Remember Remember…

The story of the East is one: Naivety. I’m not sure if this is in fact a fact and if I’m completely comfortable with it but this is what writers with eastern roots would have us believe. And I say this so unabashedly after reading 5 ½ such books:

The Bonesetter’s Daughter- Amy Tan
Circles of Silence- Preeti Singh
The God of Small Things- Arundhati Roy
One Hundred Shades of White- Preethi Nair
Colombo- Carl Muller
The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai

I suppose I can’t generalize but I will. It’s just the feeling I came away with after reading those books.

The last one I read, The Inheritance of Loss, was hardly a page-turner but Kiran Desai threw me a bone in the beginning. She asked me ‘Can fulfillment ever be felt as deeply as loss?’ and I was gripped. Good question. So what’s her answer? You’d think she would try to answer a question so closely linked with the title of the book and you’d think wrong. I don’t think there was an answer from her end. Well not one that went ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

So I got thinking. Can it? Yes… if we let it and we hardly do. If you try very hard, and shut out the world you can let a happy memory sustain you but loss seems to be the more natural way to go. We could as kids…remember remember?... but somewhere along the way we lost that… fulfillment couldn’t fulfill. Or maybe it’s just me…

That reminds me… There’s a monologue from One Tree Hill that goes like this...

“Sometimes pain becomes such a huge part of your life that you expect it to always be there because you can’t remember a time in your life when it wasn’t. But then one day you feel something else, something that feels wrong only because it’s so unfamiliar. And in that moment you realize that you’re happy.”

So it's not just me…

And they called her Mother Goose...

Before I go on I should let you know that people are not sure about the identity of the rhymester (There is such a word! Even though I think it should’ve been rhymist…), if it was even a single person and if that person was female. But I’m just going with the notion that Mother Goose was in fact female.

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down, and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Ouch! What was the point of this nursery rhyme? To tell us that potentially thirsty kids would meet a fate like this? I mean it’s good to know that as we were growing up we didn’t have to see a moral in something every time we turned around but you’d think that Mother Goose would know better than to delight children in repeating this over and over.

Bye, baby bunting,
Father's gone a-hunting,
Mother's gone a-milking,
Sister's gone a-silking,
Brother's gone to buy a skin,
To wrap the baby bunting in.

What I want to know is who was looking after baby bunting when they all decided they had to go out at the same time? And MG decided that this was something she wanted to share with the world?

Rock-a-bye, baby,
On the tree top:
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock;
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall;
Down will come baby,
Cradle and all.

Yeah I bet that was real safe. Another good one out of your hat Mother Goose. I think I’m seeing a pattern here. Something against babies perhaps?

If all the seas were one sea,
What a great sea that would be!
If all the trees were one tree,
What a great tree that would be!
If all the axes were one axe,
What a great axe that would be!
If all the men were one man,
What a great man he would be!
And if the great man took the great axe,
And cut down the great tree,
And let it fall into the great sea,
What a great splash-splash that would be!

Yeah let’s all fantasize about a great axe shall we? And cutting the great tree and letting it fall into the great sea to see the great splash-splash… that’s just peachy and… pollution!


Jack be nimble,
And Jack be quick;
And Jack jump over the candlestick.

Yeah Jack. Do that. Don’t worry about if you accidentally kick the candlestick over and where that could take you. Mother Goose obviously knows best.

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
There came a spider,
And sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Stay away from curds and whey. Nice dieting tip but besides that did we all have to go around teasing Miss Muffet about her little incident down through the ages? I feel for you Miss Muffet. My mum’s an arachnophobe too.

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for its living;
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Well lucky me to be born on Sunday this rhyme didn’t haunt me and I actually managed to use this poem to my advantage because my sis on the other hand was born on Wednesday and we can clearly see that that was far from something to take delight in.

But MG did have her good days and on those days she wrote good stuff that I love even to this day.

Like…
Wee Willie Winkie…I’m sorry that that name’s tainted but apart from that it was quite convincing in getting me to bed on time.

