Remembering...

Another year went by...

We miss you Bua Ji and Fufa Ji...you will be in our hearts always...

Happy 1st Anniversary!!!

I started this blog one year back on Sept. 28th. Happy Anniversary to my blog. :D

When I started, I had no idea what I was going to write. Then I just wrote whatever came to my mind. I realize that this blog has become more about books than my life. That is okay as I love books very much.

So far I have written 52 entries and this will be my 53th!!

Well...here is something about me.

On the 24th, I went to the library and when I got there, I was told that a study room was not available as they were all reserved for literacy tutors. I was also told to check back in 10-15 min. to see if any rooms become available, which might be due to the tutor not showing up. I thought, "Great...Now I have to sit out in the open and listen to bunch of high schoolers squeal, talk, and laugh." So I decided to sit on one of the tables that were located between two rows of books. I got to the table and put my stuff down. Then suddenly I was distracted. I was distracted by comic BOOKS. I thought, "Oh yay!! They have new Calvin and Hobbes Comic books, and few more. I will only spend few minutes on looking at them." This is kind of sad that I go to the library to STUDY but I am distracted by books. I am such a nerd...

See...this entry is even about books...

T.E.A of Life

I attended the Matri Diwas celebration at JVB Meditation center a while back. During one of the plays, they mentioned "T.E.A of Life." The play explained the importance of the T.E.A. in all the relationships in life, whether the relationship is parent-child, husband-wife, or friends. I thought it was a very interesting and totally agree with it. I think this will be something that will go long way with me in life. :)

T: Tolerance

E: Emotional Balance

A: Appreciation

The play showed a husband-wife arguing to the point where they decide to divorce. A friend sees what is going on and explains the "T.E.A. of Life" to them. The friend points out that the argument started because the wife accidentally broke a picture frame that was bought by the husband. He stated that the situation could have been handled using these three points. He states that if husband-wife had tolerance toward each other, had managed their emotions, and had appreciated each other even on little things, they would have been much happier.

The Curious Incident and The Time Traveler's Wife Movie (2 in 1)

The novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon was an interesting and a sweet novel. I enjoyed listening to it. I think the reader, Jeff Woodman, did an excellent job narrating this novel.

The novel is about a 15-year old autistic boy, who is framed for killing a dog. As he unravels the mystery of the murder of the dog, he discovers family secrets. He also learns to conquer his fears.

There were few cons for me. I could not relate to the novel, as I am not aware of any autistic child. I did learn a lot about their behavior through this fictional piece of work. Secondly, I felt that the book started great. However, it sort of went downhill after that. The ending was good. The story was like an upside down bell-curve for me. I am glad I gave it a try. I would give this book 8 out of 10.

I realized that I forgot to blog about the movie, "The Time Traveler's Wife." I can't believe that I forgot. That novel is one of my all-time favorites. I watched the movie on August 23rd. Surprisingly the theater close to my house was not showing the movie.

I loved the movie and enjoyed every second of it. It was tear jerking or in other words, I cried a lot during the movie. I was a little disappointed as I noticed that few characters in the novel were missing in the movie. I wanted to see Ingrid and her girlfriend in the movie. I was also disappointed with the characterization of Gomez. Gomez is not nice and supportive in the book, but in the movie, he is presented as a good person and a good friend. Lastly, I thought that the movie could have done a better job depicting Henry's death. I felt that too much was left to viewer's imagination regarding his downfall and ultimately his death. I understand that there were time limitations on the movie. It was 1 hr and 48 minutes. I wouldn't have minded 2 hrs and 30 min. movie if they had included all the scenes and the characters. I still loved it and this movie is definitely going to be part of my future video collection. I would give the book and the movie 10 out of 10.

I really really want to listen to The Time Traveler's Wife. I read the novel, and I want to give audio book a try. But having so many books on my plate, I think this audio book will have to wait. Maybe I should retire from my job, spend all my money on books and audio books, and spend all day reading and listening. What a thought... :)

Yesterday...

Yesterday something interesting happened. I went to the library as usual. This time I saw Sharmila Auntie there talking to Ms. Jaime about colleges and majors for her older daughter who is about to graduate school. Ms. Jaime asked me few questions regarding scholarship and college since I graduated from HS few years back. So I answered her and then I turned to Auntie and started telling her few things. All of the sudden, Ms. Jaime says, "Oh my god, your accent completely changed as you started talking to her." I said, "That's not true. My accent did not change." Sadly, another librarian standing close agreed with Ms. Jaime. This was news to me. I did not know that I was capable of changing my accent or that I even did that. I found it funny though. I wonder what the difference is. I guess the only way to find out by recording myself and not know that I am recording myself or get somebody else to record me. I am too lazy to go through all that hassle. Oh well...I guess I will never find out.

