Blissfully Cloudy...

   As a resident of Oman, I have learned from a very young age that one cannot take rain for granted. Ever since my childhood rainy days, heck even slightly cloudy days, have elicited such unique feelings of laziness that I remember them till today. When one grows up in a desert, there are certain things one expects. Sweltering, humid summers and pleasantly chilly winters. Mini-sandstorms and random goats on hill-tops. However, one doesn’t expect snow, rain, hail or any form of precipitation other than morning dew. In fact, rain was so rare in this country, that during my school days, whenever there was the tiniest hint of cloudy skies or even the slightest drizzle, students all across my school would magically awaken from their slumber in mathematics or history classes and then make the same statement over and over again. All through school the line “Can we have a free lesson and go out Ma’am?!” would resonate. Whether one was learning addition in first grade or cursing integration in twelfth, rainy days really united the school.


   Rainy days worked their magic on not only us, mere students, but on the teachers as well (at least some of them.) That one teacher who usually gawked at her class when asked for a free-lesson (“How will we ever finish the syllabus my dear children?!”), was inspired to only teach for forty of the forty-five minutes of her class. The math teacher suddenly started giving the class extremely easy questions to work on. The English teacher encouraged in-class activities such as group discussions. In my personal experience, we discussed Shah-Rukh far more than Shakespeare in these precious spans of time. Yes, rainy days worked their magic on the most stubborn teachers as well.

  Now that global warming is becoming Earth’s new best friend, Oman sees a lot more rainy + cloudy days than it ever did. In fact, when I was away at university, the most unthinkable of things happened in this modest country. School actually got cancelled because of rain. For those of us who have grown up in this particular city and have gone to this particular school, the chances of such an event occurring are like Miley Cyrus getting nominated for an Oscar. It’s simply unthinkable. But behold, such a wondrous event (and I am not referring to Miley’s Oscar dreams) did occur here.

  One particular incident that I can’t help but recall occurred on the last day of my eighth grade. The skies had been particularly cloudy that day, but everyone expected the clouds to just float away to the neighboring cities like they always did (traitors). It was too much to ask really. It was a Wednesday (which signaled weekend) and our final exams had just gotten over (which signaled limitedly unlimited games with friends). And then for it to rain on such a day? Heaven could really be found on Earth!

  However, lunch time came and went and there was not even a drop of rain to be seen. All of us kids reluctantly met at our badminton court to curse the weather gods when the oddest thing happened. One of the boys started accusing us of pelting him with a pebble. Accusations flew around and tempers grew. The situation got worse when another girl screamed in pain when a pebble neatly bounced off her head. It was then that we realized the impossible. It was hailing! The skies were engaging in their own form of ‘badminton’ with us! The rarity of this event caused us to stand flabbergasted on the same spot till one of our mothers started screaming at us to go home. Now under normal circumstances, we would all have gone home, opened our windows and stared wide-eyed at the little heaven-sent rocks we were getting. But come on, it was hailing. How can one expect a normal day with hail in a desert?

  The minute we stepped into the building, as we were waiting for the elevators (and yes, I took the elevator regularly to the first floor. Don’t judge me.), a scream reverberated through the building. A lady was trapped between floors in the elevator! And to top it off, the power in the entire building had gone off with no signs of coming back anytime soon (at this point there was a total downpour occurring outside). To make a long story short, the elevator doors had to be thrust open by firemen (at least I think they were firemen…), the trembling lady was pulled out of a pitch-black elevator loudly declaring her claustrophobia and everyone returned to their darkened flats. The entire incident must have gone on for about two hours. In my homework-doing, exam-cramming life, that day was truly an extraordinary day and absolutely out of the blue. All of us kids met up later that evening, said a quiet thanks to the weather gods for such an exciting day and retired to our normal lives. I say this because the very next day we had such sunny skies that one would have smirked at our stories.

  All in all, rainy days still make me feel extremely at peace. Despite all the various types of weather I endured at university (snowstorms, hurricanes, you name it), rainy days, heck cloudy days, still make me feel like a little child, looking expectantly at the skies, hoping for another extraordinary day.

 * I'd like to dedicate this post to my 'Secret Passage' friends. My childhood wouldn't have been the same without you all. *

Advertisement Arcadium...

Before I delve into my latest blog post, I would like to acknowledge two things-
1) Yes, it has been 10 months since my last post. (You haven't noticed? Oh, that's ok...*sniff*)

2) Culprits are- procrastination, writers block, wondering what to do with my life, panicking because I have no idea what to do with my life and of course, more procrastination.

