It is NOT to late to Apologize

So Angalandar and I are terrible at this whole Blog thing.

I can't speak for him, but I think that I am going to start being more regular with it, now that I am home in India, and on summer vacation. At the very least, there will be updates about my travels. I promise.

New post coming later today.

It's 6:17am and I've Been Up All Night

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the type to finish my work and get it out of the way ahead of time. In fact, I believe that I am quite the opposite. I'm the type to procrastinate so much that I often finish my papers 5 minutes before they are due and then make a mad dash to the Professor's office so that I can get them in on time.

I will admit that I have been known to pull a couple of all nighters in my time. But seriously, this semester has been the most ridiculous of all. 10 days ago, I stayed awake for 36 hours without even a 15 minute nap. Today, I've stayed up for 24 hours with only a half hour of sleep.

I'm not sure if it's because I'm in some sort of weird funk, or if it is because I'm just exhausted after 3 years of school. It's not that I hate my classes (I actually love them), it's just that I don't feel like writing my papers or turning in my assignments.

This semester has been about chugging along and hating on every single assignment that I have got. And now that I'm down to the wire and now that it is time to turn in my big, 40%-of-my-grade papers, I'm writing like a mad woman and hating every single thing that I turn in.

Meh. All I want to do right now is go home, or go to sleep. But all that's stopping me from doing either is 6 pages for today, and 26 pages before the week is over.

Rant and Rave

Angad and I created this blog with the intention of ranting and basically being mean and angry and pissed off with the world.

For some weird reason, that hasn't happened yet, and I have definitely used this blog to just spew stuff that isn't angry, but just stuff.

Today, however, is a different story.

I HATE MY SPANISH TEACHER. I can't think of a single person in this class who actually likes her, and the messed up thing is that I was actually the one who defended her or whatever. She is a complete moron, and I am completely convinced that she is better off teaching a high school class because she treats all her COLLEGE AGE students as if they were 3. Today, before my Spanish oral exam, she tells me that she "could kill" me for not showing up to her stupid Spanish major dinner where I was supposed to meet with her daughter and talk to her about her stupid photo project in India (which for the record, isn't actually stupid, it's pretty good, but that is beside the point).

First off, I was only going to go to that stupid thing because she asked me to, and I had every intention of going, except that I forgot because I had a GIANT photo project due the next day. Yes, the same fucking photo project that I stayed awake 31 hours for. So yeah. I'm so sorry I forgot about her precious daughter and couldn't talk to her about her cultural sensitivity. Which, evidently, the fucking professor doesn't even have because she says 10000000000 culturally insensitive things a day, even though she tries to pretend that shes with it.

This is the same fucking professor who made judgement values on me and my family because we decided that I should go home for my cousins wedding ("I don't understand parents who pay so much for school and then pull their kids out for a week"). The same fucking professor who didn't understand why some Mexican families spent a lot of money on Quinceañeras for their daughters ("Can you imagine?! They spend $2000 for the 15th birthday party"). And she's married to a Mexican man! WHAT. How dare she say shit like that to the class and at the same time have the balls to pretend that she gets it. I don't care when you went to Berkley, that does not mean you are an ally to people who deviate from your damn American norm.

Who the fuck is she to a) tell me that she could kill me and b) tell me about how I could've done a lot better in her fucking class. I'm a friggin' junior! These are not classes that I have extra time to put into. And I understand why I must get a lower grade, but the world does not come to an end because I spent 3 less hours working on my Spanish. And it's really fucked up because I really wanted to learn how to speak Spanish before this class, and after this, I am actually losing any interest that I had. That's the effect that this bitch has on people.

I'd like to know what the median grade in her class is. My guess is that only the little blonde suck up will get an A. At this point, I'm sure I'm averaging a C in her class. And I don't even fucking care. After tomorrow, I don't ever have to see her face again. So good riddance to the bitch. She's even worse than Markus.

इस को देखो

Wow. That is completely crazy! I didn't know that Blogger could transliterate.

That's pretty cool.

In other news, I know it's been a while since we wrote anything but Angad and I have been BUSY. He came to Claremont this weekend, and partied till 6 am. I, on the other hand, retired at 2. I guess I'm no freshman anymore. Can't really handle it.

Fateh Can't Dance Saaaala (But Himmat Can)

It's been a full 3 days since I left. Left Delhi, left the wedding celebrations, left my family.

The week before that was a whirlwind. A whirlwind that I have repeatedly tried to explain to outsiders in vain. Because no one truly gets it: my American friends vaguely comprehend the wedding process and my Desi friends (who actually know about about weddings and their various events) don't understand my obsession with certain songs and they just don't get the inside jokes or the endless stories that are playing on repeat in my head.

I think about the wedding at least two times every hour. I incessantly think about Shamsher on auto-pilot or Angad's beard needing cleaning on the night of the youngsters party or Niamat and um, our non-stop jokes about her neck. But these things mean nothing to the people I know here- they don't understand these stories, and the jokes just don't seem funny to them, no matter how well I try to explain. Most people over here just react with a passing laugh or a confused expression (or, in the case of the Angad beard story, they react with a disgusted face). And while I understand why this is so, I really do wish that I could share these memories with the people that I experienced them with.

When I look back at that one week, and especially when I look at the wedding pictures on facebook (repeatedly, of course) and listen to hunta thon mera (also repeatedly, of course), I remember each one of their faces. And I think about how happy I was during the wedding. I know that there were moments of frustration but now that I think about it, I genuinely feel happy that my family is my family. And while it is true that you can't choose your family and that you can choose your friends, I think I'm proud to say that my cousins are my friends, and that no matter how much I want to kill them sometimes, they're friends that I'm happy to be stuck with. No matter how frustrated I get with them, they'll always have my back. And more importantly, they will always make me laugh.