One site lists the one that tells you which months have what amount of days as one of her gems. You know…

30 days have September, April, June and November,
All the rest have 31,
Excepting February alone.
Which only has but 28 days clear,
And 29 in each leap year

Now that was useful!

Then there’s…

Roses are Red,
Violets are Blue,
Sugar is sweet
And so are you.

Now even though I like that one because I pictured a kid saying it to me and meaning it…anybody notice this is a misleading poem quite early in? What a fatal flaw to let children think that Violets, the flowers, are actually blue instead of the purple that they are. Alright I mean I know they’re called blue violets and all but technically they’re a shade of purple.

And finally…

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake,
Baker's man,
Bake me a cake
As fast as you can;
Prick it and pat it,
And mark it with T,
And put it in the oven
For Teddy and me

And with that said, you have more or less redeemed yourself in my eyes MG. I guess you were trying to show us the human side to life through a combination of good and bad rhymes and I appreciate that.

McFreakin’ Good

(Drop Jaws) Yes I wrote that! Too strong? I suppose. But it’s only because I feel that way about the show which has been the source of my Mc-ness... drumroll…Enter Grey’s Anatomy.

A medical drama unlike no other? Nah…not really. It runs alongside ER, House and Scrubs and it wins (in my opinion).

Some info courtesy Wikipedia:

The story revolves around Dr. Meredith Grey who began the show as a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. She and the other former interns became residents at the end of Season 3. The show features an ensemble cast, though Meredith is featured as the central character, providing voice-over narration at the beginning and end of most episodes. The title of the show is an allusion to the anatomy textbook Gray's Anatomy, and play on the central character's (Meredith Grey's) name. Every episode title comes from the title of a song. The characters of the series include a group of surgical interns who later become residents, the various physicians who serve as mentors to the interns, and additional people in their professional and personal lives.

From the very first mention of ‘McDreamy’, I was hooked. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show; McDreamy’s the name that the central character, Meredith Grey, gives to one of the leading male characters. And they keep faithfully to the McNaming throughout the episodes; from McYummy to McSexy, McSteamy to McVomit and most recently McVet. Maybe it’s just me but I think it’s those little creative repetitive bits that scream ‘Keep Watching’.

For me, Grey’s strikes the perfect balance between emotion and intrigue and is funny in all the right parts. While ER and House might hit the medical mark, Grey’s is technical enough to avoid being tagged ‘fake’. The characters are a real mix of personalities and the casting for each for these roles could not have been better. They really get to you with the make-or-break theme song and opening credits which show you the two sides to the show: medicine and relationships.

‘Nobody knows where they might end up.

Nobody knows.

Nobody knows where they might wake up.

Nobody knows’

A perfect fit!

I suppose the undertone of the show, just like with all the medical dramas, is, that it’s hard being a doctor and doctors are human too. It showcases, what I truly believe, are the only two frames of mind of a doctor; neurotic and calm. But what I get really enthusiastic about is the script! Kudos to the script writers of Grey’s Anatomy because Meredith’s monologues are right on target and possibly the biggest reason I wrote this post. I just had to have all her ‘life's truths’ written down somewhere… and here they are…

“A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, and sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo?”

“The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant; that knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying. “

“Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.”

“Pain, you just have to ride it out, hope it goes away on its own, hope the wound that caused it heals. There are no solutions, no easy answers, you just breathe deep and wait for it to subside. Most of the time pain can be managed but sometimes the pain gets you where you least expect it. Hits way below the belt and doesn't let up. Pain, you just have to fight through, because the truth is you can't outrun it and life always makes more.”

“Four hundred years ago, another well-known English guy had an opinion about being alone. John Donne. He thought we were never alone. Of course, it was fancier when he said it. "No man is an island entire unto himself." Boil down that island talk, and he just meant that all anyone needs is someone to step in and let us know we're not alone.”