Anyway, this blog was inspired a string of ridiculous advertisements that have been circulating the television world recently. Some you may have seen, some you may not have. Anywho, I picked five advertisements particularly because these have caught my eye. Hopefully, I can successfully explain to you why. In order to ease your confusion, I have also tried adding the videos to the advertisements right here, so that you can see what you might potentially have been missing out on.

Warning: For those of you busy people with lives, this might just qualify as a 'long' blog post. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Advertisements. They are the tiny 30 second to one or two minute vehicles that companies utilize to spread their message. Advertisements, depending on how you see them, can be entertaining, irritating, smart, dumb or just downright strange. Advertisements cost the companies (at least the really good ones) big bucks. Whether it’s because of the brand or the star that’s endorsing the brand, advertisements today do not come cheap. Of course to us viewers, advertisements are those annoying little pesky things that interrupt the climax of a movie or the punch line of a serial. We have taken these ads for granted for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a life without them. Though mind you, this said life would be infinitely less-annoying for me at least.

 I have to say however, despite my annoyance at these mini-movies (as I like to call them), advertisements have recently become extremely amusing for me. Why? For the first time in my life, I have actually started paying attention to them. Actually listening to what they are saying or offering. No longer am I staring at the TV screen with glazed over eyes, I’m actually seeing and remembering what these ads have to say. One can either blame this on my absolutely stunning attention span (stunningly long or short, you decide) or one can blame this on the fact that I just happen to be watching more TV these days than I have over the last four years. Either way, I have noticed some advertisements over the years that have really stayed with me. These ads are either so ridiculous or so brilliant that I can’t help dedicating a blog to them. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my Advertisement Arcadium-

1) The Matka-Jhatka ad (Hrithik Roshan’s latest Bourbon biscuit ad):

If you have not noticed this one on TV recently, props to you. It’s on after every three ads on Star World or at least it seems that way. The first time I saw it, I didn’t think it was funny. In fact, I was impressed by Hrithik’s ever-flexible jelly legs. (Have you seen the way he moves them?!)

But the next time this ad came on, I was on my back, doubled up with laughter. Here is an incredible actor (Guzaarish was a good movie damnit!) who is doing THE most ridiculous dance steps to advertise a chocolate biscuit! I mean, hey, I love chocolate biscuits as much as the next guy/gal but I am not going to break into such ridiculous dance frenzy if I get one in my hand. Maybe I’d do that dance if I won the lottery and got to marry James Franco, but even that's overstating it.
What I would like to know is, exactly how many hours did the marketing department spend to come up with such an ad? It's like they thought "Hrithik + impossible dance steps = we are rich, rich I tell you!"
And so this ad was born. Some intense hip-thrusting and leg-twisting for a few seconds followed by the line of the decade- ‘Try it’.

I’m not kidding, after all those complex dance moves, that is all Hrithik has to say to advertise the product. And he probably got paid a few lakhs for those words. Wow.

To be honest, I liked the chocolate biscuits dropping into that chocolate sauce in the end. That really appealed to me and whispered delicious cravings into my ear. The rest? Pure hilarious entertainment (unfortunately at Hrithik’s expense).



2) The ever-failing son ad (Centre fresh ad of about a year back)

This ad is actually one of my favorites. I think it’s funny, it gets its point across and it stays with you. Unfortunately, it didn’t make me run out and buy a centrefresh but it’s still a pretty good ad. I personally think that companies have a higher chance of success with funny ads. Anyway, this ad is about a boy who tries to outsmart his father only to be outsmarted himself. What really had me in splits was the boy’s accent and attitude. He comes in with such pride only to tell his father “Papa mein phir se phail ho gaya” or ‘Dad, I’ve failed yet again’. Notice the way he guffaws at his father after that. Notice that all other workers around them have gone silent. Notice the rapidity of the dad’s hand movement. Notice how the voiceover in the end sums up the entire ad. All in all, this ad is pure comical genius.





3) The random gift ad (Buy a blah and get a blah free ad)

Unfortunately, my sister and I seem to be the only ones who thought this ad was funny enough to find it online. Youtube has finally failed me.

Quite honestly, I didn’t notice anything about this ad till my sister pointed it out to me. Notice in the end, on the woman’s tray, all the products that are there. Amongst all the unisexual products (and you will understand why I call them unisexual in a moment), there is a Whispers packet. No joke. It’s just sitting there, chilling with the other products. The whole point of this ad was that during Diwali, if one bought something, say a shampoo, one would get some useful household object like washing powder free. Truly a good marketing strategy. Who doesn’t like free stuff?!