So cheers to Hersi for taking the plunge without crying and without the slightest tinge of fear or nervousness. Cheers to my moronic cousins who will always be Lutzes in my eyes. And cheers to us having many more weeks like this past one together.

I can truly say that when this week ended all I could think was "Hunta thon mera dur jan da ji ni kar da ni". Home is home, Delhi is Delhi, family is family. And my family is crazy. Cheers to nothing ever changing that.

JFK, Heathrow and Indira Gandhi International

I never thought I would be one of those people who went home in the middle of the semester. But here I am, sitting in Terminal 7 in JFK, waiting to get onto my flight to Heathrow (and eventually Indira Gandhi International).

I can't help it. My cousin is getting married, and I can't imagine not being there for the wedding. I can't imagine not going home for a bunch of different reasons: not only will my entire family be present at this (at least for us) momentous occasion, but I also can't believe that this moment has come upon us so soon. I always imagined this happening maybe 2 or 3 years down the line from now, and I can't pretend that it's not going to be really strange next Sunday during the wedding.

But as it stands, it's real and the wedding is happening. So I'm here in in JFK, even though I know I'm missing an assload of work for college (God knows I'm emailing 3 papers in next week) and even though my family is paying a lot of money for me to be in Delhi next Sunday. But honestly, I can't imagine it any other way.

I guess the next time I update, however small the entry may be, it's going to be from my house in India, probably with some sentimental crap about how weird it was to see Hersi get married. But until then, I guess this will have to suffice, because um. They just announced the final boarding call, and I have to run!

Haha

I really liked this one because it's actually kind of intelligent. Haha!
One of my favourite moments is when the South Asian major adds his 2 cents, the end when he talks about being paintingand also when the flag is upside down. Enjoy!

Gangbad is Just Grumpy. And He Couldn't Give Less of a Shit About Tags

Well...
I am.

Gangbad should tag all his entries

It's 3:50am, my hands smell of photo fix, and my photographs look really crap.

I know I shouldn't leave things to the last minute, but old habits die hard (and this assignment was not a particularly easy one). Meh. I hate shitty lighting situations, and also camera lenses that refuse to focus in the short range. I also really hate it when all the fucking #3 filters are missing, most especially when I need them the most. Also, where the fuck was I when the split filter demo was happening? Meh, meh.

For some reason, art has really sucked for me over the last year. Maybe I've overdosed, or maybe it's because I've stopped to think in images and have begun to think in words. It's a really long and complicated thing to explain, but after talking to Danielle today, I realized that I no longer think in pictures, really. Is that a scary proposition for an art major? I don't know.

Anyway. I need to get back to photographs, filters, enlargers and the gaze. In any case, I think I'm not going to sleep until I get onto that flight to New York tonight.

Just look at my family

I'm convinced that Gangbad is just bored with life, and he is just jealous.
In short. Gangbad can go suck it.

I also would like to leave you with a little gem of a facebook message/conversation. Perhaps it will only appear funny to those that belong in the larger Dugal/Chopra/Saund family circle. And I understand that this might be for family eyes only, but if that be the case, well, I can just delete this post.

Fateh
Today at 4:38am
you bored sons of bitches..you all need a very VERY strong drink to help you think about how stupid you all look...i..on the other hand..drink a large number of strong drinks so im always in my senses..happy holi btw..haha

Angad
Today at 4:47am
I think sobriety would help perspective better.
Which is why I have none.
Hah.

Fateh
Today at 5:10am
angad my lil friend..you know these big words are of little importance to me..smaller..more efficient words are requested

Niamat
Today at 5:59am
my baby brother, ladies and gentlemen

Jaiveer
Today at 7:08am
watta family...tooo good

Hell yeah. Watta family! Tooooooooooooo good.

Normally...

Normally, I'm against most forms of dampening enthusiasm but again, I have to point out the sheer silliness of someone giving Ximian money to essentially go home and have a look around her backyard.

Just wanted to point that out again.

Channeling Ruby

So what I basically wanted, I got. Because today I found out that I got the grant.

And I am so excited about it! Yayay! I can't wait till the summer, and I can't wait to travel! Look out South! Here I come.

PS: Gangbad, Ximian is ready to put Microsoft to shame! Whooop.

o_O

Right. I'm walking back to my room a few nights ago and just as I pass Covel, there's this guy talking on his cell, fairly loudly and I just *happened* to hear this gem of a soundbite:

"So, I was having sex last night, and I really missed you."

I slammed on my best straight face, speed-walked to Delta and cracked the FUCK up.

The Woeful Ways of Microsoft

I risk prosecution by posting this but it's too good to pass up.
I recently replaced the hard drive in my laptop and had to reinstall Vista, all my old programs, yada yada.

Now I have a *legal* copy of Microsoft Office 2007 that came with my laptop. For some reason, this refuses to install on my machine. Neither does a (legally) downloaded installer work with my (legal) product key.

Finally, after wasting the greater part of a day mucking about, I download an *illegal* (here's the part where the lawyers get excited) copy of MS Office and lo! The damn thing installs right in!

So in the end, I had spent $149 on a copy of Office that refused to work for me and a cracked install did the job in less than 5 minutes.

I have since re-registered my 'cracked' Office with my legal product key.

Evidently the software pirates are better at coding installers than the programmers at a multi-billion dollar company.

Go figure.

(PS: Ximian lives in India and she wants a grant to go home and roam around her motherland. That puts Microsoft to shame.)

New Hero

WHO IS THIS GUY? And why the hell did it take me so long to see this!