Seriously?!

I haven't been able to get any writing done lately. So here is yet another "copy-paste" blog post... :o)

I was amazed by these quotes I came across recently and I thought I must share them! Honestly, I don't know if these were all really said by these people - some of them seem too dumb to be true... but who knows!

Enjoy them!

********

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever." ~ Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." ~ Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.

"Baseball is 90% mental - the other half is physical." ~ Yogi Berra

"I think the film Clueless was very deep. I think it was deep in the way it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness." ~ Alicia Silverstone

"We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees." ~ Jason Kidd

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president!" ~ Hilary Clinton, First Lady, commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents

"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." ~ Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Quote: "Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything." ~ Ivana Trump

Quote: "I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman" ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

"I'm not anorexic. I'm from Texas! Are there people from Texas who are anorexic?"~ Jessica Simpson

"I'm sounding worse than Jessica Simpson right know. She's looking like a rock scientist" ~ Tara Reid

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." ~ Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC instructor

"I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law." ~ David Dinkins, New York City Mayor, answering accusations that he failed to pay his taxes

"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." ~ Keppel Enderbery, former Australian cabinet member

"Whenever I watch TV and watch those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." ~ Mariah Carey

I've never really wanted to go to Japan, simply because I don't really like eating fish, and I know that's very popular out there in Africa" ~ Britney Spears

"I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to." ~ Shaquille O'Neal (in answer to a question whether he visited the Parthenon while in Greece)

"We got issue in America. Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OBGYNs aren't able to practice their... their love with women all across this country" ~ George Bush

"I was recently on a tour of Latin America and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people." ~ Dan Quayle

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." ~ Bill Clinton, President

"It was God who made me so beautiful. If I weren't, then I'd be a teacher" ~ Linda Evangelista

"I'm so smart now. Everyone is always like 'take your top off,' Sorry, no! They always want to get that money shot. I'm not Stupid!" ~ Paris Hilton

"If you want to be mean to each other, just buy a country together and blow each other up. Then we'd have no terrorists left." ~ Tara Reid

"I believe that mink are raised for being turned into fur coats. And if we didn't wear fur coats, those little animals would never have been born!" ~ Barbi Benton

"All of a sudden, you're like the Bin Laden of America. Osama Bin Laden is the only one who knows exactly what I'm going through." ~ R Kelly

You feeling any smarter now? :o)

Christmas tag...

I am grateful to Anju for tagging me for two reasons. One - it has forced me to write SOMETHING on this otherwise dead blog of mine. Two - I haven't been feeling very Christmasey this year. I tried my best to feel all the right feelings but it just didn't work! It just felt like more work in the midst of all the chaos. So this blog is my final effort to capture the evasive Christmas spirit.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I am not a big Egg Nog fan simply because I dislike milk. So I will have to go with Hot Chocolate. Rich and chocolatey (so I can't taste the milk) with mini-marshmallows on top! Yummy!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
If he doesn't wrap your gifts, fire him! I like mine shiny, wrapped and with tons of curly ribbons and bows.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White - always! IMHO, colored lights look a little tacky - festive, yes... but lacking style and elegance.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Thankfully that is not a tradition in our country. Can you imagine all the creeps in our country running loose under the mistletoe??! ARRGGGH!

5. When do you put your decorations up?
This year I put the decorations up around the 10th of December. I squeezed out every ounce of energy on the one free evening I had that week and decorated the whole house myself in an attempt to surprise my husband. I am glad he appreciated it - but after all that hard work, I didn't feel very festive. Last year I didn't decorate at all. No time. In retrospect, I think I felt better last year even without the decorations.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
As children, we would have a special family breakfast thing. Nothing fancy but it was tradition. We had eggs, toast, baked beans, sausages, ham, bacon & orange juice. I looked forward to it every year! We haven't been able to have Christmas breakfast together as a family since I got married. But when I have children of my own, I hope to bring back the tradition. Speaking of food, one of my favorite things about Christmas is the wonderful aromas. Baking cookies, rum soaked fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg.... mmmmmm.... :)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child.
I don't have any specific memory to speak of. Christmas eve was the best time ever for me. I used to go to bed at 7 because I knew that the sooner I fell asleep, the sooner Christmas morning would come. Actually, now that I think about it, there is one memory that is pretty funny! My parents usually woke up really early on Christmas morning and put the gifts under the tree and in the stockings for us. One Christmas, they overslept. You can imagine my face and my brother's face as we discovered that Santa had forgotten us that year! My parents were very apologetic and made up some story about Santa. I don't remember what the story was but I think that was the year I sorta started having my suspicions about the fat, jolly man.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I guess I grew out of it. I don't remember any specific moment. But see question 7.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas eve?
No. The thrill of waiting for Christmas morning was too fun. I didn't get any gifts to open this year (how tragic is that?)! I got some cash. Oh well! :-)

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
I am quite proud of our tree. 8 feet tall with real pine cones. Very pretty. The last five years, I have been very strict about red and gold decoration only. This is the last year for that. I decided that we will have a five-year plan for decorating the house. The next five years will see a different theme. I am looking forward to the change!