 Now I don’t know how this works, but I don’t think one can choose what one wants free. It just comes with whatever you buy. So you buy a shampoo and whether you like it or not, you have to take home some washing powder. So say that particular Whispers packet was attached to some really useful product, like dish washing liquid or a light bulb or something. Imagine a bachelor going out to his nearby store, with just a few rupees in his pocket. He desperately needs that light bulb and all that store has is this unique offer of a light bulb free with a Whispers packet. What a nasty surprise. Now he has to buy something he does not need just to get something he needs. Of course, he can buy a bulb separately but hey, it’s cheaper with the offer! Clearly the person running this company has a soft spot for women. Good for us girls, hilariously awkward for the boys.



4) The ‘don’t-you-like surprises’ ad (Aamir Khan’s watch ad)

This was a good ad, in my opinion. Classy, short and direct. Quite frankly, I don’t have anything to point out in this ad. However, my sister and I were discussing the tag line- ‘Why? Don’t you like surprises?’ and the eagerness of the girl to dance around with Aamir, when we realized the girl seems to be a tad bit gullible. Firstly, she’s on a blind date. Secondly, a random stranger who is not the random stranger she was supposed to meet comes up and offers to dance with her. Thirdly, she knows that he’s someone else and still decides to dance around with him. However, she saves her dignity by outwitting him in the end (apparently) and throwing his own silly pick-up line back at him. She is obviously charmed by the guy or else she would never have given him so much attention. Now imagine this. After drinks and dancing, the couple go towards the secluded car parking area.

Guy: Let’s go for dinner.

Girl: Awesome. Here, let me take out my car keys while obviously showcasing my new shiny watch to the world.

Guy snatches her purse and runs away.

Girl: Hey!! What’s going on?!

Guy: Why? Don’t you like surprises? (Runs away clutching the bag, laughing maniacally)

[Moral: Stay away from strangers kids!]

It’s a totally plausible scenario. At least in my head it is. Either way, a good ad with hilarious after-thoughts.




5) The ‘I’m-being-a-paranoid-moron’ coffee ad (Deepika Padukone Nescafe ad storyline)

This video is the 3rd of the 4 part series. I picked this one because I think Deepika actually acted well for the first time in her life (accidentally or not you decide).

This ad, I believe has garnered quite a bit of attention. Either it’s because of Miss Long Legs actually looking a bit healthier than she usually does or because of the latest Koffee with Karan sponsorship that the ad has. Either way, the ad is shot as a storyline of some sort with this incredibly rich (he has to be rich to live in the same apartment complex as Deepika, unless Deepika is supremely modest), unknown boy who happens to be Deepika’s neighbor.

He is intimidated by her. She assumes him to be some sort of ‘psycho’ (her own words). They both drink coffee (or should I say Koffee), and immediately become ultra-realistic. What results is a budding friendship only to be interrupted by a ‘super-fabulous’, stuck-up Karan Johar.

The reason I am bringing this ad up is to highlight this whole ‘storyline’ business that has sneaked its way into advertisements. It started with the Priyanka Chopra- Saif Ali Khan Pond’s White Beauty ad a couple of years ago. The ads themselves become mini-serials of some sort. However, the episodic form of the Nescafe and Ponds ad is as far as their similarities go. While the Nescafe ad is cute and silly, the Ponds ad was just plain annoying. Its main idea was “Become fair or else you will never get the love of your life because everyone knows men go for the fair-skinned ones”. Really? Since then, it’s pretty much been a barrage of ‘become-as-white-as-MJ-was’ products with each company coming out with its own fairness cream.

Anyhow, my main point is, ads are special because they force companies to highlight their products in sixty seconds or less. To be able to catch the audience’s attention in such a short span of time and keep the ad in the audience’s mind unleashes all forms of creativity. But when ads decide to become like TV serials with three to four ads utilizing Bollywood star power to get their point across, I can’t help but feel that the magic of ads is being compromised. For me, a sixty second ad, sans big stars, but with a powerful message is much more impressive than mini-TV serials that hark on and on, on the same topic. Prime example- Vodafone ads. Genius to the power of infinity.


Well, either way, ads are ads are ads at the end of the day. Regardless of how mind-numbingly terrible some can be, they deserved at least one blog post here.
As David Ogilvy (a famous person famous for something) once said - A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.


