The day of the blackout

Today is a significant milestone in the age of the Internet- the first ever Internet blackout was organized by a couple of the major Web players lead by Wikipedia, Reddit, Google and Yahoo. Facebook had a message from Zuckerberg headlining everybody's news feed for a little while. The blackout is to protest two bills that are currently being reviewed by the US Senate and the US Congress (SOPA and PIPA). Both are being promoted as anti-piracy bills but the tag-on language in them has the potential to infringe on our freedom to obtain information. There are a zillion places where you can get details on why this is creating such an uproar.. that's not what caused me to come back to the-shady-friends after such a long hiatus.

The voice of the worker and the man in the 20th century was heard through unions, protests and voting. For the better part of the last 20 years, it appeared that society had decided to let the loudest, the strongest (read the guys with the biggest guns) and the richest people manipulate the world. Last year (2011) was highlighted by three revolutionary events that said- not so fast big People- we matter too! I am referring to the Arab Spring to fight the big Guns, the Tea Party to fight big Government and the Occupy movements to fight big Banks. The success of all three was credited to a large extent to social media and the Internet making the world truly global. The blackout today is simply an extension of those movements- we will now as a people use the Internet to fight for our right to freedom of speech and information.. I think this is our fight against big Lobbyists and big Influence.. Yes- Hollywood- I am talking about you too. 

I want to appreciate the fact that I am living in a period that will be written about and discussed in history books. I think I'd like to take a moment to let the significance of this day sink in.

Dora.. Out.. Woof!

Another day, another new year

It is the first day of the new year- what better reason to write than just this! I rang in the year with Stewie, Ender and some other friends. We went a little (read: a lot) crazy but that just made me realize how wonderful my friends are that I can really let my inhibitions go when I am around them. The effect of the long night was that most of my first day of the year involved lazing around in the general vicinity of my bed. Here's to hoping for more lazy days like that! The true highlight of the day was a sudden trek in the hill country with Ender and Garfield. It was a beautiful day to be outside and we had so much fun chatting and walking. I also got to meet Garfield's sister and she was pretty cool. All in all, a good start. Happy New Year 2012.

Dora... Out... Woof! 

Life is Beautiful!

2011 has been fairly a good year for me. The year started with Fa and I hanging out at a New Year's party. She always brings excitement in my life and we both felt the comfort that we are not alone and we had each other. So many big milestones have been met this year. I bought a place! Our annual dance recital at Long Center (what more can I ask) turned out great! The big news is I turned 30! I thought it was just a number, but no, I had moments where I wasn't comfortable. But I turned out fine and I’m still fit and maybe little smarter than before:-) I was glad to hear my dance teacher (Anu akka) turned 50 and her dad turned 80. It means this is a perfect year to turn something!J

I had one heart break very early in the year but it feels so unimportant now. I think what keeps me going is that life is beautiful in many ways. I made some great friends this year (Dora and Stewie), some friendships gotten stronger (Garfield). We had a great Halloween party! I explored Japan. India trip was also fruitful. I visited the Sankuratri Foundation (if you are curious, Wiki this) and met the man behind it. I'm posting some pictures from the school. Even career wise, I could say I advanced a little. I got my promotion which was long due and now they are getting me up to doing more complex designs. Even if the company is not in the best shape and my team hasn’t been the best place, I believe I have an opportunity here to grow and I hope the first half of 2012 will teach me something.

Finally I want to thank my three friends here who made this journey (2011) fun and exciting. The holiday season is the right time to reflect back on old memories and know how much we have grown, wiser and hopefully healthier and stronger. As Green Lantern concludes, fear is not a bad thing, you just have to stand up to it. One thing is very clear to me in life now, focus on the right things, that includes moving on from the past and making the right choices, you’ll be given what you want. As Alchemist says, the universe is conspiring to help you get there, you just have to believe in itJ (thanks Garfield).

Yours Truly,
Ender

Two weeks to go

Ah 2011!  You were my first year of keeping resolutions (okay, some of them at least). And looking back I like the ones I kept. So lets reflect on the ones I kept. This year I wanted to learn something new, for me this was meant to be pottery. I love it! I love going in with a set intention to my pottery studio and coming out with completely different accomplishments. Pottery - has been the best experience of 2011. I wanted to travel somewhere new - Germany, Austria, Key West (FL) all were new and super fun. I wanted to change jobs. Sorta accomplished by moving to a new role! 

Of course I have tons of resolutions that were not accomplished but that's a part of the tradition of making and breaking resolutions. So lets not focus on that!

2011 you were a good year but lets make room for 2012 and new dreams and aspirations. 

Garfield

'Tis the season

I love the holidays. I love every day from Thanksgiving to New Year's day. I love that the whole city starts lighting up like a jewelry box on display through this month. The lights really do light up my heart! I love that the spirit of this season is to give and be thankful. I have a lot to be thankful for this year- especially a healthy, happy family. I also love that this is the season of forgiveness. I have resolved to end some petty anger that I have been harboring against certain people. Just making that resolution was so liberating. I hope everyone of you has such a rewarding experience this holiday season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dora... Out... Woof!

