London Calling

I have been telling anyone and everyone who has been in possible hearing distance "I'm going to London!" Celebrating Christmas and New Year on the Isles that have made a huge impact on the world whether we like it or not... The first thing that came to my mind when I reached London, (silly as it is) was "oooh! Harry Potter lives here" and then I nearly jumped for joy when I saw a double decker bus! When I saw the London underground with its familiar red circle and blue horizontal line: I thought of my first home.

I walked through its museums in awe, in reverence of the beauty that lay behind those walls. The walls oozed with history, dripped onto every single piece may it be art, artifact or even just a tile. I went to the British museum and realised I hadn't even scraped the surface with my degree in history. Maybe I'm going overboard with my enthusiasm but it doesn't happen often so go with it.

I walked through the streets and something occurred to me that people are the same everywhere. Everytime I go to a different city, I think to myself "what if these people don't ever understand me" and Everytime I get proven wrong. Nothing much changes where people are concerned.

It was like any other big city! Some people were in a hurry, others day dreaming of times passed, others took the time to look at you and just smile. The young were self-involved and talking loudly, the old were contemplative and walking slowly. 

I loved the contrast of the old and the new like in any city which has survived the ages and still commands that spot of power and also was comforted by the fact that people are people, however much you over think them...

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I've always loved the holidays. But most of all I love Christmas! I love that feeling of good cheer and general well being that everyone seems to have this time of the year. Back in India, practicing all the Christmas hymns and carols, putting up decoration, all the sweet smells in the air always got me into the Christmas groove. I'm one of those idiots who wears Santa caps and screams "Merry Christmas!" in the streets and also the one of the other group which sing "Deck the halls with bows of holly" on a loop throughout December. However Christmas is not the same without family and friends around. I do the same thing every year. Go for midnight mass with my family, sing till I croak. Then I go to a friends place and drink and be merry! On Christmas day, wake up early go for another mass! (choir obligations) and then stuff myself on Christmas lunch. (slurpp...droool). I did try to change it up some years but somehow this is how I like my Christmas! 

This year, I'm in Perpignan faraway from friends and most of my family. Even though I am visiting some of my family, it's not the same. It's not home which I understand. I can't have it all.

However, it does help to be in the consumerist western world, where everything is well decorated! From shops to house, from the streets to the trees! It's all beautifully lit up! The Christmas market sends whiffs those sugary delights that we get giddy over every year. The vin chaud(spicy wine) makes everyone all rosy-cheeked. But it kept escaping me. That Christmas spark. I knew it was close by!

Today as I walked down a tiny street in centreville, I looked up and really saw the twinkling fairy lights, the colourful signs that say "bonne fete!", the Christmas music playing seemingly from nowhere, the bubbling spirit in people around me, the chill in the air and then I caught it! I caught then Christmas spirit that was floating around for so many days and suddenly my step was springier! And with a Christmas tune in my head, I joyfully spent a chunk of euros on something trivial and thought to myself "tis the season to give even if it is to myself!!"

cheap thrills and vampire kills

I just watched what could only be called a teen vampire/romance... blech!

I have always been an avid vampire movie watcher. The dark and the broody with a blood thirst gives me the chills and thrills that I look for in a movie. It's not "intellectual" not really "food-for-thought", more a blood-and-guts-a-scattered, dry humour and exploding heads kind-of-movie style. Call it cheap thrills, I don't care! I love a good vampire movie/show/book!

I've watched a lot of BAD vampire movies coz seriously speaking there aren't many good ones.

Twilight could have been so much better. It had an interesting story line with good-looking brooding "cold ones" but alas no great dialogues, overly-powdered actors, no good action and an end that made me say Who? What? Ugh! Argh! A good end would have saved the movie. But it dived, crashed and burned the 100 year old tree along the way!

I LOVED Buffy the vampire slayer and Angel ( at least when they begun). They were just what I look for : good vampire (sigh) kickass vampire slayer (stake this and that!), sarcastic sidekicks

, exploding heads, crazy good storylines (which got to ONLY crazy in the end). I love that the most powerful person on that show is a teeny tiny girl who plays with her hair, makes goo goo eyes at the resident vampire and then kills the big bad monster. I like that resident vampire has a soul, that the bad can also have some good. I like the stuttering geek in all the characters even though they be of power and all that.

On a tangent, why do vampires wear black though? Don't they know it absorbs more heat? they should wear bright colours to human up their pasty skin! ...hmmph!

