One Hundred and Twenty, Giggly

We think a little sip* of the EtOH took over and enforced giggliness upon the young one. She still maintains that it was the goofy evening of playing Swap and Egyptian Rat Screw that brought it on, but the Engineer and I know better [sagely nods all around]. After consulting with the Engineer's All-knowing oracular Spirit, we found the opportune time to go to bed. Good thing I never asked it when I had to go to bed! Here I be away from it all and having a great time with these folks. Others are missed, but I'm taking it all in down here while I can. All too soon, the great sojourn back home will begin. Until then, adieu!

*mixed into a smoothie forsooth

One Hundred and Nineteen, Abandoned?

We just wanted some grub before we began the second long driving leg of our trip. So we headed out towards a plantation outside of New Orleans. Arriving at the exit, we drove around looking for a local place to eat at. So we come upon a local restaurant sign and follow it back down a windy driveway with other residential driveways branching off. If I had to live there it would be neat but as a visitor, weaving between the wide, shady Louisianian oak trees was a little creepy. We reach the end of the drive at a gravel parking lot and an open door next to the restaurant's sign. We glance at each other, take a deep breath, and step out of the car. As we approach, there is no sign of life other than the open, dark doorway. We reach the door and step inside expecting a quiet place preparing for their lunch crowd. A large open floor greets us. Chairs are stacked up on the left, some tables are up against a wall on the right, and the air of disuse assails us. Light filters in from wall of windows on the right showing us the dusty air and the lack of any human being. Again, we glance at each other and simultaneously back through the door. As we reach the car and I drive out, we muse how we would not have been surprised if zombies began shambling out of the back doorways into the main room coming after us, "Brains....Brains..."

We drove away quickly, glad that we had escaped the grasp of the undead hooligans. Next on the adventure was going to be finding something vegetarian at Popeye's fast food joint!

One Hundred and Eighteen, Hittin' the Road!

Spring Break is here! I'm on the road with A Kid...[*sniff*]. Posts sparser than ever!

One Hundred and Seventeen, Midnight Puja!

I've been to a decent number of Catholic Masses in my life (my best friends growing up were all Catholic) and I noticed some similarities in midnight celebrations. Depending on which calendar you look at, either March 5th or 6th is Shivratri. That and Janmashtami are the big nighttime celebrations for me in my faith. Both religions have their intricate rituals. Both tend to have some aspect of explanation of the day or the hopes of the priests in how the night will change our patterns for the better. Everyone is rapt with the religious fervor that only comes about by being surrounded by hundreds (or in my case at midnight, tens) of people of like mind who are reveling in it to the same degree as yourself. I went with the intention of heading out after a couple hours. I stayed until 12:30 AM helping to clean up in the last 20 minutes. Even that was peaceful and enjoyable. To know that the work you do is benefiting your place of worship does make a difference in the quality of my work. The passion that is missing at home comes forth when there. I belt out the bhajans with the rest of them and if I happen to get off-key, I fix myself as best as I can without worrying that I'll bring apart the whole fabric that we've sewn together. Whether immigrants or natural citizens here in the US, our faith binds us in ways others might not get to experience.

One Hundred and Sixteen, An Inquisitive Gentleman Who Was

The beady eyes bore through the lenses into my eyes.

"So tell me what you do!"

I explained how I was in engineering school hoping to enter medicine.

"Medicine! Such a fine field! You should work hard to become a good doctor."

I sheepishly glance around the room letting it sit upon my second cousin once removed beseeching her to save me from this senile gentleman.

"So how do you plan to use your electrical engineering in medicine? Research on the electrical signals of the heart or brain? Or going more into imaging? There's plenty of money in imaging and radiotherapies! I know a couple companies that produce medical equipment and they're at the top of the markets these days!"

My head whips around quickly. Here was a man I'd never underestimate again. This man, a repository of knowledge stretching back 80-some years, kept going inquiring about specifics some which I'd know and others I would have to admit of having no knowledge. And it was all interesting! The intensity he used to speak to you made you aware that You mattered and your thoughts on his topics were of the utmost importance to him.

After seeing him back in 2000 and experiencing him for the first time, I began seeing him once each time I went back to India. 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005 -- I met him a total of four times. Yet we imprinted ourselves on each other. I always asked after his health whenever I would talk to my relatives there. And they'd let me know how he always inquired about "that nice boy who chatted with me the one time." We met four times yet for some reason we remembered each other and always asked after each other.

Yeah, it got to me too.
आवता जन्ममा मलीसू दादा।

One Hundred and Fifteen, Day Twenty-Nine

When was the last time you jumped? I still remember asking my dad this question once when I was in high school. He couldn't remember. I was saddened by this.

Here we encounter a day whose very name implies its action: leaping. I hope you had a chance to jump at least once today. Many people in the world either can't, or never think of it. Take a moment, prepare yourself, and jump.

I leaped 7 times today.

One Hundred and Fourteen, When Life Gives You Lemons...

Life's frustrations can be hard to bear at times.

My friends and I were preparing a trip to visit the Engineer down in Texas during Spring Break. Unfortunately, while we'll be down there, he'll be heavily involved with work likely staying there for twelve hour days. So, we make lemonade. We'll still go down and get to visit him (however briefly), his dog, and we'll have a place to use as a base of operations for wandering around his region of Texas. I'm also excited about a side-trip to New Orleans!

One Hundred and Thirteen, Dark Jedi Infestation?

A printer is a wonderful piece of equipment until it doesn't work right. Then it becomes Sith spawn.

~fin~

One Hundred and Twelve, A Bright Red Carnation

I almost missed it as I was walking along reading my fluff book on the way to the library. But the flash of color made me pause. I turned around but didn't see anything. Then as my gaze went back downwards to reconnect with the book, I glimpsed it. In the wintery gray world, its color made it stand out like a beacon. I bent down and picked it up. I imagined how it had gotten there looking so fresh. Was it late for a previous day this month? Or possibly a thank you to a visitor? Perhaps it was just a simple way for one person to say, "I love you," to another. These and more wonderful possibilities flashed through my head. I glanced up at others passing me but they didn't see it. They didn't know another human being was passing them by on their left. I didn't want to just leave it somewhere but I knew there was no purpose to me taking it home. That's when I espied a bench. It wasn't set on the pathway, rather a few feet back within a quagmire of mud. Balancing myself on a couple of thick sticks, I gently laid it down on the bench. Jumping back to the sediment-free (relatively) sidewalk, I looked over my handiwork, proud of what I'd done. I walked away a bit and then glanced back. There it was, the brilliant flash of color in the otherwise dreary world.

One Hundred and Eleven, Juno

"Doctors are sadists; who like to play God and watch lesser people scream."