Paint me RED

Paint me RED ... because All things being equal, They are not
Paint me RED ... because I have the power to make history
Paint me RED ... so I can help a human being get anti-retrovial drugs
Paint me (RED) ... so I can embrace this world

My friends get RED christmas presents...whether they like it or not :P

-Amrita

The one who danced

N, The Painted One, Noreen, Painted Dancer, Ms.Bling...so many names. But all the names and adjectives combined cant encompass the amount of energy, positivity and generosity that Noreen had.

We'd met each other on Zootopia and became really good friends....she was a great source of encouragement and support. She loved dancing...and I was obsessed with dancing. The greatest uniting factor of course was...our love for U2. We eventually met for the first time in May 2005 after months of being online friends. That night we danced away for the joy of friendship. In the ensuing months, we shared tons of memorable experiences....not all U2 related. Though that was of course what we talked about all the time ;-) She was (is) so special to me. She bought me my first GA ticket...up close and personal with U2. Together, we celebrated birthdays, fixed computer issues :P, attended U2 and UF concerts, hosted gatherings....so many memories.

If it werent for U2, I wouldnt have met you Noreen. I thank them for you. They were the soundtrack to our friendship.





















Her usual dancing self


Sharing the joy of meeting The Edge


Me and Noreen

And now for her favorite song - "Gone" by U2.

You get to feel so guilty, got so much for so little
Then you find that feeling just won't go away
You're holding on to every little thing so tightly
'Til there's nothing left for you anyway

Goodbye...
You can keep this suit of lights
I'll be up with the sun
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down

You wanted to get somewhere so badly
You had to lose yourself along the way
You change your name, well that's okay, it's necessary
And what you leave behind you don't miss anyway

Goodbye...
You can keep this suit of lights
I'll be up with the sun
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down

'Cause I'm already gone
Felt that way all along
Closer to you every day
I didn't want it that much anyway

You're taking steps that make you feel dizzy / (Gone)
Then you learn to like the way it feels / (Gone)
You hurt yourself you hurt your lover / (Gone)
Then you discover
What you thought was freedom is just greed / (Gone)

Goodbye...
And it's emotional
Good night...
I'll be up with the sun
You're still holding on
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down

Gone... sun... time... sun...
Gone... sun.... gone... sun...

I love you Noreen. I miss you. You will always be in my heart. I'm glad the pain has ended and you're in peace.

"I'm wide awake, I'm not sleeping "
-Amri

Doused

Little anecdote to share with you...

It had been raining in NYC for the most of last week...with Thursday night turning into a full fledged storm! The rain is beautiful and nice and all that....but the charm is lost in the wind tunnels of New York. All you care about at that time is to hang on to your already tattered umbrella. You're soaking wet, but still that umbrella is like your ray of hope.

I was really happy to wake up to a dry, bright and sunny morning on Friday. I got ready to go to work and made my way to the subway station as usual. I was walking happily down a street when I'm suddenly blinded by a shower of some liquid. My first reaction was fear...cos it wasnt raining, I wasnt close to a puddle that a car might have run through...this was some alien source. I couldnt even open my eyes for a good 10 seconds cos the 'liquid' was spraying into my eyes. I ran to the other side of the road in order to figure out what the hell was going on. Everyone else was walking along as normal...and I had a secondary universe feeling.

....Then around the corner comes a guy holding a freaking huge hose pipe...cleaning the sidewalk!!! The wind had caught the water jet and sprayed me with it!!! I was mad at the guy for 0.1 second...but it really wasnt his fault. And I was really just releived that it was only water! :)

All I could think of after that was Murphy.....
"If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway."
...seriously the bastard ruins my life everytime! Jeez.

Stay dry,
-Amrita

Inspi(red)

No, this is not another commercial for the RED campaign. Though I should probably have a post about that soon. This post is about a normal human being like you and me being inspired enough to run 26.2 miles on a chilly New York City day.

On Sunday, Nov 5th...37000+ people from all over the world ran the ING New York City marathon. Excluding the professional and elite runners, you still have at least 30000 regular people. This is just astounding to me. The sheer level of commitment and determination it takes for a non-runner to train and run 26.2 miles at a stretch is just mind boggling.