I have a feeling this statement holds no more.

Why are we here....

So I just finished two of the four exams that I have this week. One was an International Finance exam and the other (on the opposite end of the spectrum altogether) was an Astronomy exam. On a tangent, only in college can you have a 400 level finance exam and an astronomy exam within two hours of each other. Try studying that kind of material together and see what it does to your brain!

Anyway, that was not the point of this post. In my astronomy class we recently discussed different theories on how our solar system came to be. One such was the Nebular Theory. This is the most widely accepted theory and its basic premise is that our solar system formed out of a gigantic cloud of smoke and dust (similar to the image on the right). Now, the part that interested me (and the part that I will fast forward to in case none of you are as interested in space as I am), is that after our solar system became the disk shape it is today, and after materials started condensing (hence forming the Terrestrial and Jovian planets), our solar system basically had a young sun and a bunch of planetesmials. For the uninitiated, planetesmials are the building blocks of planets. They joined together to form the planets we are surrounded by today. Now, Earth was obviously formed the same way. So why is it that there is life on Earth but not anywhere else in this solar system (at least not that we know of)?

Basically, Earth won the lottery. The right asteroids and comets(those containing water and ices) hit Earth....and then there was water! After that, the rest of course is history. Astronomers say that although the way the solar system started to form in the beginning could happen anywhere else, life (or at least carbon based life) only occured on Earth due to the random asteroids that hit it. In other words, just the right asteroids hit Earth at the right time. You know when you have two "right"'s in the same sentence, that it's a win-win situation.

The entire idea is so mind-boggling. Maybe if that one asteroid that bought massive amounts of water did not hit Earth at the precise moment that it did, we would not be here today. We are literally drinking water that originated BEHIND Mars. I'm sorry, but does that fascinate anyone else other than me?? It makes one wonder....what if? Maybe somewhere else, at this very moment, asteroids are hitting another newly formed planet in a way similar to Earth. Again, nothing short of mind boggling.

I think what attracts me to Astronomy is that unlike subjects such as Finance or Accounting (both of which plague me ceaselessly), Astronomy deals with concepts and ideas that are not Man-made. We are only trying to find answers, to maybe understand why we are here today. Astronomy is almost our way of showing gratitude to that mysterious force that decided Earth was going to have it all. Think about it. =)

                                  Circumpolar Stars (above)

Boots and Beaches....

A fair number of moons (and suns) have passed since my last post. And what a post it was! After getting some mixed reviews about the (dark?) undertones of my last post, I have decided to make this one light and frothy. As can be seen from the title, 'Boots and Beaches', this blog post shall talk about my upcoming trip to Miami and the new pair of boots that I bought today. (Yes I am very excited about my first pair of boots). Two random topics says you? Read on says I!

As a senior at university, one would think that there are very few moments when one can stop and smell the flowers. What with the never-ending tirade of classes, homework, projects and group meetings, it is hard enough as it is to mainitain a social life and still get a decent night's sleep. Now with the added pressure of "Whatever will you do after you graduate my dear child?!" from random strangers, life has taken a dive into the deep end of reality. If you are still scratching your head trying to understand what that last phrase meant, I would advise you to instead spend your precious time thinking about world peace or some other such fruitful topic.

However, as is a custom in U.S. universities, we students get to take a week off during spring as a break. Such a blessed event that has been christened (not too ingeniously) 'Spring Break', allows us to take a breather before tackling any further stresses of life. As this is my last spring break, I decided it had to be different. Unique. Exciting. Adventurous. Of course, with the way my life usually shapes out, the chosen destination had to be Miami. And for those of you who are not that familiar with U.S. spring break destinations, you can't really get more cliché than Miami. It is like the Goa of India. This is not my first trip there as I went there for a few days 2 years back. That was quite an eventful trip and I thoroughly loved the sights and sounds of Miami. This will be probably be the last time I travel to Miami (at least in the near future), so I intend to make the most of it.

Now in order to make the most of it, will require being able to walk across the lovely beaches, promenades and the quaint (yeah, right) streets of Miami. In order to prepare myself for this intense exercise that will no doubt last hours and hours, I went ahead and did the most sensible thing a girl my age can do. I bought myself a pair of boots with four inch heels. Sensible right? You bet! However, I am still very excited about them as they are my very first pair of boots and I can remember wanting boots ever since I was a kid (or you know, since I hit adolescence and started reading fashion magazines).

