Possible Vacation Dates for 2006

I don't want to keep checking the calendar. I can never remember when all I can possibly take off. This might come in handy for checking flight deals. Here it is:

February:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28

May:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

July:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

September:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

November:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

December:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Thisss Weekendsss

Nothing much for this weekend except for hosting a dinner on Sunday and attending a western classical concert on the same day. Not much is planned for tomorrow. My wife wants to visit the temple in LA. I haven't thought much about it. I'll probably do some work too. This week has been busy. Today is Bhoghi, a south Indian festival, dedicated to farmers. People burn some of their old stuff and make way for new. Tomorrow is Pongal, another big Tamil festival dedicated to the farmers. In fact, to my knowledge, only the Brahmin community attaches more importance to Deepavali than Pongal. For the rest, it is Pongal that is the cause for major celebration.

In Thalapathy, baby Rajni is thrown off the train on a Bhogi day - he later says in the movie that his mother discarded him along with other old stuff :)

In villages, kids go around the place on bullock carts to celebrate this festival. Kids also go around drumming this small percussion instrument (I am ashamed - I forgot what it is). I just used to do this on the steel plates at home just to annoy my mother. They make pongal, (basic ingredient is rice) and see which side the rice boils. The direction in which it overflows from the pot is supposed to signify something (like east is good, etc). Sugarcane is a big celebrity around this time, with all the city people squeezing the juice out of it and spitting out the dry fibre, which later attracts multiple flies and mosquitoes. People used to say that biting this sugarcane stuff and eating it makes your teeth stronger. I wonder how that is possible 'cause sugarcane has one of the worst enemies of the teeth - Sugar! And not to mention the multiple TV programs on all the cable channels. Usually, a lot of movies are also released on this day every year. In fact, during production, they set deadlines to release the movie in every major festival.

The whole festival is dedicated to Sun God. People offer their food and thank Sun for giving them all the energy and resources that help the crops grow. It is harvesting time, after one long year of labor. Farmers are remembered. People paint their houses around this time and the whole atmosphere is very vibrant and colorful :) Pongal also marks the beginning of the Tamil month "Thai". There is a saying "Thai porandha vazhi porakkum", which means that a new way is born when this month is born (transliteration). As kids, we didn't get new clothes for Pongal. It was always for Deepavali. But then, my birthday kind of falls in this season, so I used to get something anyway :) In our particular culture and tradition, the women folk usually celebrate the day after Pongal and dedicate it to their brothers. Too bad if they don't have any. But brothers are supposed to feel special. Again too bad if the brothers don't have any sisters! Only women are supposed to dedicate it to their male siblings. My mother usually make chips from this vegetable (I forgot what it is). It would taste very good. She also makes this "mango pachidi" on this particular day.

Things have changed now. I don't even remember whether I celebrated Pongal even once after I came here. May be during that one India trip, I must have come back after staying for Pongal. I remember not staying their for my birthday though. Well well. Time flies. Of course!

Hindsights by Guy Kawasaki

I came across this one and couldn't help but posting it here. Here are the top ten hindsights Guy Kawasaki has to offer:

10: Live off your parents as long as possible.
9: Pursue joy, not happiness.
8: Challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
7: Learn to speak a foreign language, play a musical instrument, and play non-contact sports.
6: Continue to learn.
5: Learn to like yourself or change yourself until you can like yourself. #4: Don't get married too soon.
3: Play to win and win to play.
2: Obey the absolutes.
1: Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone.

He is fifty years old and he has so much belief in these things, and on top of it, he is a very successful man. I guess I just to follow his words.

The Kind of Blogger I am ....

Your Blogging Type is Kind and Harmonious

You're an approachable blogger who tends to have many online friends. People new to your blogging circle know they can count on you for support. You tend to mediate fighting and drama. You set a cooperative tone. You have a great eye for design - and your blog tends to be the best looking on the block!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Do Evil and Evil soon follows!

I don't know what to feel for this guy - this is a clear example of Karma, only he was punished instantly. He threw a mouse on fire and it set his house ablaze! What do you think of this story? This story seems to have been so popular this week that it appeared in BBC's weekly news quiz. I failed in this particular question just 'cause I didn't think it was a possibility!