Coming back to the marathon story. I volunteered this year and was assigned to the Family Reunion unit. So I was part of the team that received the runners as they exited Central Park and helped them find transportation and their families. It was a great experience. The high fives and the exhausted smiles...I'll never forget it. I must have chanted "Congratulations, Great job done!" and "Felicitations" at least a 1000 times. In turn, a lot of the runners gave me hugs and said "no, no...thank you!". Such happiness!! My cheeks hurt from smiling all day. :-)

A lot of runners ran for causes like cancer research etc (like one of my good friends). So it made the hard work totally worth it for them.

Now i'm Inspired to pound some asphalt baby!

Think about this

I've been reading Feynman's works of late. Currently reading - "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman". While researching about him, I found one of his snippets very interesting.

"But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell, possibly. It doesn't frighten me."

It really makes so much sense....at least to me. Now before I elaborate more....I'm signing off to do some real work ;-) But, you know it's a good day when you see two posts here :-)

ciao ciao,
-mee

Dont feed the flamingoes!!

:-) More awesome photographs from the Chihuly Glass Art installation at the New York Botanical Garden here

Tagged by 5...

Courtesy some really Spooky Action in The Distance... :P (See Rajesh, I told you I'd get to it eventually)

Ten Years Ago

1. I was 15 years old
2. Joined Delhi public school - R.K.Puram...a whole new chapter in my life
3. Realized that geeks of higher magnitude and competence existed on the planet
4. Life was fun again...even though really challenging.
5. It was awesome to have dad back with us. He had been transferred to Lucknow for 3 yrs.

Five Years Ago

1. I was 20 years old
2. Had moved to Tucson, Arizona for college. Best time of my life. Made a zillion friends. Had learnt how to live on my own and how to not miss home too much.
3. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But still loved every second of it.
4. Countless adventures. Awesome hikes, amazing road trips.
5. Suffered my first and most serious heartbreak ever. It changed me for the better. When I look back, I would have dealt with the situation differently....but given I was only 19-20 yrs old...I think I turned out good. Thanks to my buddies.

Last One Year

1. Professionally: Entered the whole work life deal....it's all that and a bag of chips (as Frito would say)
2. Intellectually: Got my second degree!! YAY :-)
3. Artfully: Started learning a new dance form and actually took part in an ensemble performance! (more on that later)
4. Personally: Made a truckload of friends....and some very special connections. Cried and laughed a lot. Heartbreaks+1
5. Musically: Met The Edge and got his autograph!!! Attended an up-close and personal U2 concert. Attended a Roger Waters concert!!

Yesterday

1. Pulled a late night at work...and got a lot done :-)
2. Saw some great kathak pictures.
3. Froze my butt off in the cold.
4. Yapped away with a friend to catch up on his Peruvian adventures.
5. Finalized plans for the great Zootopian gettogether this weekend :) Yay!

Five Things Planned for next 5 Years

1. World domination.
2. Visit Egypt.

Five Yummy Things

1. Coffee
2. Johnny Depp
3. Chocolate, Idlis
4. Clive Owen
5. Gael Barnal Garcia

Five Songs I know by heart

I suck at learning lyrics. But any U2, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd song is usually more lyrically easier for me. Other than that, I usually remember songs well after I've heard them a couple of times.

Five Things I'd do If I had Money

1. Buy a house for my parents, wherever they wished...with sweeping gardens for my mom to enjoy....and sunlight for my dad.
2. Buy a condo in the city in a high rise, loft style!
3. Leave aside some for the future. And donate the rest.
4. Quit and travel the world. Probably move back to India as well...

Places I Escape to

1. Into music.
2. Dancing
3. Into a book.
4. With Bugs and Tigs.
5. Taking a walk...wherever...whenever.
6. Pictures.

(ok, so that was 6)

TV Shows

1. Friends
2. Mash
3. Whose line is it anyway?
4. Sex & the City
5. X-Files

Five Things I Can't Live Without

1. With the people I share my life with.
2. Coffee
3. Music
4. Dancing
5. My computer

Five Things I Can Live Without

1. See above. Negate that.

Five Favourite Ethnic Cuisines

1. Indian
2. Thai
3. Greek
4. Italian
5. Mexican

Five best places to visit

1. Home...wherever my parents are.
2. Kerala
3. Arizona....not the touristy stuff...the real beauty lies in the roads less travelled.
4. California
5. Rajasthan

Tagged: Anyone who's reading this right now!! :P

LIC Art Tour//The Departed//The Killers

Hello Hello Hello!