“Communication. It's the first thing we really learn in life. Funny thing is, once we grow up, learn our words and really start talking the harder it becomes to know what to say. Or how to ask for what we really need.”


“The fantasy is simple. Pleasure is good. And twice as much pleasure is better. That pain is bad. And no pain is better. But the reality is different. The reality is that pain is there to tell us something. And there is only so much pleasure we can take without getting a stomachache. And maybe that's okay. Maybe some fantasies are only supposed to live in our dreams.”

“At some point you have to make a decision. Barriers don't keep others out. They fence you in. Life is messy, that's how we're made. So you can waste your life drawing lines or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines that are way too dangerous to cross. Here's what I know. If you're willing to throw caution to the wind and take a chance, the view from the other side is spectacular.”

"What’s worse? New wounds, which are so horribly painful, or old wounds, which should have healed years ago, and never did? Maybe our old wounds teach us something. They remind us where we’ve been, and what we’ve overcome. They teach us lessons about what to avoid in the future. That’s what we like to think. But that’s not the way it is, is it? Some things we just have to learn over and over and over… again. "

"At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, all we really want is to be close to somebody. So this thing, where we all keep our distance and pretend not to care about each other, is usually a load of bull. So we pick and choose who we want to remain close to, and once we've chosen those people, we tend to stick close by. No matter how much we hurt them, the people that are still with you at the end of the day - those are the ones worth keeping. And sure, sometimes close can be too close. But sometimes, that invasion of personal space, it can be exactly what you need. "

Daddy I drove! I drove! I really drove!

Well technically I moved the car! Same difference right? So for the rest of this post let it be envisioned as driving in all its awesomeness.
If ever there was going to be a post that exposed how juvenile I am this would be it so brace yourselves…
I remember the day like it was 28 days ago… that’s because it was 28 days ago… It was faux pas May Day because May Day was being celebrated in our little island on the day before May Day hence taking the word ‘May’ out of ‘May Day’ which made it just a day. Just an ordinary day. But that was before…dum dum dum daa( suspense music playing)… I moved the car.

Here’s what you’ll need to relive my experience:
1. One whimsical uncle who has an understated death wish because he agrees to sit in the same car as a know-nothing-at-all driver.
2. One know-nothing-at-all-driver. (Me)
3. One half-asleep unsuspecting owner of the vehicle. (My dad)
4. One automatic car on death row.
5. An audience of kids who can go from overly depressed to overly enthusiastic in seconds.

Preparation: Sit know-nothing-at-all-driver with an audience of overly depressed kids. Know-nothing-at-all-driver will then instantly start wishing she can run/drive away. With this in mind, let know-nothing-at-all-driver approach whimsical uncle who after hearing know-nothing-it-all-driver’s story will say “Sure, I’ll teach you how to drive”. Let know-nothing-at-all and now-shaking-with-anticipation driver approach half asleep owner of the vehicle and ask for the keys and permission to drive. For best results say it really fast and insist that it’s whimsical uncle’s idea! Proceed to the car on death row to the cheers of overly enthusiastic kid audience.

Method: Get into the car and sit… wait it’s not what you think… sit in the front row passenger seat. You’re not ready for the coveted driving seat… yet!

Look towards uncle who will begin introducing you to the accelerator, brake, handbrake, and the stick that changes the gears. Watch as he uses them, nodding your head all along, mentally sticking out your tongue at him and thinking ‘I-knew-that-and-you-didn’t-have-to-tell-me’.

Stay alert for the words. “Ok… Now you try”

Proceed or better yet run to exchange places with whimsical uncle before a. he changes mind and b. half asleep vehicle owner gets up- two very real and threatening possibilities.

Look at self in the front view and side view mirrors and smile to match heightened level of euphoria.

Place hands on the steering wheel and remove instantly. You will not be using this as much as your childhood fantasies preconceived.

And why not?
Because all you will do is drive straight ahead for about 15 feet and then proceed to reverse for about 3 times.

