How does the water Come down at Lodore?

...
Rising and leaping,
Sinking and creeping,
Swelling and sweeping,
Showering and springing,
Flying and flinging,
Writhing and ringing,
Eddying and whisking,
Spouting and frisking,
Turning and twisting,
Around and around
With endless rebound!
Smiting and fighting,
A sight to delight in;
Confounding, astounding,
Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound.
Collecting, projecting,
Receding and speeding,
And shocking and rocking,
And darting and parting,
And threading and spreading,
And whizzing and hissing,
And dripping and skipping,
And hitting and splitting,
And shining and twining,
And rattling and battling,
And shaking and quaking,
And pouring and roaring,
And waving and raving,
And tossing and crossing,
And flowing and going,
And running and stunning,
And foaming and roaming,
And dinning and spinning,
And dropping and hopping,
And working and jerking,
And guggling and struggling,
And heaving and cleaving,
And moaning and groaning;
And glittering and frittering,
And gathering and feathering,
And whitening and brightening,
And quivering and shivering,
And hurrying and scurrying,
And thundering and floundering,
Dividing and gliding and sliding,
And falling and brawling and sprawling,
And diving and riving and striving,
And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling,
And sounding and bounding and rounding,
And bubbling and troubling and doubling,
And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,
And clattering and battering and shattering;
Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,
Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,
Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,
Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,
And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,
And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,
And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,
And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,
And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;
And so never ending, but always descending,
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending,
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,
And this way the water comes down at Lodore.


'The Cataract of Lodore - Robert Southey

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read.

― John Wooden

A debut novel about Le Cirque des Rêves ...

I am a reader not a writer, and writing a review for The Night Circus  has been much harder than I thought it would be. My thoughts are all jumbled up in a circus kind of way. The book felt more like a journey through an art exhibition, from one surreal piece of art to another, but I enjoyed reading the descriptions, and imagined the unimaginable. Morgenstern has quite an imagination. There were times when I craved more of it and then there were times where I just had enough.

Unlike some usual books with usual chapters, The Night Circus is quite different. The book itself seems like a circus with black and white dark starry patterns separating each part of the book. The parts are composed of several short chapters with dates jumping around from 1899 to 1902  back to 1900 and to 1901. It was hard for me to keep track of the time, and picture the characters who were growing up so fast within the 30 years time span of 1873 to 1903. The protagonists fell in love instantly... they were able to "feel" each other even before they met or knew each other... whatever they did they did it for each other even though they were supposed to be competing not collaborating, and it is never explained - why! The rules of the game are never revealed, the protagonists are forced to participate despite the vagueness. It feels like the author has put all her energy and dedication in making the book more like an abstract art of dreams, rather than a book of story; the plot seems a bit empty. I could not feel any attachment with the characters, and I feel like Morgenstern overlooked to properly introduce them to the readers.

None the less, kudos to the author for her ability to dream and to put the dreams into words... so enchantingly remarkable!

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Mindy taught me what an Irish Exit means... and much more...

I am one of those people who gets easily influenced by the people I like. After reading the book by Mindy Kaling, I now have Bridget Jones's Diary in my movies to watch list (no I was never into Bridget Jones before). And I actually went to goop.com which I had never ever heard of.

Mindy writes with so much ease and humor. It felt more like reading a letter from a friend rather than reading a memoir of the writer, actor, and co-producer of The Office. It would not be an over exaggeration if I told you that I actually read the Acknowledgments hoping to see my name mentioned in there somehow.


There are just so many humorous lines in the book, and I do not want to give much away - but I wanted to mention few anyway...

"... if you're going to punch someone in the face, your best bet is to punch your best friend. Counterintuitive, I know." 

"I simply regard comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi, in which the world created therein has different rules than my regular human world."

Good work Minz. I hope your next book will come out soon, and that you will soon be married and have kids. On a personal note: Yes, marriage is bliss, and it is the best thing ever. Good luck :)

I recommend Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) to everyone who is looking for a cute and funny and lighthearted read.

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....everyday a million coincidences nearly happen

The title's taken from the book Friends Like These by Danny Wallace. I just finished reading the book, and I recommend it to everyone nearing thirty or has crossed it. No scratch that - I recommend it to everyone regardless of the age.

I admired the author's persistence, and also found it annoying at times. I laughed (really hard), and also cried (a little). He made me wish I had friends like him who would come knocking at my door - totally random; made me wish I could remember my childhood friends better; made me wonder if I ever was anyone's best friend or if anyone's searching for me right now, or if a coincidence is nearly about to happen!

The book made me want to go on a memory ride just like the author did, no matter how impulsive and "impractical" his adventures seems to be. 

As I said a warm adieu to 2011...

Austin Downtown - 6th Street

A view from State Capitol

State Capitol dome

San Antonio downtown

San Antonio - River walk

Fort Worth Stock Yard

What was the author thinking?

Writing a book is a long and tedious process, and I admire everyone (yes even Paris Hilton) for making an effort, and taking the time to create something that has not been done before. I admire the patience and time authors put on their books and hence, it is hard for me to criticize anyone for not writing a substantial piece, as I feel that the author must have seen or felt something to want to share with the world.

