Not a post in the past 15 days... I like it when that happens, it means I am probably doing something! As I wait for my cluster's head node to finish its installation of the CentOS (for the second time in 2 days), I had nothing better to do than pay my blog a visit, to tell it that I am alive!

Anand

"Zindagi baddi honi chahiye, lambi nahi."
"Hairaan hoon ki - wo maut pe has raha tha, ya zindagi pe?"
"Maut ke dar se agar zinda rahna chod diye, to maut kise kahte hain?"
"Humari kamzori jante ho kya hai? - Hum aane wale gum ko kheech taan ke, aaj ki khushi me le aate hain."
"Marte marte chela guru ko sikha gaya - Dukh apne liye rakh, anand sab ke liye."

Its Mid-May!

This is what is looks like in my backyard now. This is Phoenix, Arizona. Its not often that you get to see anything other than the clear blue sky. So when you see clouds as dark as these, it just seems so unearthly!! Its refreshing nevertheless. Something is royally screwed though. Day before, Flagstaff got 8 inches of snow. And two days after it rains here. This is mid May in Arizona, people!! .. Ah there I can see Al Gore - grinning, saying told you so!

Earthrise!!

Watch the video here

The Office!!!

Found exactly what I have been looking for. Its pretty interesting that anything you want, its already out there - music, videos, lyrics, *who* does all that!!

Colbie Caillat - Bubbly

This has been playing on the radio a lot, been meaning to hunt it down for a while now. Here goes..

So true

Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.
- David T. Wolf

Morning blues

This guy took an early morning shower when the lawn sprinklers went off.

Spring 2008 Graduation Ceremony at ASU

This wasn't my graduation, not just yet... damn!

Getting my Bachelor's degree, did not really leave me with any sense of achievement. May be I had it easy, or may be I just didn't care, everyone around you, everyone you know is graduating, so whats the big deal?

Well, getting to the ceremony to see a friend graduate, made it seem like a big deal. The band with the Scottish piper and all, the students and the staff dressed in the traditional gowns and hats, a fairly packed arena, long speeches, big applauses, the several photo sessions afterward, all made it a big occasion. Each fall/spring, about 500 graduate from the engineering college at A.S.U. which isn't, too much really.

I don't know, but I still don't feel too strongly about my own graduation yet. It certainly is a milestone along the road - I know I would be glad at getting out of college, but would it be with the excitement of having graduated? Probably not. I'm on the fence on attending my own ceremony and pray it will be the fall of 2008. May be that ought to change it a little; if it doesn't then I freaking just don't care :P

More birds

This is a Quail. I mistook the curving crest or plume for its beak the first time I saw this bird from a distance. Its pretty neat.

Two's company.

Funny seats

This was just too good, and this being in China, brings a little surprise with it.. I admire the artist behind it and also the town or whatever for installing it - and I would think these women didn't know what they were getting into :)


Courtesy: Reuters, Yahoo News.

Under Barack Obama!!

Well, you know what's exciting - when you stumble upon a hilarious video when you weren't even looking for it. Now a friend pushed a link to "Pehli Nazar Mein - Atif Aslam" and when I loook to the videos in the related section - there it was!

I have been following Barack and Hilary's race for the democratic nomination quite closely and it made it all the more funny. It has been a while since I have found something that made me laugh my ass off. The content may or may not be office-safe.

A baby rabbit

It is so much fun watching them.

Beating the sun

I saw this pigeon take shelter in the shade for quite a few minutes. That got me wondering - How does it figure its better in the shade? Does it know why? Did it just happen to experience that it was better in the shade or did it know already and went looking for it? Does it make a note for next time to go directly to the shade?

Have you ever thought what it would be like to be an pigeon, a cat , some other animal for just a bit? To experience what goes thorough its head, to see the world through its eyes? I do that all the time.

Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97... wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance.

Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me, I am the sunscreen.

Lyrics from:http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/sunscreen.html