A little bit hiatus

My sister is getting married on the 19th and it is turning out to be a Big, Fat, Indian celebration So since I actually have a life for the next week or two, blogging will be quite irregular (if any)

A little bit of music

As a child, I had very little appreciation of fine arts. Dance, music, art, paintings and so on. Things did not change much as I grew up. I started understanding them better but didn’t really like them. However, over the past few years, I have started enjoying music more and more. And except for Hard Rock, I pretty much love all kinds of music.

It started, interestingly enough, with Rap. Now there are many people out there who do not even consider it as music. It is profane, mysogynist and has very little soul. But it IS art, just listen to Eminem. He cusses, he is extremely troubled, he is mysogynist and he is a homophobe. He also happens to be a fuckin’ genius! The reason I enjoy Eminem is that he has a gift of words that is unparalelled. If you can look past the cuss words in his songs and listen to the lyrics, you will understand what I mean. There is a lot of anger, a lot of craziness and also, a lot of brilliance. Eminem was the first time I started listening to music with the sole purpose of actually listening to music rather than using it as an accessory while running or driving.

After Rap, it was reggae, then rock and of course, Hindi music. My latest craze is Desi Rap. I think it totally rocks. Bluffmaster (Right here Right Now) started the trend. And Hare Ram Hare Raam in Bhool Bhullaiya is the tops. It is amazing what great music 7 different “surs” and 2 different languages can produce.

Music is the best!

A little bit of blogging

I had held off blogging because I was not sure what I wanted to write about. Almost every blog I have seen has a theme. It could be cycling, investing, politics or whatever. Although I always thought of myself as a half-decent writer, I could not figure out a theme for my blog. Eventually, I decided  that my blog will be about me and my opinions without really having a central theme. I could post on porn one day and on capital punishment the next day and on cricket the day after.

And why should you, my dear readers, read it. My hope is that most posts will make you think, even if it is for 2 minutes and go “Hmm…”. Thats all.

 Also, as a New Year’s gift, here are a few good blogs you can read along with or instead of mine

http://fatcyclist.com – The best written blog I have ever read. Bonus points for being very genuine. I am not a nut about biking, but I still love reading this blog.

http://speculator2investor.blogspot.com – A blog about investment written by my good friend S. A really smart guy who does his research well. I would recommend this blog strongly.

http://greatbong.net – Most posts are very funny takes about some of my favorite topics. Indian news/politics, Bollywood, Cricket etc.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers!

PS: What do you think of the new styling? Better than the old green one. That one had tinier font than I liked.

A little bit of Lance Armstrong

I just finished re-reading Lance Armstrong’s autobiography, “It is not about the bike”. For those of you that do not know, Lance Armstrong is an American bicycle racer who has won the Tour De France a record 7 times. He has also battled testicular cancer and at one point was very close to death. On the flip side, he has also been accused of using anabolic steroids during his racing days. But this post is not about that.

His autobiography is a classic hero’s tale. He has spoken honestly about his transformation from a brash,  talented, cocky racer in his youth to a champion racer with respect for the sport. A large part of the book is also devoted to his fight against cancer and how it changed him as biker and a person. The book itself is very engrossing. A story of an athlete who could push the limits farther than anybody else. Do read it when you get the chance. When you read it, you will understand a little bit of what it takes to be an endurance athlete. The blood and sweat that go into the training and years and years of dedication and practice it requires.

However his greatest achievement has come after his wins at the Tour De France. Although steroid abuse taints his cycling achievements, absolutely nothing taints his efforts in the fight against cancer. His Armstrong Foundation has funded cancer research, helped cancer patients with resources and information and paid for health-care of cancer patients. It is widely acknowledged as one of the best run cancer institutes in the world. I have heard first hand from a couple of friends how their loved ones got incredible support and information from the Lance Armstrong foundation.

Armstrong is someone who has taken his gift for cycling and turned it into a means for fighting cancer. It might very well be a personal thing. He might never have done it if he himself did not get cancer. I do not care for the reasons, I care for the results. Lives of hundreds and thousands of cancer patients are better because he is doing something about it. And that is very cool thing to do. Live strong!

A little bit of stupidity

Ever had those days when you do something really stupid and feel really good about doing it. Last week I drove to San Francisco and back (around 1000 miles) in a day, all alone, for some urgent passport paper-work. Not only that I found time in between to run 12 miles in the Golden Gate park.

So my day went something like this

Wake up at 3.30 am. Get papers ready.

4 am – 9 am. Drive to San Francisco.

9 am – 1 pm. Paper-work etc.

1.30pm – 3.30 pm. Run 12 miles in the Golden gate park. It was heavenly.

3.30 pm – 4 pm. Lunch like a king.

4.30 pm – 5.30 pm. Catch up with Vishal and Anjali.

6 pm – 11 pm. Drive back to Los Angeles.

I have never done anything this crazy in a long, long time. It feels good to know that I am not too old to do stupid shit.

A little bit of resolution

Has to be a “little bit”. I am not famous for my will-power I have made a few resolutions for 2008 but will share only two. They are the ones that are relevant to everyone.

Resolution 1: Get greener, and not with jealousy.

Here is what I currently do when it comes to trying to protect the environment.

I never use plastic bags.

I recycle everything I can.

I live 2 blocks from work.So I do not need my car much.

I do not drink bottled water.

Overall, I think I am pretty simple person which is a good thing. Here is the list of what I can do better in 2008.

Do my groceries and run my errands on bicycle.

Whenever I visit friends and family in San Diego/Orange Country, I could use public transportation. This is going to require some effort on my part and will really test my resolve.

Have Yahoo! Santa Monica stop stocking bottled water. If I could get this done in the first couple of months of the year, I will be very happy.

If you have some smart and easy suggestions so that I could do more, please let me know. I will be very grateful. I know this is a vague resolution but I am pretty sure I can make an objective judgement as to whether I did better in 2008 vis a vis 2007.

Resolution 2: Fitness

2007 was a decent year health and fitness wise. 2008 can be better. Here is the list of my goals for 2008 and the associated difficulty level on a scale of 1 to 10.

Run a mile under 7 minutes. Difficulty: 2. This one is very easy, I think.

Bench my own weight i.e 145-150 pounds. Difficulty: 8. I am not very strong.

Run the La Jolla Half Marathon under 2:10. Difficulty: 6. If I want to get this done, I need to work really hard in the first 3 months. The race is in April end.

Finish the Malibu triathalon under 2:15. Difficulty: 7. If I get better at ocean swimming, I can achieve this.

Do yoga atleast twice a week. Difficulty: 9. Yoga is very important for the health but doing anything regularly is challenging for me.

I understand that I might not hit my goals but I am going to give it my best shot. Bottom line is that if I end 2008 a better person overall as compared to 2007, I will be very happy.