish you had more time for.
    Sleep

8. What is the worst movie you've ever seen?
     Along came Polly

9. A song that brings you memories, and why.
    Something Stupid- Frank Sinatra. Cos it brings back memories :)

10. Is there any skill you wish you had?
      Wish I could Sing

11. And of course...I had to ask this: do you remember your dreams after you wake up?
      Sometimes Yes. Most of the times No.

Phil's questions for me

1. What scares you the most?
    Hypnagogic Hallucinations

2. If you could be any famous person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

    The Misanthropic Bitch. Would love to see the world through her eyes.

3. If you could switch bodies with one of your friends who would it be and why?
    A geek friend. To live the life of a geek.

4. If you could be any insect, what would you be and why?
    Brevisana brevis. Small yet so LOUD! (reminds me of me)

5. What is your favorite movie of all time?
    Ice Age!

6. If you were allowed to only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?
    Chicken!!

7. If you could go back in time what would you change or do?
    Stop the dodos from going extinct. Heck, the world needs some dodos!

8. If you had to pick one famous person of the same sex to have a man or girl crush on, who would it be and  
    why?
    he he he.. Am way too hetero, buddy!

9. Would you take a bullet for someone, and if yes, who would it be?
     No.

10. If you could be an athlete in the Olympics what sport would it be?
      ha ha ha, athlete and me? ha ha ha

11. What celebrity do you despise the most and why?
      Steve Jobs. Cos I think the idealization of him as a technologist is a fallacy.

11 Random things about me.

1. I love to watch the rain.
2. As a kid, I was dead scared of lightning and thunder. I still am.
3. The first thing I always do with a pencil is trace the mickey mouse and say "Hi, I am Nina Gray and you are watching Disney Channel!!"
4. I hate dogs. Yes I do. (OK now, please stop giving me the looks.)
5. I never knew I could write. Pssst..my husband still does not know.
6. I am a morning person ( as long as morning starts at around 11ish)
7. I always type a slash(/) first instead of an eroteme(?).
8. I get weird dreams when I eat noodles for dinner. Check it out here
9. I once was lost but now am found :)
10. I enjoy reading chick lits
11. I hate sports. Any kind.

My nominations for Liebster Award

• BillyJoMary Drei at 3 Heads In The Clouds
• Kate at Kate at Home
• Manz at Life as a Caterpillar
• Jemary Mallabo at Literary Criticism
• Aunt Mary at Easy Way (A Blog For Children)

Congratulations all of you and here are my questions for you :)

1. If you had to change the order of alphabets, what would it be?
2. What is the square root of 21345578?
3. Have you done anything lately that you are proud of?
4. What is the best prank you have ever pulled?
5. Have you ever seen a ghost?
6. Are you happy? If yes, why? if no, why not?
7. When did you last lie?
8. What is the most important thing in your life?
9. If you were invisible for one day, what would you do?
10. what did you do last night?
11. How many I(s) do you find in the '11 Random things about me' above?

TaaaaXi!

It was one of those December evenings in New York, way back in 2005.
At around 5 pm, we three friends decided that we were badly in need of a microwave oven, given that the only oven the unit possessed was actually 'possessed' (Yeah, It seemed to have a mind of its own.) It sometimes worked and sometimes dint (OK, mostly it din't).

As all of us were in a great mood for a walk, we decided to walk it up to the store to buy the oven. We reached there, found our perfect oven, paid for it and were deciding to leave.
It was just about then that the snowing started. The guy who sold us the oven tried to call a taxi for us but in vain.
At first we thought we would walk it up. But three ladies holding an oven in the freezing December snow of New York? After much deliberation, we decided against it.
The store guy finally suggested that it may be a good idea to stand by the door of the store and flag down any passing taxi.

So we three ladies walked to the door of the store and stood there in despair waiting for at least one taxi to pass by.
No such luck.
The light snow slowly started turning into a blizzard and it was getting pretty dark too.
Then like God send, we saw a taxi slowly passing round the end of the road.
Jumping with joy, all of us started screaming and waving trying to get his attention (we were not just about to lose what would have been the only resort to taking us home).
After much screaming, the guy finally noticed us.
He immediately revved up the car and started speeding towards us (ok, now, we were desperate to reach home, but he dint have to rush like there was no tomorrow!)
He braked the car, opened the door and shouted "whats wrong, Ladies?"

It was only then that we noticed the flashing lights on the car and the very neatly written 'NYPD' on it.
Blimey.
My friends looked at me with the question "should we make a run for it?". I gave them back a look which said 'Well don't worry, I have it all under control.'
OK, there was nothing to panic.

I slowly walked up to the car, pointed my finger at it, looked at the officer and very confidently (well almost confidently) asked "Taxi?"
(agreed, not the best plan, but at least it was better to look like an idiot than 3 suspicious ladies lurking in the dark on a snowy winter night!)


