7 September 2016

Challenge Rejected!

Okay, that was the fourth challenge in as many days days from my FB friends. If I get the general drift, I am being challenged to put up a happy picture of Sharmila and myself  (good luck finding it) for ten successive days (haha! lots more good luck finding them) and then everyday I am to challenge another friend to do the same.

I have certainly no issue on what you want to do with your FB timeline – entirely your choice to post and my choice to ignore them. That being said, my first thought was – What??? What  kind of a challenge is this? Mind you – this is not a request. This is not a suggestion. This is a CHALLENGE to prove my love and happy marriage!!! How many wives do I have these days?

To what end? How are ten pictures of Sharmila and I – and remember – we have to look happy in all of them which dramatically reduces the sample set in our case – going to make one iota of a difference to anybody? Other than of course, setting the wrong expectations to the poor souls that are contemplating on getting married 🙂

By the way, you are not fooling me one bit about your marriage with those pictures. Put some candid pictures – one where you were fighting, one where you completely embarrassed yourself, one where she sent you to sit in the corner, one where you unexpectedly got a surprise…. you know all those small real life things that actually make a happy marriage. All those seemingly happy moments you self-choose does not define your marriage. Those are meant for a Facebook pyramid scheme. If your marriage is anything like mine, its happiness is not derived from a continuous stream of smiling face photo-ups but unrelenting ups and downs with an underlying trust and belief that the other person will always be there for you. You can’t take a picture of that. You have to feel it.

I have to say, I do enjoy sometimes when you occasionally put those happy pictures of you and your spouse. I feel special that you desired to share a happy moment with me. And certainly feel happy for you. Those are special moments. Let’s keep them special. That specialty goes away in my mind when I realize that you are doing this for a “challenge” and worse, you are trying to make a daily habit of it for some time. And that you intend to encourage such behavior from ten other people!

And maybe you still feel you need to do that. Ok. Your call. But why me?? I and the king of TMI in FB. I am the exemplar of hedonism in FB with every bit of my life posted on Facebook. Have you not been warned at all not to encourage me to post more? Even the carriers are going – dude – throttle back – your data use is overloading those snooping NSA servers 🙂

Ok. Now allow me to finish this post, quit searching our photo databases for ten pictures and instead utilize that time to think of one more reason to pick up a fight with Sharmila 🙂

5 September 2016

From the bartender’s corner – Blue Monday

We have a corporate event coming up with all our partners. I guess nobody trusted the CEO to give a good speech, so I am the official bartender 🙂 I have been experimenting with a a few cocktails to match our company colors (you can check it out at www.quantumspatial.com). This is one of the two that I have settled on.

A Blue Monday is made from vodka, cointreau and blue curacao.

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5 September 2016

From the bartender’s corner – Monkey’s Gland

The origin of the name is – ah! should I just say “very interesting”! It involves a monkey’s testicles – so I am going to let you Google it up… 🙂

The drink goes back to the 1920s and was invented in Paris at Harry’s New York bar. The owner – Harry MacElhone is usually credited with the invention…

This drinks has orange juice, absinthe, gin and grenadine.

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4 September 2016

You know why I look so fresh after the run?

Because I did not get to run at all! Well, it did not start that way. I did venture out for a run this evening. I had figured I would put in a short run since both the legs are still stiff and after the last couple of long runs, I have a slight pain on the upper face of the left foot. Thus, I went to a different start point on the regular trail and what do you know? It was closed! Even the parking lot was closed. I had to turn around.

Very frustrated at this, I was wondering what to do and reluctantly decided to drive for fifteen minutes to the next trailhead to put in a quick – and maybe even a shorter run! On my way, I saw a sign that said there was going to be a race tomorrow and one could come in to the shop to register.

Swerved into the parking lot without giving it any more thought (I can be easily distracted that way). I went inside the shop and enquired what the race was about. They said they were raising money for Cancer Research for Children. “Fair enough”, I said to myself and told them that I wished to register. At that point, they informed me that 5Ks and 10Ks were sold out.

“What distance do you have left?”, I asked.

“Only half marathons, sir”, they said.

“Ok. Give me one of those”.

And thus a few minutes later, I walked away with a race registration bib in my hand. And without any more fuss, drove back home straightaway without putting in even a foot of a run today 🙂

The problem is that for the first time I checked the race route online and realized that it is filled with hills 🙁 It is 21 kilometers and more over multiple hills!! First time I will be running this distance without any proper training (all those training calendars, peaking, tapering and good stuff) or any preparation whatsoever.

First goal tomorrow morning is to take a couple of painkillers and survive the race at all costs!!

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3 September 2016

From the bartender’s corner – Vieux Carre

One of those classical cocktails, Vieux Carre gets its name from its place of origin – the French Quarters in New Orleans (which is also called Vieux Carre). It was invented by Walter Bergeron in the 1930s. The bar he worked in when he invented this was called (and still is) Carousel bar. If any one is visiting New Orleans, this bar is inside Hotel Monteleone on Royal St (between Bienville St and Iberville St).

On the lighter side, any Bengali having a vague idea about French pronunciation is probably going to stay away from this drink – “kenona ei drink-e oder bhoy korey” 🙂

This cocktail has Rye Whiskey, Cognac, Benedictine and bitters.

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3 September 2016

Friday decompression

The couplet was written by Agha Bismil but was used by Nusrat in his qawwali “Ankh Uthi Mohabbat Ne Angrai Lee” written by Purnam Allahabadi

“Mehfil mein baar baar unhi par nazar gayee
Humne bachayee lakh magar phir udhar gayee
Unki nigahon mein koi jadoo zaroor tha
Jis par pari usi ke jigar tak utar gayee”

In the gathering, my eyes kept drifting towards her
I controlled myself a thousand times; still they went back to her
There was some eternal magic in her gaze
Whoever it fell upon, he lost his heart and everything else

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