So yeah. Spring break 2010 + Miami + Killer new boots = Riya with a tan and sore feet. I'll post pictures when I get the chance (in case you live under a rock and don't use facebook).

This is a picture from Spring Break 2008 at Miami. The beaches are to die for!

Going, going, gone....

Isn't it strange how we only realize the value of something after it has been taken away from us? While we are in possession of it, we either take it for granted or we forget about it completely. And then after it's gone, we realize that something is not quite right and we don't know why. It takes us some time to figure it out and by then it's too late.


The reason I was prompted to write this was due to the numerous "Do you remember when...?" lines that I have been either hearing around me or have been thinking about myself. Nostalgia. The one feeling that has been taking over my consciousness more and more recently. The realization that my college life is drawing to a close and that real-life is waiting and watching out for me....it is genuinely unnerving. So far, everything has been like a page from a step-by-step manual entitled 'Life'. School with its various challenges and excitements. College life with its various revelations on adulthood. And then what?


There is a phrase that recently popped into my head and has since then, firmly latched itself onto my thoughts - "Every problem seems hardest at the time and the smallest in retrospect."  It is very true and when I thought of this phrase, it was like remembering something I had long-forgotten. Like an unknown known. Maybe in twenty years (hell, maybe in ten) I will look back at the situation I am in now and laugh, thinking how trivial my problems were then. And I will probably do the same ten years after that. Truth is that humans were never designed to be satisfied. We always want more. And in this world where everything is so scarce, the 'more' never gets realized. And in this pursuit of 'more' we forget to enjoy the present and to cherish what we have. Later, either when we have somehow managed to get that 'more' or we have long given up the quest for it, we realize what we have missed on the journey. We then feel guilty and for a few days, consciously try to correct ourselves. However, one inherent aspect about us humans can be understood from the phrase- 'Old habits die hard'. We don't change and we go on that wild quest for the unreachable 'more' once again.


Satisfaction. It's a bittersweet feeling. One is happy that one was able to accomplish what one wanted. However, it is a doorway to bigger expectations, longer journeys and maybe more precious moments lost in the process.

Baby Steps....

Although I am not exactly new per se to the world of blogging, I have never really created a blog of my own. This can be attributed to several reasons, all of which are as odd as the next-
1) With the boom of blogging (not too different from the real estate boom a few years back), a part of me just refused to get onto that bandwagon.
2) It seemed extremely egoistic to assume that other people actually have the time (or care!) to read what I would have to say because its just THAT important.
3) My "writers-block" that I have apparently had since eighth grade. Don't even ask how it managed to last this long.
4) Me just being plain ol' lazy.

And out of these four reasons, I would honestly say the last one has the most weight. Yup, chalk one up for ye olde procrastination!

Actually procrastination has gotten to such a level with me that in between writing the minuscule amount that I have written so far, I have already visited five to six different websites. No joke.

Anywho, I thought that I'd start off my very first blog by just giving you readers (or reader depending on how many people I tell about this blog), an insight into my mind. Certain quirky characteristics about me if you will, and I hope maybe you can give me some insight as to why I am like this. Lets play a little game of psychoanalysis shall we? (With me being the psycho of course!)

1) I can be unbearably superstitious. If you know me as an acquaintance, you probably won't think this is true but anyone who knows me on a not-so-superficial level will know this is probably the truest (?) fact in the world of Riya. A funny side-fact about this is that the more independent I have to be, the worse my superstitious beliefs get. And I am not talking about the black cats and walking under ladder stuff. I am talking about legit beliefs that have not even been invented yet.
An example you ask? Out of the two hundred or so songs in my iPod, I probably don't listen to about twenty of them at all. Never. (Which begs the question as to why they still have a place in my iPod). And if they do start playing while on shuffle, I will stop whatever I am doing to change the song. I would say the one song that I am most deathly terrified of (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration) is "Bittersweet Symphony" by Oasis. The haunting tune, the depressing lyrics and the context of the song is just too much for me. Needless to say, this one song does not have a place in my iPod.
Another example? Maybe the song one is a little common. Different people do have that one song they believe is bad luck or whatnot.
Well, this one is probably going to allow you to classify me as some kind of mentally disturbed person because it has no logic and no reasoning behind it (but then again, superstitions are not exactly known to be logical).
I believe that eating salads causes me to have a bad day. Ok, maybe not causes but correlates. Why? I don't know. Maybe the salad Gods want me to get fat. Maybe this is my subconscious forcing me to choose a burger or fries every time. Or maybe I am just plain cuckoo. That was a rhetorical question, so don't answer that.