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
I have never seen snow. But considering the die-hard romantic that I am, I probably won't complain about the cold as long as I have a Christmas-card perfect White Christmas.

12. Can you ice skate?
All things considered - probably not! I have never tried it though.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I guess I have had a few good gifts. I remember this life-sized stuffed dog I got one year. It was my parent's way of getting me to shut up about getting a dog I guess. I like the bag my husband got me a couple of years ago. The funniest gift-related story ever was the year that our chief minister (MGR) died on Christmas eve morning. My parents (as usual) had kept all their shopping for the last day. Unfortunately for them, all the shops shut down because of his death and they had two very greedy children and no gifts! Oh the horror! So they rummaged through the cupboards and drawers and came up with some stocking stuffers and gifts. I got a bar of chocolate, a few erasers and pencils, a fancy bar of soap and a very sad looking candle. My brother got the same things but he got a toy-boat shaped candle. At least his candle looked like something interesting! We grumbled and groaned through the day. When the shops re-opened the next day, they took us out and bought us some real gifts! :)

14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Being in church and remembering what Christmas really means - something I never had as a child. Also - family, christmas music and good food!

15. What is your favorite Holiday dessert?
I like home-made pumpkin pie, sugar cookies and rose cookies (which I have not had for a few Christmases). I am not a big fruitcake fan but I make some every year for family and friends.

16. What is your favorite Holiday tradition?
My favorites would have to be waking up to Christmas music (which has not happened in a few years!), reading Little Women and eating roast chicken (does food count?).

17. What tops your tree?
This year, I could not find the star that goes on the top of the tree :( . So we got a new star. Back in my parent's place, we have a pretty glass angel. I hope to steal it some day. :)

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Both I guess. But I am glad that I give more than I receive. And I usually put a lot of effort into the gifts I give. I enjoy giving people things.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
I like most of the traditional Christmas Carols. I guess if I had to pick one, it would have to be 'O come, O come Emmanuel' because it speaks of the hope that Christ has brought to our lives.

20. Candy canes: Yuck or Yum?
Yumm..... especially if they are cinnamon flavored! :)

21. What do you want for Christmas?
I really wish I could get a new laptop (coz mine is broken) :-)

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas Party?
Not really. Went for a Christmas barbeque party this year and a pizza party at a friend's.

23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJs?
I dress up for church. Go directly to the family lunch thing. Once we get back to our place, I get into my PJs and settle down in front of the TV for some quality Christmas programming.

24. Do you own a Santa hat?
No. I don't like any of the sad looking ones we get here. The next time I go abroad, I intend to get myself a nice healthy looking Santa hat.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?
We spend the morning with friends and my husband's family at church over Christmas breakfast (Idlis and Chicken curry - another Christmas tradition). Lunch with my parents, brother and grandmother. We used to do dinner with friends but we don't do that anymore. These days we just spend the evening at home.

Because this post brought life back into my blog, I tag another dying blog - Amanda. And I tag Gitu who is blogging again! Yay!

Merry Christmas all!

The Release of "Poo"

This morning's Times of India had an interview with a local actor about the release of his latest movie, Poo. It was an interesting read. 

Here are some of the highlights from the interview-

"I've gained confidence... says actor Srikanth, whose Poo is all set to hit the screens tomorrow."

How crucial is Poo to you? Are you looking forward to its release?

       "Why only Poo? Every project is important to me and I anticipate every release with the same enthusiasm. Poo is my first release after two years and I am excited about it... I am happy 

to have been part of Poo."

      "...I was supposed to do another movie with Sasi, but we had a fall out because of some personal reasons and the project never took off. Now, I have done Poo with him and it's all set to release. Trust me, I have gained confidence after working in Poo."

All said and done, what do you expect from Poo?

       "...Poo is definitely an emotional and feel good entertainer..."

Here is a still from the movie "Poo". I wonder what is in the cup... Prune juice, perhaps?

P.S. - In case you were wondering, "Poo" means "Flower" in our local language - Tamil.

An Ideal Wife

The following is from an actual 1950's home economics book intended for secondary school girls, teaching them how to prepare for married life.

1.Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal - on time. This is way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm 

welcome needed. 

2. Prepare yourself. Take fifteen minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lof of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too.

4. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

5. Minimise the noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

6. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lies down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillows and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

7. Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

8. Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his need to be home and relax.

9. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

10. Some DONT'S. Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. remember he is the master of the house and as such will always excercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him. A good wife always knows her place.

Funny...

I rarely get good forwards. This one made me laugh really hard. So I thought I would share it.

"Have you heard about the new psychiatric hot-line? When you phone in, you get this message - 

• If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.
• If you are co-dependant, please ask someone else to press 2.
• If you have multiple personalities, please press 3,4,5 and 6.
• If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line so that we can trace your call.
• If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.
• If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer."

My Way, My Truth & My Life

"He knows my name; He knows my every thought; He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call."

I really love this song! It has been one of my all-time favorites since the very first time I heard it.