Another weekend's ended and the cold winter is rolling in. This weekend was beautiful Fall weather though. I completely enjoyed it :-) I did some new things...like taking a studio art tour in Long Island City (LIC), going to bed early on Friday night (12 am...GASP!) etc. Here's the lowdown...

LIC Art Tour

The Queens Museum of Art has the Queens International 2006 exhibition going on right now. As part of the festival, they'd organized a free bus tour this Saturday to various artists' studios. All these artists have their work featured at the QMA. So we went to Long Island City and visited 10-15 studios and chatted with the artists. Most of the studios we visited were inside the 5Pointz building (pic below). This building was covered in graffiti...inside and out! Just mind blowing. The artists we met were all extremely nice and it was great to see their work up close. A very unique experience indeed :-)


The 5Pointz building. I never could guess that this sketchy looking building housed great artists!!

Here's an amazing painting by Debra Hampton.

More pictures here. Check it out.

The Departed

What a movie?! Completely badass! The language leaves nothing to the imagination of course. It's awesome! This movie justifies my crush on Leonardo Di Caprio since I was 16. His acting is perfect and he looks totally hot. Matt Damon was his usual sauve character...pretty good. And Jack Nicholson...Jack Jack Jack....mad....100% insane. What acting?!!!

Go see it! Fuckin A movie. ...oh.....and the music was great! ;-) A unique number was celtic mixed with rock.


The Killers

I finally purchased Sam's Town last week and i've been Hooked!! On first hear I wasnt impressed at all....but it's caught on...and I cant stop listening to it. Am sooo excited about the upcoming concert on 25th. So it's going to be only The Killers for the next 10 days!! Album review will be up on itsamusicaljourney soon.

Songs of the Day:

- "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden
- "When you were Young" by The Killers
- "Uncle Jonny" by The Killers
- "Bones" by The Killers
- "So sick" by Ne-Yo
- "Sexy Love" by Ne-Yo

Cheers to a good week. Dreaminess,
-Amrita

Before I forget

(edited for the crappiest grammar ever...and yeah Rajesh....I need to move this to itsamusicaljourney)

One of my all time favorite songs is - "Black hole sun" by SoundGarden. This song was my introduction to rock-ish music back when I was a teenager glued to MTV. The video, the energy and the passion all are still fresh in my mind.

I recently heard a great acoustic version of the song by Chris Cornell. It was great to hear his heartfelt and bold attempt. Check it out on Launch.Yahoo.Com!

In the original...the opening verse...when the guitar riff comes in...is just....spine chillingly good.

"Wont you come?"
-Amrita

Happiness thy name is...

...Harman/Kardon speakers and subwoofer ;-)

I've had them for a few years and finally hooked them up last night. I never got a chance to since I moved out of my dorm in May so I was craving the effect of the subwoofer. We had a 'girls night out' at my place last night, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to set up my black boxes of joy. Ahhh...It was really really nice. Lots of good food, good conversation and great music. Good times. Definitely chased the blues away. Though I do pity my neighbors ;-) Haha!

Oh and here's a purty picture of/from my apartment from last night. You can see the house lights and all the lights outside. I found it very pretty. So here it is: -


Happy hump day!
-Amrita

And the tears fell...

...it was one of those mornings. I think this song sums it up. "Is it any wonder?" by Keane.

I always thought that I knew
I'd always have the right to
Be living in the kingdom of the good and true
And so on
But now I think I was wrong
And you were laughing along
And now I look a fool for thinking you were on, my side

Is it any wonder that I'm tired?
Is it any wonder that I feel uptight?
Is it any wonder I don't know what's right?