Carpe Diem Baby

I am starting to think this is my personal blog rather than a group blog. Either that or everyone else has a life and stuff to do and the best thing I have going on is this blog. However that may be, I just had the most amazing day and I simply have to share it with the world.

Today I attended the "Get Motivated" seminar series at the Austin Convention Center. The event started at 8AM. My friend and I left home at 7:20AM but we got stuck in traffic and circled around a bit trying to find parking so we didn't make it into the hall until 8:40AM. 

The first speaker we heard was Mr.Krish Dhanam. Mr. Dhanam is a trained sales person and a professional motivational speaker. My favorite line from his speech was "Political correctness will be the death of this nation" - the nation in question being America. I also loved his introduction- "I am an Indian by birth and an American by choice". Captures the essence of his mindset very nicely. Suffice to say- he started the day with quite a bang for me. I was captivated.

The next two headliners to speak were Generals Colin Powell and Stanley McChrystal. Mr. McChrystal was interesting and of course he has quite a presence but I do not remember much from his speech. Mr. Powell on the other hand was an impressive speaker. He focused on leadership and his best line for me was "A leader focuses on his follower-ship". Another poignant part of his speech was when he described the mental tribulation that accompanies a step down from power. I had never given much thought to the day after the  Presidential swearing in ceremony. The President and his cabinet are now just common people where they had been the leaders of the free world the night before. Imagine the attitude adjustment that transition demands!

After a lunch break, we got to hear from my top three speakers of the day. First up was Mary Lou Retton. Her speech was preceded by a quick video showing the moments leading up to the first non-eastern European and first American all-around Olympic Gold in gymnastics. I think I would've been hard pressed to find anyone in that room who did not have goose-bumps after watching that video. Ms. Retton's story was just dripping with inspiration. A perfect underdog tale that was delivered with so much passion, I was all choked up when she left the stage. She was followed by the legendary Bill Cosby. Mr.Cosby's theme was Do It. He essentially elaborated on the theme that God helps those who help themselves- the catch being that we must be willing to *do* something other than whining and/or praying. It was funny and absolutely riveting. My list of favorites was rounded up by football coach extraordinaire- Lou Holtz. In terms of delivery and content combined, Mr. Holtz was the leader of the pack today. He spoke about success and what it takes to get to a state of being successful. His simple three point formula- Do the right thing, give your best to everything you do and show people you care- resonated so much with me. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to hear him present it.

The last two headline speakers were Rudy Guiliani and Mary Buffet. Mr. Guiliani's speech was well thought out and well presented. Ms. Buffet's presentation was the most canned of them all but she had words of investing wisdom to share from her famous mentor, Warren Buffet himself.  The only speaker we missed was the former President and CEO of Southwest Airlines- Howard Putnam. 

All in all- a day well spent and truly motivating. I will be back soon with what this day meant to me. I have to rush now to prepare for a work meeting.

Until then- stay inspired...

Dora.. Out.. Woof.

Scientia Potestas est

Today I decided to figure out how to make our blog popular. All that means to me is this: one- receive comments on our posts from someone who is not one of the shady friends and two- get more followers (should be easy considering we have one follower- and that is us!). Let me start by saying that I have nothing more to add on this topic. The rest of this posting is about me- as always!

In my quest to make our blog more popular, I went to Salon.com to check out the blogs posted there. I was hoping to get some quick tips. Why Salon.com? Because in this movie I saw last weekend- Julie&Julia- the title character writes about her cooking challenge in a Salon.com blog and obviously- that worked out for her- since I saw the movie! So I go to the site and get distracted. I start reading a posting in their "Dear Cary" column titled "I chase unavailable men". I mean- that title resonated with me so much- I couldn't help myself. The answer from Cary was rather vague and uninteresting to me but the comments were more enlightening. 

One of the commenters said that she had been there herself. She chased men she could not have until she realized one day that she had really been chasing her need for more attention and love from her emotionally distant mother. Her advice to the writer was to figure out what she was lacking from whom and to make her peace with that situation. It didn't take me long to figure out that I am still hurting from my break-up. After all, I spent the last two years chasing the love and attention of the man I was already in love with. The reality was that the first couple of years were spent in a state of uncertainty as well. Just as I had started to get used to being in a secure, committed relationship, the drama started all over again. I am surprised I even want to have another man in my life. This cynicism has been my security blanket and it has served me well. If knowing is half the battle, then I have made some progress today. I want validation from someone else whom I cannot have. Of course, this is not news to me. I recognized this issue within months of the break-up, but if you had asked me this morning, I would have been so sure that I had healed. Apparently, I am going to have to work on that again.

The other comment that hit home was one that talked about the writer's experience with this guy she had met through work. She had felt a connection with him but had later learnt that he was unavailable for whatever reason. But she was persistent- the next time she met him- she started scoping him out again. So the commenter called her out on her stalker-ish behavior and sympathized with the man. Oh boy, have I been there! And it just makes me feel so small, I want to crawl under the bed and stay there forever. I hope I learn from this awful mea culpa! Note to self: when someone says no- just say good luck and walk away. The world does work in black and white when it comes to the things that matter.

To my anonymous reader: If you have something to say: please leave a comment.

Dora... Out... Woof