June .

-I complete 6 months of working in the library this month and sadly will be giving in my resignation next week as well. Although the job role wasn't extremely challenging or needed too much brain work, its been one of the best jobs I've had thus far. Fun people, made some really good friends and a fabulous work environment.

-Do NOT watch MODERN Family, it SUCKS. I wasted an entire weekend on it.

-I'm HOME (Coimbatore) in exactly TWENTY DAYS and I cannot freakin' wait !

-I have no clue what I'm going to be doing once I graduate and which city ill be in in 6 months, slightly scary.

-My trip to Vancouver and Victoria last month was super fabulous and will blog about it soon but every time I hear, "be my passenger" by Danny Fernandes it reminds me and makes me miss that city and its awesomeness. The video was shot in Vancouver and around the western rocky mountains which you can see while flying out of and into Vanc.

-Benn and me are going for the Star Wars concert next weekend :) YAY

-I'm also excited to meet my retarded friends from York U and watch the much hyped Cirque de Soleil in Toronto in 2 weeks

- Since everyone is working summer, full time and part time jobs, my friends and I have made it a point to meet and having dinner every Sunday downtown and this Sunday a friend Melli brought along her almost married 27 year old friends (a couple) and the maturity of the slow conversations freaked me out a little. Is THAT I'm going to Be like in five years ??

-I went shopping for my cousins today and on the way back while on the train was when it actually hit me that I'll be leaving this city soon. From being SOO home sick that I was living on the IST for a whole month here(well, almost) and making Hamsa, Sahil and Bhav convince me that leaving here randomly and coming back home was a good idea(If you must know that plan failed since I had money only to get me half way to India and swimming wasn't an option) it really does feel like I've come a long way. The U of Cal has helped me develop interest in subjects I didn't even know existed until I came here which has helped me become more aware of the world/environment around me and much more confident as well. I officially can do research papers, write document analysis and biographies with ease :)

-I was really skeptical about coming here, transferring my undergraduate credits into another undergraduate degree instead of my masters program esp. when all my classmates from m.o.p were doing there masters in U.K and didn't have an answer to the most normal question people asked me, " why you doing your undergrad again" except to say, "dad thinks it's a good idea". Now, two years later, its def one of the best decisions I've made.

-Life's been super fabulous off late.*Touchwood* The last six months have been the least dramatic and most purposeful ever and I owe it all to my amazing prof's, people who sit to the right and left of me in class, colleagues at work and my awesome roommate Tamara.

I need to get back to punishing my brain with more information on the Korean War(Not fun)

Good night !

Feb !

-I'm officially a proud worker, of the most boring job in the WORLD.

So, I'm working along with ten others on a new project by the library, which in short, is books that haven't been taken out/used in the last ten years are being bar-coded and transferred to the high-density library off-campus. So 10-20 hours per week, depending on the amount of readings I have, I bar-code for 5 hours straight. On a brighter note, I live exactly 8 minutes from the library and I'm pretty well paid for doing mindless work.

-I can greet and curse in Spanish :) like properly !

-My Chinese roommate fed Tamara and me, Mouse cake . It smells SICK and she marketed it to us saying, o it's "some" meat. one slap.

-Soy milk is super yummy.

-I've gotten scarily used to the cold now, I actually enjoy the whole gloves and boots thing.

-Divya is leaving in less than 3 weeks :(

-I'm working on a class project on Child Abuse, reading about it gives me the gitters and makes me wonder if God really does exist.

-I'm officially saving up for an i-phone

ta !

G

I officially found a new addition to my "I hate" list today

- essay questions that can be answered in 10 words, but which need to be answered in ten pages.

Yesterdays episode of The Big Bang Theory was terribly disappointing, considering I waited 3 weeks for it. I think I'm starting to like How I Met Your Mother more. I Hate the actress who plays Lily, something about the way she looks or acts is really unpleasant to the eye. Atleast to my eye.

Studying in an Immigrant country, I'm amazed at how the "Indians" here, who haven't spent more than 2 whole months of their lives in India are way more Indian than I am. Apart from their basic day-to-day habits, they sincerely watch the latest Bollywood movies, know all the Hindi songs by heart, attend Indian dance classes and keep track of all the celebrity gossip and politics.

Although I've quit Farmville, I occasionally adopt lost cows, baby turkeys, tortoise and penguins from the fb home page.

I played the game Second Life for exactly 2 hours, I was shoo-ed off when , in my town and I meet this lady, and the conversation goes,

me:Hi, I'm blah blah..,so how long have you been playing this game ?

she: What u talking about? so you think this is a 'game'?

me:I 'know' it's a game, casue I just downloaded and installed it but I'm figuring out what I'm supposed to do.

she:If you don't get the seriousness of it, don't come here. Go back to where ever your from. * stomps away *.

I secretly wanted to just follow her and beat her up, but a little freaked out that I might just become her if I hung around there long enough, I un-installed it and now play sane scrabble online till I find another game that ill eventually get addicted to. If only Jenga could be played online.