My friend recently put this up on her status message on Facebook and someone left a comment that said "I wish it were true!" Wow! How it must be to go through life not knowing that those words ARE true! Of course, I've been there too. But right now, I can't even remember a life minus God. He has wiped the slate clean in more ways than one! (People who know me well will understand this statement well - my memory for past events sucks!) I guess what I am saying is that I've gotten so used to leaning on Him that I cannot even imagine life any other way!

Anyways, back to that comment - no wonder so many people take drastic decisions - like suicide, murder, abortion etc. They have no hope that there is someone up there loves them and is waiting to help them. They see their option as the only way out of their problem.They don't realize that THE Way is just waiting for them to call out to Him.

Yes, I have gone through many tough times - no more than any other normal person I am sure - but I cannot claim to have the worst-ever life. But when I sit back and think about the tough times that have gone past and the problems I still face from time to time, I don't know how I would get by if I didn't believe the words of that song; if I didn't have the assurance that He sees me, He knows me, He hears me and He loves me enough to respond when I call out to Him. What an assurance!

Writing this post has strengthened my resolve to do what I need to do. People need the Lord. And I need to tell them about Him.

Hello again!

Well, I know I have been MIA for a long time now. I have been trying so hard to write here but was just not able to come up with ANYTHING! So I thought I would write something - anything - just to get the ball rolling again! So I am sorry if I just ramble on...

On the 3rd of September, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Wow! I can't believe it's been 4 whole years already! Anyways, I spent the whole day cooking a special meal for us to share that night. I made Hainanense chicken rice (complete with sauces & soup), ice lemon tea and chocolate biscuit pudding. When we lived in Singapore, chicken rice and ice lemon tea was something we ate a lot of. So this was sort of our trip down memory lane, remembering our wonderful time in Singapore. The biscuit pudding - don't ask me why I made it. I just did. But it was really good - even if I do say so myself! :o)

The folks at church had a little surprise for us that Sunday. It was really very, very sweet of them. I honestly had no clue what was going on. At the end of our service, one of them took the microphone and asked everyone to remain in their seats. Then out came a gorgeous chocolate truffle cake! After the cake-cutting time, came the gift-giving time! Yay! We received a most unusual gift - a bowl with two goldfish swimming about. Really nice! Then everyone stayed back to fellowship over cake & hot Boost. Finally, we were given a beautiful home-made card which everyone had signed! It was really sweet. For the rest of the week, we continued to receive gifts and cards from people in church. It was very thoughtful & we were really touched!

I am sad to report that both goldfish died within the week! :o( Quite tragic. They died within 24 hours of each other. We had named them (Mojo and Jojo, it seems!) and were starting to get a little attached to them. Well. That's the way it goes, I guess.

Apart from the anniversary, the rest of the month has been pretty normal. Just the usual - home, church & work. Occasionally hung out with friends and family. Oh yeah. And the WOW trip to Hyderabad for the shoot at CBN for the 1cubed episodes. It was fun. It was exhausting. Its a long story. Will save it for another time. Here is a picture though.

Well, I hope this is the start of more regular blogging for me.

The Decline...

I guess this might be old news to some, but like most news, I always find out late. This thing really gets me upset. What am I talking about? www.ashleymadison.com. That's what!

Ashley Madison is an actress who started The Ashley Madison Agency. What does The Ashley Madison Agency do? Well, their slogan says it all - "Life is short. Have an affair." If you are married and live in the USA, Canada or the UK, you are a part of their target audience. "When monogamy becomes monotony", you register with them and they set you up with another married person who is also looking to stray. And the affair begins.

They have been around for five years now. As of May 2008, they had 2 million subscribers to their services! They have billboards all over the place, TV and radio and print ads and these people are making millions of dollars.

They even have a special wing for celebs. They make sure your affairs stay under the carpet where they belong and away from the prying paparazzi. They are even offering free lifetime memberships to a select few A-list celebs. How convenient! Just what Hollywood needs right now!

For people who feel guilty about considering an affair, they even have online articles on their website to help you get over it and get on with it. Oh joy! Articles include "The Myth of Monogamy" and "Responsible non-Monogamy: A Brief Introduction to Polymory". Cheating responsibly? Are you kidding me?!

They even have a glossary available for the cheaters - "Vocabulary: A Glossary of Polymory terms". After all, we all know the importance of having a large and politically correct vocabulary when having an affair! You don't want to offend a fellow cheater by using the wrong technical terminology.

To defend themselves, they use the whole "they are consenting adults" spiel. Really? So if these two adults consent, then they can go ahead and wreck the lives of their non-consenting families? That's ok then.

It's bad enough that people cheat in their marriages. Now they have an agency? I was reading some reviews and one lady commented "If someone is going to cheat, they will cheat - with or without ashleymadison.com." That may be true to an extent, but do we want to make things so easy for them?

I couldn't go through their articles. About halfway through browsing through their site, I think their system suddenly realized that my IP address is not American. So they blocked me out. All I got from them after that was "We are unable to process your request due to your present location." Drat! Now I can't even leave a comment.

From what I read, the general public (with some exceptions, of course) doesn't seem very pleased with the site and many have even broken up with their spouses because they realized that they had accounts with the agency.

How many broken families can be credited to the wonderful work of The Ashley Madison Agency, I wonder?