Struggle with trying to move the handbrake, think “I am such a girl” and then find out that you should push the little button on top, pull it up slightly and then push it down to get moving.

Step on the accelerator to feel like you’re actually doing something. You should get a real kick out of this part. And then break for a few seconds ahead of hitting the kitchen wall which was what you were driving towards.

Repeat as much as whimsical uncle allows.

Horn as necessary on exit to the cheers of overly enthusiastic kid audience.

And there you have it: How I moved a car.

What was it like? Nothing short of incrrredible!

How was I as a driver? Well… It wasn’t a smooth ride but it wasn’t that bad. Based on whimsical uncle’s reprimands, I lack complete concentration. Well excuse me for wanting my first ride to be cool and not so much controlled. All his instructions were swirling about in my head and I had to sort out which one I had to use next and then make sure I knew what to do after that. There was a lot of thinking involved and the margin for error was so small it sorta scared me. But I guess with practice the technical stuff will come naturally and then you’ll have time to actually enjoy it more.

What I missed out on: Turning on the Ignition (which I know has ‘To-Do’ written all over it) and steering.

On the whole: Awesome with the hint of sadness considering all that there is to driving and how little I’ve done and know. But all that matters is that the experience counts and I can add ‘Drove a car’ to my list of accomplishments. And now that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like I definitely know I want to and can do this in the future.

Everyone needs recognition for his accomplishments, but few people make the need known quite as clearly as the little boy who said to his father, 'Let's play darts. I'll throw and you say, "Wonderful!" – Off Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul

And that’s my motivation for the next time…

If i tell you what this is about, chances are you won't read...

If you ever catch a random episode of Seinfeld I can almost guarantee that you’re not going to love it from the on-set. The picture quality was, for lack of an appropriate technical word, bad. I’m no expert when it comes to the lenses but the whole time I was forced to watch it in the beginning I kept thinking “Gosh, they should really get that camera replaced!” But in retrospect I think it might not have been completely the camera’s fault. It seemed the whole thing seemed a bit 'dull' because they kept focusing on the 'dull'. It seems everything on the sets was either gray or blue-gray or brown or black. Not the riot of color that you’d see on those early Friends episodes that shared some of its later production years.

Then there are the characters…They’re not what you call ‘lovable’ (like the Friends lot) and are a bit too much in your face except maybe for Jerry and this does not change the longer you watch it but it grows on you. And I bet most people can’t get past the fact that there aren’t any hotties on the show unlike say… the cast of ‘Friends’! I mean these people look like the type who could put you to sleep and their fashion sense operates backwards when compared to that of Friends. And I can honestly say I don’t think the show ever got to the point where the characters bonded emotionally. And again this is where the ‘Friends’ tips the scales.

But you have to let your superficial self go and ask yourself is this what matters when you’re watching a comedy?

On the flipside…

For everything that’s wrong with Seinfeld I figure there’s two things right. Like the script is so funny and the delivery of the lines by the characters is brilliant. Each character has their mannerisms and keeps so loyally to it in every scene and once you’ve seen an entire season of episodes you’ll appreciate this constancy.

The interesting thing about this show is that it’s about 'nothing' as the characters so liberally state and yet it is about 'everything'. It’s hilarious how the characters are so paranoid and blow out of proportion the smallest things in life. It’s kinda like what I always want to do in a similar moment but put off because it’s too confrontational. Here’s one such scene that I wish I could re-enact:


ELAINE: Tell me if you think this is strange: There's this guy who lives in my building, who I was introduced to a couple of years ago by a friend. He's a teacher, or something. Anyway, after we met, whenever we'd run into each other on the street, or in the lobby, or whatever, we would stop and we would chat a little... Nothing much. Little pleasantries. He was a nice guy, he's got a family... Then after a while, I noticed there was no more stopping. Just saying hello and continuing on our way. And then the verbal hellos stopped, and we just went into these little sort of nods of recognition. So, fine. I figure, that's where this relationship is finally gonna settle: Polite nodding. Then one day, he doesn't nod. Like I don't exist?! He went from nods to nothing.