Sometimes
It's hard to know where I stand
It's hard to know where I am
Or maybe it's a puzzle I don't understand
Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm
Stranded in the wrong time
Where love is just a lyric in children's rhyme, a soundbite

Is it any wonder that I'm tired?
Is it any wonder that I feel uptight?
Is it any wonder I don't know what's right
Oh these days?
After all the misery you made
Is it any wonder that I feel afraid?
Is it any wonder that I feel betrayed?

Nothing left beside this old cathedral
Just the sad lonely spires
How do you make it right?

Oh but you try
Is it any wonder that I'm tired?
Is it any wonder that I feel uptight?
Is it any wonder I don't know what's right?
Oh these days
After all the misery you made
Is it any wonder that I feel afraid?
Is it any wonder that I feel betrayed?

Starbucks in India?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5411760.stm

I still want my Filter Kaapi I say!! :P

Blast from the Past

I digged deep down into my music folders to find an old dance music collection. It turned out to be the best way to time travel.....immediate flash back to school days!!

Wanna know what I was listening to? Here's a snippet....

1. 'Alane' by Wes - the hottest party number when I was graduating high school
2. 'We will rock you' - the quintessential rock song through teenage and beyond
3. 'Didi' by Khaled - ok, so this is like junior school time. It swept all possible charts and was being played if you turned the corner.
4. 'Sweet Dreams' by La Bouche - I hated this song...I still dont like it too much. But it was ALL over...annoyingly enough.
   
5. 'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanila Ice - hahahaha...this song's the ringtune on my cell.... ha! :P
6. 'Getting Jiggy with it' by Will Smith - Just a really good dance number...complete with the shuffling feet ;)
   
7. 'Tic tic tac' by Chilli Feat - If there was one song that ruled the last year of school...it was this.
8. 'Cruel Summer' by Ace of Base - Good dance number, I love the keyboard here. circa 1998
9. 'The boy is mine' by Monica - The best house party song ever!!! The tune is so smooth.
10. 'If you're getting down' by Five - Ok, this is when I hide my head in shame. But it was hilarious to hear it again.... :)

All this good old music...combined with a friend's surprise visit from SFO....happy evening. It's the perfect ride into Friday.... YAY!

Welcome back Binny boy!

Cheers and a Happy Friday to all,
-Ammu

Meet Tigs

Meet Tiglu Jr. (Tigs) - My roommate, The best hug giver besides mom and The closest thing I've ever had to a dog.....


Born on August 6th, 2003; Tigs was a gift from Aishu...the proud owner of Tiglu Sr. (Tigu). That's them 3 or so years ago.


Tigs has accompanied me on many journeys...often claiming his own box to be shipped in ;-) Tucson - NYC Dorm - NYC Bro's place - NYC Current Apt. He's travelled a lot :-)

I love love love him....and thought it was about time I introduced him to you all.

He's such a rockstar actually...everyone wants to sit with him (or on him) and of course take pictures. Even the men... :P He's just too adorable actually. Nothing feels better than to give him a huge hug when I get back home...i even dance with the guy...and now maybe that's too much information! haha.

So I'll let Tigs know you all said hi ;)

Wooooof!

Work vs School

The main difference between work life and school life....Is the ability to take a day off for U2 related activities.

It pisses me off that : -
a) I didnt see the book signing invitation on time cos I cant access hotmail from work. Jeez!
b) Even if I had been picked, I wouldn't have been able to go see the boys as I'm expected to be at work all times....i cant take leave as I have just started working.

The smell of the U2 induced euphoria is driving me mad right now....with excitement. Shivers run up my back as i think of the boys assembling at the Barnes & Noble at Union Square and meeting fans. I am soo happy for the people who will be able to have this amazing experience! Think about it...meeting all 4 of them at one shot. Getting to shake their hands and getting their autographs....WOW!

I wonder if the boys would be able to hear my heart beat ridiculously fast 20 mins away? Would they be able to sense my excitement and fervor? All the happy and intense memories come flooding back from last year....oh dear!

Good luck to all who are making the signing event tomorrow... :-) You are lucky!

Cheers,
-Amrita

Woe is me!

No internet connection at home....yet! Stealing other ppl's wireless is not that much fun...
So I have to update you guys on a lot of stuff. Roger Federer and Roger Waters being the highlights....