My first improv comedy show happened by chance in Montreal last summer and I've been for many since. They are usually cheap if not free for students and would recommend everyone living abroad to go to one in their city. A good stress buster and fun way to encourage up-coming comedians.

I'm currently reading a book called Eat, pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert which is pretty awesome and the strong coffee I just made with 3 teaspoons of sugar is giving me a headache. so bye.

Growing up, my ma used to take ash and me to the temple every Thursday. We would buy flowers outside, do exactly what my mom did-keep your hands together, wait till the poojari finished his prayers, put some money or flowers on the plate, take some Vibhudh and walk around the Idol 3 times. We took it really seriously, since mom would be like, "If you pray to this God, you'll be tall and beautiful", if u pray to this God, "you'll get really good marks". The only prayers I knew then and still do are my school prayers. Which is a Sanskrit prayer followed by a Christian prayer. I would say the prayers after which I would just speak to God, exactly like how I would to a friend. Sometimes we would go to the Church, not for the service but just go there, pray, light a candle keep it on a cross and leave. It was the same prayer , same positive feeling.

What I'm trying to say is, thats exactly how much I was taught about religion.My parents weren't particularly religious and I think me being a Hindu named "Mumtaz" says it's own long story. Having grown up around people who kept it to themselves or weren't as religious either, I didn't question it much but just happily attended a lot of Eid lunches, Christmas Dinners and Diwali pooja's.

In the last couple of years, for some reason, I've met people who are super-religious. Which is not a bad thing but just that for some reason I have this pre-notion/expectation that they should be really nice people. Most are. but I get really annoyed when I see that they carry a bible/Koran or any religious book with them 24/7, read it before going to bed or just when they wake up but are extremely mean,selfish and bitchy. Whats the point of all of it. I'm not saying that if someone is not religious or God-fearing you have license to be mean. But if they claim to be "Closer to God", fast whenever required and do their prayers everyday which are usually about forgiveness, love and kindness, I would think they would make an effort atleast even if it's not in thier personality to do so, to be nicer to people. What else is the point of it all ?

21 was definitely the longest year of my life. I feel like I lived five whole years before I turned 22.

-I've officially moved five times in the last 2 years

-If your stuff dosent fit into two large suitcases, your occupying too much space

-There has been a distinct change in my likes and dislikes.

-I still like Geeky boys and I hate nail color and I cant help but wonder why ppl pay for that stuff.

-Big bang theory is the most awesome T.V show and I love Farmville. It makes me so happy.

-I'm actually not a big skype fan. It makes me feel further away from the person I'm talking to.

-I miss my brother and my madras college canteen (notice that i didnt say "home food")

-My visions of me owning a golden brown lab seem very real off late. I blame petville.

-I'm still deciding if I like or hate my new job. I'm making good use of the employee discount in the meantime.

-Every time someone's status on fb changes to "engaged or married"(which has been happening an awful lot lately), I'm always confused if I should say "congrats" like everyone else or instead ask "how bored were you?"

-The Character Samantha Jones from sex and the city always reminds me of zaby and makes me miss her.

On a more serious note, It was the year I moved to Canada, cut off from ppl I thought I couldn't live without talking to, realized I was too planned, organised and stuck up and have let myself just live, drink and be merry, made a bunch of new girl friends whose opinions I now cant live without, finally realized the importance and value of education (This alone I really wish happened ten years back), my card making skills made a quick come back after a six month holiday, doing random courses on philosophy, feminism, gender issues, society and identity has made me look at everything from television shows, movies to everyday scenarios very differently, I forgot my ma's and pa's birthday-I blame the time difference and the fact that they are both not on fb, I tried my first eggnog and rum-it's yummier than it sounds, I've upgraded from "I can cut fruits and vegetables" to "I can cook now"-with lots of help from Palni and my good friend Google.

"Fire Flies" and "hello Seattle" by Owl City are my new favorite songs :)

Good Night !

The rain is falling on my window pane

I love it when I wake up or go back home after a long day to see google-talk messages from them.

Updates on college admissions, interview feed backs, asking or sharing opinion on a current projects, job issues, job search, hair cut queries, holiday plans, cereal talks, updates on boy issues, promises of weekend skype calls that never usually happen (bub tops this list) or just a "hey..long time...hope everything is fine".

Just want to let you guys know, it makes a bigger difference than you may think.

:D

Im all out of faith, this is how I feel..

I've never felt so perfectly normal and torn at the same time.

I know of things I honestly wish I did'nt. May be I deserved it.
"Reality check" as people like to call it.

I'm not upset nor am I jumping with joy.

I don't know think what to think.

I'll be doing the most normal fun things when all of a sudden a strange numbness passes over.

I go quiet for 5 min and im back to being happy again.

Most often I feel liberated, which is good.

I feel like i've convinced myself to be more detached and indifferent. It worked.

Didn't know i could control my mind so easily. Never felt the need to do it before.

Im just being forced to be that way if i need to remain sane.

Atleast this time I have an explanation.