GEORGE: (imitating Tony Bennett) "You know, I'd go from nods to nothing...”

ELAINE: And now, there's this intense animosity whenever we pass. I mean, it's like we really hate each other. It's based on nothing.

JERRY: A relationship is an organism. You created this thing and then you starved it so it turned against you. Same thing happened to The Blob.

GEORGE: I think you absolutely have to say something to this guy. Confront him.

ELAINE: Really?

GEORGE: Yes.

ELAINE: You would do that?

GEORGE: If I was a different person.

Later on in the episode….

ELAINE: So, I had what you might call a little encounter this morning.

JERRY: Really? That guy who stopped saying hello?

ELAINE: Yep.

JERRY: You talked to him?

ELAINE: Yep. I spotted him getting his mail. And at first, I was just going to walk on by, but then I thought "no, no, no, no. Do not be afraid of this man."

JERRY: Right.

ELAINE: So, I walked up behind him and I tapped him on the shoulder. And I said, "Hi, remember me?" And he furrows his brow as if he's really trying to figure it out. So I said to him, I said, "You little phony. You know exactly who I am."

JERRY: "You little phony"?

ELAINE: I did. I most certainly did. And he said, he goes, "Oh, yeah. You're Jeanette's friend. We did meet once." And I said, "Well, how do you go from that to totally ignoring a person when they walk by?"

JERRY: Amazing.

ELAINE: And he says, he says, "Look, I just didn't want to say hello anymore, alright?" And I said, "Fine. Fine I didn't want to say hello anymore either, but I wanted you to know that I'm aware of it."

JERRY: You are the Queen of Confrontation. You're my new hero.

End scene

Now that’s… bravery for you!

And the show addresses a lot of everyday silly stuff like that. Like Jerry’s mother loving him so much that she keeps asking rhetorically about Jerry “How could anyone not like him?” And then there was this parking lot episode which was so hilarious. You gotta see it to know that this is what you never want to happen to you if you parked in a parking lot and forgot where you parked!

Oh and have you heard of this term 'Re-gifter or Re-gifting'? If you haven’t you can probably take a guess and figure it’s 'A person who gives things they received from others as gifts. They take what was given to them and send it to someone else out of laziness and spite.'

Well apparently the term originated from Seinfeld. In the episode "The Label-Maker” Elaine calls Dr.Tim Whatley a 'regifter' after he gives Jerry a label-maker that was originally given to Whatley By Elaine.

Now try and tell yourself that the idea never crossed your mind especially when it was something you hadn’t and wouldn’t use at all? I figure there are some of us out there who think about it and think “Nah” and some of us who have actually done it. (Hushed silence) I don’t think there’s a category of us who hasn’t thought about it. Ok… well unless you never had to give someone else a gift and had nothing you could potentially 're-gift'.

I also especially loved the little monologue bits that Jerry did at The Comedy Club. There’s so many I can’t list them even though I really really want to, but trust me everyone of them is so funny.

JERRY: Every time somebody recommends a doctor, he's always the best. "Oh, is he good?" "Oh, he's the best. This guy's the best." They can't all be the best. There can't be this many bests. Someone's graduating at the bottom of these classes, where are these doctors? Is somewhere, someone saying to their friend, "You should see my doctor, he's the worst. Oh yeah, he's the worst, he's the absolute worst there is. Whatever you've got, it'll be worse after you see him. He's just, he's a butcher. The man's a butcher."? And then there's always that, "Make sure that you tell him that, you know, you know me." Why? What's the difference? He's a doctor. What is it, "Oh, you know Bob! Okay, I'll give you the real medicine. Everybody else, I'm giving Tic-Tacs."

I realize this is barely eclectic and certainly not stormy content but hey... i needed to post this to prevent the eclectic storm of having this stuff unwritten and circling about in my head forever.