So here's a public apology if I havent replied to your emails/facebook walls/orkut scraps/360 comments/blogger comments....

I cant access most of these sites from work...so bear with me while I get connected.

Stay sane...stay happy...
-Amrita

The Treadmill Dance

Here's a video by Ok Go called "Here it goes again". It is by far the funnest (not funniest) video i've seen. Watch it baby! :)

A stranger's touch

Day to day life has a tendency to make you forget some of your goals or desires or even a part of yourself. How do you rediscover them? I've been realizing that sometimes complete strangers rekindle such lost or forgotten emotions; desires and ambitions. And what comes around goes around really.

Forgotten wishes...

As I threw myself into a cab this rainy New York morning, I gave out a big sigh when I realized how long the day was going to be. It was 6 am and I was already drained (else I would have taken the subway!!). To avoid sinking into melancholy, I started chatting with the cabbie who turned out to be from Egypt!!! Egypt is the one country I want to visit as soon as I am able to save up enough and get some vacay.......so I perked up :) He gave me advice on places to visit and things to do. We also went on to discuss politics and careers and I was definitely awake and alive by the time I reached work. He sent me off with a very sincere "It was really nice talking to you. Have a great day". I wished him a good day too and jumped off. So a complete stranger put some life in me...and made me remember by dream of visiting Egypt!! It was an awesome feeling....

Spread the love ....

On the subway. I felt as if I were in the twilight zone ...sheer exhaustion after a very frustrating day. I was slumped in a seat and directly across from me sat a middle aged guy with a few bags. He honestly looked as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. I felt really bad for him. He was writing something in his planner and dropped his pen my mistake. I dont think he even noticed it...he looked that dead. I waited for half a minute....walked over...picked up his pen and gave it to him. The man looked startled for a second...and then his face broke into the most blessed smile i've ever seen....filled with gratitude as if I'd saved his life. I was overwhelmed but smiled back at him with as much cheer as I could muster. I felt alive...he felt alive. Together, we had had managed to share one little ray of hope.

The Supercool Cabbie

This incident makes me laugh. I was stuck in heavy traffic in a cab. The cabbie was supercool. He had good music playing and we were chatting about random things. He mentioned that he had transported many celebrities in his 30 years or so career of cab driving. I was impressed...so I asked him who was the most important or biggest celebrity to sit in his cab? Pat came the reply ... "My mom". I was floooored....gave him a big tip too ;) Isnt that the sweetest thing you could've ever heard? Just made me re-remember how cool and important my mom is.

Never say die..

A couple of weeks back, I was riding the subway and sat next to this old man who reminded me of my grandad which is probably why I shook his hand when he introduced himself. He was telling me about his jewellery business and inquired about what I'd studied etc. So I told him that I studied Comp Sci at Columbia. He was suddenly really excited and wanted to know all about doing a Master's degree in Comp Sci. I discussed the options available at various unis in New York. But he said: "No! I'll study only at the best. I'll go to Columbia". I was filled with respect and admiration for him. Imagine, here was a 65-70 year old man shooting for the stars at the time of his life when most people dream about taking an extended vacation in the Caribbean. It put my life in perspective for sure...

Crazy!!
-Amrita


P.S: Songs for the Day:-
1. Give it up to me - Sean Paul & Keyshia Cole (LOOOOOOVE this song)
2. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Dear Pluto

Dear Pluto,

Please accept my deepest condolences on being demoted to a non-planeteray object status after 76 years of loyal service to the solar system. I, for one, will miss you dearly.

My mind cannot wrap around the fact that my solar system now has only 8 planets. All the paper mache models that I made and all the diagrams I drew in school, now stand invalid. But, I've always thought that you were the cutest to draw or model or paint. Something about you, dear Pluto was happy and childlike.

So what that you have a "funky" orbit or that you lie among larger sized universal debris? I still think your planethood should not be taken away to whimsical 'galactic grumblings'. Well, you have my support and I will always consider you the 9th planet.

Give my regards to Charon!

Galactically yours,
-Amrita Rajagopal

a room with a view

...err...kinda! :)
The bright blob you see is the sun shining through and you can actually see one inch of the Hudson river from the window.

so yeah...this is my new casa...