So yes. This has to be my biggest quirk ever. And all that I have explained here so far is just skimming the surface. Maybe in the future, I will reveal more but you have to promise me I won't end up in a strait jacket in Hell's Kitchen or some such place. Anyway, let's move on.

2) I am beyond obsessed with anything that cannot be explained or that mankind is still discovering. I am not talking only about ghosts, spirits and the supernatural (though God knows, these fascinate me to no end). I am also extremely intrigued by outer space, the planets, extra-terrestrial life and everything else that has to do with Astronomy. (note- this is different from Astrology. No I am not insulting your intelligence but there are some people I know who really don't know the difference).
Do I believe in ghosts? Its hard to say because there are so many unknown variables. It has not been proven nor has it been dis-proven. News channels still broadcast certain videos of what appears to be "a spirit caught on tape". This is rare and you may argue that local news channels will do anything to boost their TRP. However, there is obviously something to it that fascinates the human mind (or at least my mind). Certain classic stories such as the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle (I can almost guarantee there will be a blog post dedicated to this soon) or the odd crop-circles (the subject of M.Night Shyamalan's 'Signs') or even the little green men from Mars are very well known.
We all learn something new every day and I recently learnt that the entire crop-circles business is a hoax. An utter deception. More on this later.
Alien abduction stories are rampant with people claiming to have been taken right into these U.F.O's and studied. Most of these stories are hoaxes, of that I am sure. But this does not allow me to rule out extra-terrestrial life as a hoax. Earth got incredibly lucky. Just the right distance from the Sun to make it not too hot and not too cold (or 'just right' as Goldilocks would say). The lucky combination of more than just hydrogen and helium thanks to nucleosysnthesis. The conditions required for the first single-celled organisms to come into existence and then there was just no looking back. And this is just in the Solar System, in our galaxy (most of which is undiscovered). Who's to say that there wasn't just that one other planet in a galaxy far, far away that got as lucky as Earth did? I'm starting to sound too much like George Lucas? Very well then, moving on. (I hope you get the point- these ideas intrigue me greatly).

3) Whenever I ask myself a question, I always get two answers. Every time. And usually they are both polar opposites of each other. No, I don't have a split personality (yet). However, this did puzzle me for awhile because it never really used to happen before. It puzzled me to the extent that I asked my parental units for advice. My Mom suggested that one answer was from my brain and the other from my heart. My instant reaction was "that has to be the most stereotypically movie cliché'd kinda answer ever". But the more I thought about it, the more the possibility seemed....possible? If I asked myself "What do I have for lunch?", I would get two responses-
(a) Something healthy
(b) Fries!!!!
So which smart-aleck organ is responsible for my bad eating choices then? My heart? It should know that eating fries will bring me just that much closer to a heart attack so that can't be it. My brain? But fries will go straight to my thighs! (Funny how that rhymes.) That's something so logical my brain should be knowing that! Maybe its my brain that always votes healthy as it knows that I am just finding more ways to kill myself otherwise. In other words, my heart is sabotaging itself. Purposely. Good going heart! Hmph.

Ok I may have gone off on a tangent there but really, this whole "Follow what your heart tells you" slogan is going to get me in some serious trouble soon.
And I don't just get two answers regarding what I should eat. Regardless of whether it is about buying a certain shirt or deciding to study for a test or just waking up in the morning to face another day, ALL of these questions have two answers now. Previously, they all had only one. I think that was when my brain was winning. Now the jury's out as to who wins from now on. (Go heart! You're more fun!)

Talk about a long blog-post. I should probably just go ahead and write a book about me. How oddly ego-satisfying that would be to see a book like that become a best-seller. Enough with the castles in the air. The above three quirky characteristics are just the three that happened to be in my head as I penned this down. No wait, that's a lie. As I typed this down. No pens were involved. Ah, technology!

I don't know when my next post will be or what it will be about. In my rigidly planned out life, I am going to rebel against myself and let this blog post business sorta go with the wind! If this post was too long and tedious for you to read, I apologize. Maybe it is only I that finds myself interesting (that can't be good). However, if you are one of the brave souls that made it all the way here, maybe you offer me some insight as to why I have these eccentricities in me. Do you have them too? Any insight would be appreciated.

However, before the insight, please stop calling the local psychiatric ward. Thanks!