‘A’ is for Aftermath, Awww and Mirrors*

*: Just go with me on the ‘A’ is for Mirrors notion. ‘A’ could be the new ‘M’!

In a shocking turn of events, the ‘Boo Me Barista’ post died before the first word hit the page. There it was one day minding its own business, so psyched about its upcoming postdom and the next day ‘Poofster’! They say… it didn’t go peacefully! They say… the end of posts was near! They say… oh never mind... Who is buying this anyway? Ok… Alright... The real deal is... I killed it! So what?! Don’t judge me! That’ll teach me for planning ahead! Mundane Introductions… See… I knew that was bound to get me into trouble.

“Awww” for Isga adding my blog to his list of cool blogs! And now he’s on my list… not in a tit-for-tat move but rather because I really really believe his post is very very well written!

And finally here’s a psychotic tip for you (There I go again! Very mundane introduction-y of me right?) Mirror therapy. What you do is… walk/march/jog/stride/glide/trot (are you getting the idea?) over to a mirror, sit/stand/perch (aww… you’re lucky I ran out of verbs over there) in front of the mirror and just start talking about whatever you’re feeling and most often crying about. And remember as hard as it is… while you’re doing this… you’re not talking to yourself because you’re crazy or vain (even though looking at and talking to your intelligent self can be quite the treat…sometimes!) or even because no one in their sane frame of mind wants to hear about your problems (in simple terms you’re a loner!) but simply because I told you to! And if that doesn’t work (for reasons I can’t understand besides you being silly!) you can always try to convince yourself that you’re doing it because it might work. Not only do you calm down but you also figure out what you really want to do about the situ because let’s face it even though other people can advice you you’re the one who finally makes the decision to put whatever advice into action. (I can’t believe I just wrote that last part so normally!) Plus for me I just never manage to be able to cry for very long in front of a mirror… maybe it’s just me… or me and my mother (because she did admit to it working for her as a kid as well). The pillow on the other hand is your enemy. Gosh! The amount of hours you can cry into that thing is unbelievable!

But trust me on the (sunscreen! nah...) tip…

Need More Coffee…

All bloggers who got their blogs off to a start without acknowledging the fact that it was your first post when it was your first post…... I applaud you!

I’ve tried to tell myself to think of it this way…try being the imperative word… it’s obvious whether I state it or not… it’s like giving birth and then saying I gave birth! Waaay to state the obvious! Who does that?! Well…. Apparently…. me!

Did you also go through this battle of debating with yourself to pick a topic that is in some way a first? I mean like with me it’s that I can’t come out blogging like I’ve been blogging for years. Let me just fast forward and tell you what I’m about to post... It’s about coffee and get this cliché… you know how coffee is something that starts people up… well how absolutely clever (NOT) of me to start my blog off with the thing that starts me off…… I am SUCH a conformist!!

And now here comes another annoying habit turned trademark of mine… Sub titling… Oh how I love thee…But isn’t ‘titling’ (can you believe that’s actually a word though? Titling? But unfortunately it doesn’t mean what I’m implying. It means- http://sb.thefreedictionary.com/?Word=titling&mode=

And now… go back and read the last word before continuing) the best part that you want to do it as many times as possible? Don’t you think that’s what the person who came up with the concept of sub titles had in mind?

And now my much-talked about sub title and blog topic….. (Hold it… I’m not done pointing out another one of my faults--- my mundane introductions. Notice how I always seem to feel the need to introduce the very thing I’m going to talk about next. I’m stuck in a compere routine! And now say it with me now--- How very textbook conformist of me/her! You probably hate me for writing so much in brackets and deviating from the topic but I just can’t help myself. And now… go back and read the last word before continuing)

Boo Me Barista
( Hold it… I get the feeling I’ve exhausted you with my verbal ranting of everything but the blog topic… you can’t seriously expect me to go on now can you? Sob… so with much ado I will hold back my post until you become more appreciative… hah! Now I bet that’s not conformist is it?)