When a reader picks up a book, he or she has certain expectations... expectations that it will be a worthwhile read, and that the author will do justice to the time that a reader is willing to put in the book. I was very disappointed in "Desirable Daughters" by Bharati Mukherjee. The journey through chapters 1 to 20 was excruciatingly boring. The book lacked direction, or rather it took so many directions that it seemed like the author herself was pretty indecisive about her book plot. The characters have no character at all, the author does not really take time to build them. The protagonist - Tara - is a divorcee who would rather have multiple non-platonic relationships with her ex-husband's friends, than live a life with the man who is a father to her son, who cares about their well-being, and saves her life risking his own. The author does not really explain or convince the reader why Tara needed to live a life without Bish. The only reason I could see was that Tara's life was way too perfect - she wanted it out. In the effort of creating a suspense, the author inserts a mysterious Chris Day character which leads Tara to flee San Francisco to a snobby life in Jackson Heights where you are introduced to oh so many different characters that I could care less about. After reading through the whole book, I am still trying to connect the dots. I am confused if the book is to be labeled a mystery book; or is it a memoir of an unambitious woman living a purposeless life; or is it just a story about three superficial sisters.

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Something I want to remember from the book : If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland

"When Van Gogh was a young man in his early twenties, he was in London studying to be a clergyman. He had no thought of being an artist at all. He sat in his cheap little room writing a letter to his younger brother in Holland, whom he loved very much. He looked out his window at a watery twilight, a thin lamp-post, a star, and he said in his letter something like this : "It is so beautiful I must show you how it looks." And then on his cheap ruled note paper, he made the most beautiful, tender, little drawing of it. [...]  The difference between Van Gogh and you and me is, that while we may look at the sky and think it is beautiful, we don't go so far as to show someone else how it looks. One reason may be that we do not care enough about the sky or for other people. But most often I think it is because we have been discouraged into thinking what we feel about the sky is not important."

Have a Happy & Safe July 4th !!

chick.lit.ious

I'm a chick lit gal... who faces the real world everyday, but likes to relax and be in the fictitious fun almost fairy-tale-like world after a long tiring day. I mostly like reading fictions that are less descriptive and has more dialogues.
Most recently, I read Queen of Babble. I was not sure if I would like it, but I was desperately searching for a new author. I did not know Meg Cabot is the author of Princess Diary. I came across the book in the library, and of course the book cover was eye-catching. When I started the book, I did not like it much... it just felt like another chick lit with an impulsive protagonist who is incapable of thinking through the implications of a decision she makes. But as the story built up - I could not put the book down. It was a fun read, even though everything felt so rushed (babbling all the secrets to falling in love within 3 day time span). It is well written, but it did not make me want to read another babble series - I want to give Lizzie a break.
Sophie Kinsella is my all time favorite. I have read few of the ones she wrote under Madeleine Wickham, and I have to say that I love her writing style. The first book I read was Undomestic Goddess. My aunt's friend was reading it when I visited her one summer. After I finished the book, I read all the shopaholic series till date, and my favorite is Shopaholic takes Manhattan. But I am slowly getting bored of her Shopaholic series (I did not like Mini Shopaholic as much I wanted to.) After few series, the character and the way the character "behaves" becomes so predictable, it is not that fun anymore. Also, the movie completely ruined it for me. I could never picture Isla Fisher as Becky Bloomwood. But if I have to choose a book when I am feeling down, I would choose SK in a heartbeat. I would love to see more stand-alone novels from her.
My next favorite author is Emily Giffin. Most readers seem to like Something Borrowed but my favorite is Love The One You're With. I felt that the story is well thought. Another author that I feel worth mentioning is Nicholas Sparks. A Bend in the Road is the first book I read, one of my colleagues had lend me the book, and even though I did not like the story, I liked his writing style. My favorite one so far is The Last Song.

As the daylight saving time begins...

It was a busy day resetting all the clocks around the house as the daylight saving time begun today. I started out resetting the bed-side alarm clock, and as I headed to the bathroom, I reset another one. Then I headed to the kitchen for breakfast, and started adjusting the time in microwave, my oven, and wall clock. Holding the hot coffee mug, I turned on the TV in the living room, and started adjusting some more clocks. Then as I headed towards my study, and reset the clocks there thinking why do I need so many clocks around the house? There are clocks everywhere. I then decided getting rid of some of the clocks... but failed. They all looked perfect where they were. Then my phone rang, and I woke up thinking I need to reset the clock on those phone sets as well. What a long night it has been resetting the clocks, and as I started following my dream - I got a feeling of dejavu. It is going to be one long busy day resetting the clocks - this time for real *sigh* :) lol

American Airlines

I was on my flight from LAX to DFW in American Airlines 757. As I enter the plane the whole messy atmosphere really put me off. I understand - gas prices are soaring, and everything is expensive than a year ago; the economic situation has really hit the entire nation. But does that give an excuse to provide bad service to your customers? Airlines have cut large number of flights; passengers pay extra for luggage, foods and headphones. I do not have any complains on that - but do they expect passengers to clean their dirty aircraft as well?

And not only was the plane messy - but there were no safety instruction manuals in the seat pockets, no vomit bag, no magazines... it was all empty. And an air-hostess announced that the speakers after seat numbers 21 were not working, she said, "We are sorry for the inconvenience but there is nothing we can do about it." Ironically, the movie 21 was playing during the flight.

But I have to give American Airlines a credit for the on-time flight. We left LAX on time and arrived DFW few minutes earlier.

laytaa jyaami

I learnt something new today ...
Laytaa Jyaami means a Volunteer in Newari (one of many languages spoken in Nepal). Laytaa means pleasant or a fun loving person, and Jyaami means worker. So a volunteer is a fun loving worker... that is so sweet!!
Every language has its own charm and sweetness... I wish I could learn more languages - there is just so much to learn.

Major disappointment

We saw the apartment... we liked it. We fell in love with the locality and everything was fine. On the first day of our move in - however - there were some major disappointments. The apartment was not as "clean and renewed" as promised.

The kitchen cabinets were said to be painted inside and out
but we found stains and holes.

And we had many uninvited guests.

When asked if we will have pest-control available soon...

the office wasn't sure when our turn's going to be.

The Windows, the floors... I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The mirror in the bathroom.