BTW...I forgot to add in my blog about Zip-Lining that I did get my "Earned My Wings" Badge:

Time to get back to work.

P.S. This is my 51st blog entry...Yay for half-century!!!

Ortist on Orkut

I saw this on Orkut and thought it was too cute...

9/10/09 - I like today's Ort of the Day too...Here it is:

Weekend

On Sunday, we decided to finally go to Tyler, TX. My parents have been wanting to go there even before their Vegas trip. Anyways, first we went to Canton. We left the house at 6:30 in the morning and made it there by 10:00. That is where we zip-lined. That was the highlight of the trip. We went to Wired. I linked the name of the business to their website (free publicity for them). It was fun. I won't lie and say it was a piece of cake. I was scared at first, as I don't like heights (thus, don't like to fly). But you know what, that feeling you get during turbulence was not there in zip-lining. The ride was smooth and the height wasn't as scary. Here are some pictures:

You can turn off the music by clicking on the speaker up on top.

As you can see, we had fun. I wouldn't mind going again. Actually I am looking forward to it.

Then we went to the water park. I thought it was a bad idea to go to outdoor water park due to the heat and finally my parents decided that it would be best if we go to an indoor water park. We went to Water park at The Village. I think the website has a good video and gives an idea how the place was. That was my first ever trip to a "proper" water park. I have been to Sea World in San Antonio and there were water rides there. We also went to Disney World in Florida.

The overall trip was fun. It was my mini-vacation. Until next time or I should say, until next book... :P

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

This morning at 8:00 I finished the novel, The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. It does not have a tragic ending like We the Living. Little bit about the book before I start my views.

There are five main characters in the book:

• Howard Roark: He is the protagonist of the novel. He represents the views of Ayn Rand. He is an architect who works on his own terms. He is a modernist. Due to this, he struggles to establish himself.

• Ellsworth Toohey: He is the antagonist. He is a collectivist and preaches altruism. He represents everything that Howard Roark despises and vice versa.

• Dominique Francon: She is the daughter of Guy Francon, the owner of one of the biggest architect firms in New York. She is in love with Howard Roark.

• Peter Keating: He is everything that Howard is not. He pursues the career because his mother tells him so. His success is temporary since he does what pleases others.
• Gail Wynand: He is a big newspaper tycoon. Roark and he become very good friends, but Wynand's need of others ends the relationship.

There is so much in the novel that I am not going to summarize the story. I enjoyed listening to novel. Ayn Rand's theory "Objectivism" can be seen throughout the novel, and through Howard Roark. In the end, Roark's speech explains Ayn Rand's theory. As I listened to it, I realized I was nodding my head and was agreeing with every single word. The theory is 100% true when it comes to creation and destruction; however, there is more to the world than that. Even though I agreed with the novel, I don't think I completely agree with what she preaches. I feel that we need others for support and survival and we must depend on others. One must be selfish but to an extent where others are not hurt. When a person crosses that line, then relationships end and suffering begins. I said enough about my views in the review of We the Living so I am not going to repeat that again.

Overall, this book was great. I am still debating if this book is going to be one of my favorite books or not. I think I will give it another read and then decide. I will give this book 9.5 out of 10.

I think I am going to take a break from listening to the books until next week. As I say this, I have three audio books in my car. But it has been a while since I listened to some good music during my commute and I think I will do do that Thursday and Friday. Monday I am off..yay!!! Tuesday I will pick up another book. Good bye for now...

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People - Farahad Zama

I finally finished this book. Actually I finished the book on Friday (Aug. 28th). I am sort of getting better at writing reviews right after finishing the book. Another reason is that I am about to finish The Fountainhead and I would hate to write two book reviews back to back.

The book was a very light read. After I started it, I finished it within a week. Here is a quick summary of the book:

Mr. Ali opens a marriage bureau after this retirement. Initially the business is slow, but it starts to flourish, he hires an assistant named Aruna. It turns out she has her own problems regarding her own marriage. One of the clients of Mr. Ali's falls for Aruna and proposes to her. I will leave it to that. I won't say what happens after that.

I felt that the author did a great job capturing the marriage process. The times are changing and more and more people are having love marriages. However, arrange marriage is still the norm in India. Farahad Zama explained the ceremonies as well, which I liked. One more thing that I admired about his writing was the fact that he covered different societies of India without any bias. At least I thought there was no bias in his writing. I have read books where the authors favored one category of people over the other. Biggest example of bias toward characters would be E.M. Forster and his novel, A Passage to India, which I read in 12th grade.

Anyways, for me this book receives 8.5 out of 10.