(hurriedly coming back to the topic) Of course, It may also be that I was a sighing, acne prone teen back then. But even though I'm a sighing acne prone adult now, I still think it was one of the best vampire based shows I've ever seen!

Tagged by the tagger

Jinuni told me what a tag was andI thought it would be interesting to answer a tag, so lets see what I come up with.

Ten things you could say to people right now:

10. Turn down the cold already! ( I hope God answers)

9. Work heater! Work! ( if i talked to it, it could be personified)

8. I am NOT your cook!

7. Do u make a face hat? you know, the hat that keeps your nose warm...

6. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

5. Just because I love it here, doesn't mean I don't miss home.

4. Can I have a chocolate croissant please?

3.  I'd like a "yes" or a "no" and not a "we could do that"

2. I'm trying to make the most of it but I'm lazy

1. Music is still my radar

Nine things about yourself:

9. I'm generally enthusiastic and decide things instantaneously.

8. I'm also lazy.

7. I want my life to be an adventure.

6. I'm stuck to my laptop most of the time for no real reason.

5. Music and books are things I need to have around.

4. I don't relate to people with no sense of humour.

3. my laughter is like the soundtrack to hell

2. my family and friends know me better than me

1. I'm lost and confused (most of the time)

Eight ways to win your heart:

8. Tell a really stupid joke and laugh heartily coz YOU think it's funny and it doesn't matter that others don't

7. Defend your taste in music like you're defending your most prized possession.

6. Read a book and laugh out loud at the funny parts

5. Be really silly sometimes.

4. Be ok with losing control.

3. Bring me bhajjis when it rains :)

2. drink chai in coffee shops like me!

1. Just be yourself.

Seven things that cross your mind a lot:

6. So many places to go, so little time to go in.

5. I don't want to go to school! 

4. I think I will invent the face hat.

3. why is there so much dog poop around this place!

2. I will learn to swim

1. I will be more productive!

Six things you wish you never did:

I've momentarily wished a lot of things to be undone. But I look back now, all the things Ive done have made me, ME. So no there's nothing I'd wish I'd never done.

Five turn offs:

5. No sense of humour

4. A holier than thou attitude

3. Being overly possessive or obsessive of anything or anyone

2. matlabi people 

1. overly loud people 

Four turn ons:

4. a super sense of humour and witty banter

3. readers and musickers

2. creativity in anything

1. someone non-judgemental

Three things you want to do before you die:

3. see, explore the world

2. be a musician even if it's on the street

1. learn to shop alone

Two things someone told you'd never forget:

2. "Yeh mauth bhi mujhse darrti hai, kambaqt BLADE bhi nahi milti!"

1. "ARGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHHHHHHH"

One confession:

Being honest to myself is the hardest thing.

Jinuni how do you think I did?

And as detailed in the tagging ritual, i now tag thee uma, alison , Bhaskarina and shubhi dubhi

The last one to know

Ever wondered where clueless people lived? Well look no further! Welcome to the world of 

Who?-Wha?-How?-Is that even physically possible? I'm so la-di-da most of the time that the doings of the world fly by like a TGV. Or maybe I'm just oblivious sometimes to the things happening around me that someone has to snap me out of it and say "Earth to Gale!" and then the answer to that would be "Who?-Wha?-How?-Is that even physically possible??" It's like I'm nodding and smiling at life, looking attentive but flying solo...

   

I feel the disconnected vibes. I feel the swishy swashy skirts of world news, brushing but not really making an impact. I'm trying to be informed on world news but i just end up watching shows that trash Bush( those jokes are invaluable though!) I try to be up to date technologically (would changing star colours on google count???) Lately I'm trying to catch up with the blogging world but it's just whizzing by, a blur to my perpertual puzzled expression...

But now I have a new mission in life! To be productive! To be informed!To tug on those skirts and say "allah ke naam pe dede baba!"

Maybe I'll get a clue soon! Or it might take a while...

 

A dash of panache

This is what you're in for: spoonfuls of exploding thoughts, tinges... no... globs of nonsense, a smidgen of reality biting, a sprinkling of a virtual light bulb going on, a zest for the long and convoluted, a streak of meandering through strange cities, a penchant for things that rhyme, a dash of panache(see what i mean???), a smattering of colour (even if it is just the template) and a splash of je ne sais quoi!