The officer let out a laugh which sounded like a scream "Taxi??! ha ha ha, ok , hop on, ladies, where should I take you?"
"errr, we also have a microwave oven..."
Officer rolling his eyes, got down, walked into the store, got the microwave oven and dropped us all back home. (See? my plan did work!)

It was worth seeing our other friends' faces when a police officer walked into the unit to drop off our microwave, before rushing off on his duty!
All because we dint know the difference between a taxi and a police car! (But in all fairness to us, it WAS very dark out there!)

P.S. Don't forget to check out the latest at Shoot and Tell

Happy Birthday and Unbirthday too!

Oh yes, its my birthday today! Apart from the usual wishes (oh yes, even Google wished me - check it out!) and gifts, I had nothing interesting to do.
So I was surfing the net (as is my wont, these days) and here are some really interesting facts.


Anybody know what a Birthday Problem is?

In probability theory, the birthday problem or birthday paradox concerns the probability that, in a set of n randomly chosen people, some pair of them will have the same birthday. By the pigeonhole principle, the probability reaches 100% when the number of people reaches 367 (since there are 366 possible birthdays, including February 29). However, 99% probability is reached with just 57 people, and 50% probability with 23 people. These conclusions are based on the assumption that each day of the year (except February 29) is equally probable for a birthday.
The mathematics behind this problem led to a well-known cryptographic attack called the birthday attack, which uses this probabilistic model to reduce the complexity of cracking a hash function.

And the CRYPTIC formula? Well here goes (oh no no, don even bother to ask me what denotes what!)



And all this ONLY to find out if some one in a group shares the same birthday as you! Trust me people, I would just stand up and ask!

And whats an Un-Birthday?

An unbirthday (originally written un-birthday) is an event that can be celebrated on any day that is not the person's birthday. It is a neologism coined by Lewis Carroll in his Through the Looking-Glass, giving rise to "The Unbirthday Song" in the 1951 Disney animated feature film Alice in Wonderland.

Now you have reason to celebrate all 364 days of the year! (365 in case its a Leap Year)
So here's a video wishing a Very Merry Unbirthday To All of You! (yes, you) and to all tea drinkers like me, too!

The Great Fall..

tic-toc, tic-toc,tic-toc, tic-toc

The clock tics away......

clickity-clak, clickity-clak, tooooot....

The seven am train just passed.

Life has come to a standstill. Days merge into weeks and weeks into months. 

One day is not distinguishable from the other. And then the phone rings.

"Hello, Beautiful!"

Those words bring along with it, magic. 

Life becomes beautiful again. 

I flutter around like a butterfly. 

I sing, I dance..

Everything around is colorful.

I cant remember when I last heard the clock or the train.

Everyday seems to be lived to the fullest..

I soar into the sky like Jonathan Livingston Seagull. 

I can see the world below me..

I am flying higher and higher...

I am a helium balloon..

Suddenly I hear the prick..

I am losing control..

I am crashing down...faster and faster..

I can see the cold hard earth fast approaching...

.....THUD!

Reality strikes... Realization dawns...

tic-toc, tic-toc,tic-toc, tic-toc

The clock tics away ....

clickity-clak, clickity-clak, tooooot...

The seven am train just passed.

The Versatile Blogger!

...and the award for The Versatile Blogger goes to...... Nina Gray!
Note to self : Look up the meaning of versatile!

Thank you Epsita! This is truly a motivation to keep going. I am honored!
Epsita is my fellow blogger. You can find her blog at http://epsita.blogspot.com.au/
If her blog does not have you gripped, well I do not know what else will!
Her poems - they speak to you....You see your life in them...

Rules - 

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and include a link to their site.
• Add The Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post.
• Nominate 7 fellow bloggers that you've recently discovered or follow regularly and include a link to their site. 
• Let them know you have nominated them.
• Share 7 random facts about you.

So here are 7 random facts about me

2. As a kid my favorite color was yellow.
2. I am an avid tea drinker.

3. I never expected to receive an award for blogging.
4. I dance when I am all alone at home.
5. I hate to cook.
6. I do not share my secrets even with the best of my friends.
8. I am bad at numbers!

7 bloggers I feel who deserve this award? Here goes (in no particular order)...

1.  MattTheRose ― http://theamericanrose.blogspot.com
              First he makes me laugh and then he makes me think.

              

2.  Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous  - http://delightfullyludicrous.blogspot.com.au/
              Delightfully Ludicrous indeed! one hilarious story after another.

3. Freddie Miranda -  http://www.fromatravellersdesk.com
            Reading this blog is on my travel checklist!

4. reNUka - http://iamnotinukraine.blogspot.com

            The analogies! come fall in love with them!

5. GK Adams - http://www.funnylifestories.com/

            I visit here to laugh my head out!

6. Jamie Price -  http://weirdn-wonderful.blogspot.com
           A little weird and a little wonderful

7.Phil HoltBerg - http://blog.theregularguynyc.com

         New York, New York and more New York

Congratulations Everyone! Have a wonderful New Year!

- Happy Nina