"Life is but an empty dream"
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
minor twaddle
We are great pressimists at heart. The pessimism is hard to evoke, though.
We are great pessimists to things we feel make us. When we look inside ourselves, there is a premonition of loss. That is the fear that drives us to latch onto something even more, even if it would mean working harder to keep it. To the audience, that makes us an 'optimist' - opti.mist: A mist of optimism. True optimism is when somebody can be in complete abandon and still feel that everything will be in order. In a way it leads to having an affirmation in others; in their faculties which will work alongside without hurting yours. It facilitates collaboration.
Pessimism leads to great men. Optimism leads to great societies.
We are great pessimists to things we feel make us. When we look inside ourselves, there is a premonition of loss. That is the fear that drives us to latch onto something even more, even if it would mean working harder to keep it. To the audience, that makes us an 'optimist' - opti.mist: A mist of optimism. True optimism is when somebody can be in complete abandon and still feel that everything will be in order. In a way it leads to having an affirmation in others; in their faculties which will work alongside without hurting yours. It facilitates collaboration.
Pessimism leads to great men. Optimism leads to great societies.
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sleep-Wake. Wake-Sleep.
Inverting the second half of my already-inverted daily cycle gave positive results. It essentially involves sleeping before being up for long hours, rather than being up for long hours before sleep. The whole event takes place nocturnally, the habit of which comes naturally to two people: today's youth who compensate for the banality of day, and the classic geek who scorns at the 'evil star' (sun) and prefers to spend time indoors and asleep.
The inversion was a surprise discovery, thanks to greater consumption of rajmah /beans (mediocre in preparation, but heavy nonetheless) and 'langda' variety of mangoes. The heaviness that arose was akin to a time warp. Details of the previous night remain sketchy - all I can recall is barely managing to store the leftovers in the fridge, and dumping myself on the bed to feel the agony of contention. I was watching something alongside my dinner, which I have lost track of. I was listening to Goldfrapp, no impression of which survives.
Waking up was a psychedelic experience. As my eyes struggled to open sometime in the night, I could see a glow emanating from where I lay, straight up. The ceiling is a featureless surface, so that faintest of lights gave my room the dimensions of space. I locked my eyes in a stare until it receded and involuntarily went back to sleep, only to wake up and find it there - again. The sleep took retreat slowly, and so did the dimensions of space. Turned out that glow was the backlight of my iPod. What tripped it repeatedly was my belly rubbing against the player as I rolled around.
And the slumber got me to blog after some gap. Good.
The inversion was a surprise discovery, thanks to greater consumption of rajmah /beans (mediocre in preparation, but heavy nonetheless) and 'langda' variety of mangoes. The heaviness that arose was akin to a time warp. Details of the previous night remain sketchy - all I can recall is barely managing to store the leftovers in the fridge, and dumping myself on the bed to feel the agony of contention. I was watching something alongside my dinner, which I have lost track of. I was listening to Goldfrapp, no impression of which survives.
Waking up was a psychedelic experience. As my eyes struggled to open sometime in the night, I could see a glow emanating from where I lay, straight up. The ceiling is a featureless surface, so that faintest of lights gave my room the dimensions of space. I locked my eyes in a stare until it receded and involuntarily went back to sleep, only to wake up and find it there - again. The sleep took retreat slowly, and so did the dimensions of space. Turned out that glow was the backlight of my iPod. What tripped it repeatedly was my belly rubbing against the player as I rolled around.
And the slumber got me to blog after some gap. Good.
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Distinguishing between Pines, Fir and Spruce
What is the difference between pine, fir, spruce? Here's a condensed way to see it (in theory). Try to register and link things at some pace.
At the beginning of time
Everything with pointy, evergreen leaves was labeled "Fir".
Prussia (that historical region in Central Europe that now stands divided) was famous for its fir. It was called "Prussian Fir".
"Pruce" became a contemporary term for Prussia. "Spruce" came as an alternative form of Pruce.
"Prussian Fir" now came to be referred to "Spruce Fir", or "Spruce" in short. Just a kind of fir from Northern Europe.
Alongside
"Pinus" was a Latin term for the fir trees of their region.
The English who got a hard-on from Latin adopted Pinus (as "Pine"). So now there was a distinction between fir (rugged, northern kind) and pines (thin, but more solid kind).
And then...
Then came scientific classification, and everything was taken under the "Conifer" umbrella. It included cypress, firs, pines, spruces among others. Basically anything with needle-like leaves and a resinous wood.
Scientific classification further included conifers, alongwith larches, hemlocks, cedars under the "Pinaceae" umbrella.
Currently
Now, the original pines are the genus 'pinus' species in the Pinaceae family. Clustered needles that have a sort of cuticle or “sheath” at the base.
The firs, which initially included everything, now came under the genus 'Abies'. Needles are flat, do not come in bunches and grow straight out of the branch without a stem.
Spruce came under genus 'Picea'. They were differentiated from the regular firs (Abies), in that their needles have a rectangular cross-section.
So...
Pinaceae >> Conifer > Pines (Pinus) && Firs (Abies) && Spruce (Picea)
Yesss, brain dead!
At the beginning of time
Everything with pointy, evergreen leaves was labeled "Fir".
Prussia (that historical region in Central Europe that now stands divided) was famous for its fir. It was called "Prussian Fir".
"Pruce" became a contemporary term for Prussia. "Spruce" came as an alternative form of Pruce.
"Prussian Fir" now came to be referred to "Spruce Fir", or "Spruce" in short. Just a kind of fir from Northern Europe.
Alongside
"Pinus" was a Latin term for the fir trees of their region.
The English who got a hard-on from Latin adopted Pinus (as "Pine"). So now there was a distinction between fir (rugged, northern kind) and pines (thin, but more solid kind).
And then...
Then came scientific classification, and everything was taken under the "Conifer" umbrella. It included cypress, firs, pines, spruces among others. Basically anything with needle-like leaves and a resinous wood.
Scientific classification further included conifers, alongwith larches, hemlocks, cedars under the "Pinaceae" umbrella.
Currently
Now, the original pines are the genus 'pinus' species in the Pinaceae family. Clustered needles that have a sort of cuticle or “sheath” at the base.
The firs, which initially included everything, now came under the genus 'Abies'. Needles are flat, do not come in bunches and grow straight out of the branch without a stem.
Spruce came under genus 'Picea'. They were differentiated from the regular firs (Abies), in that their needles have a rectangular cross-section.
So...
Pinaceae >> Conifer > Pines (Pinus) && Firs (Abies) && Spruce (Picea)
Yesss, brain dead!
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Monday, July 07, 2008
Grandeur of Kedarnath, now visible to all
The Kedarnath (and Hardwar and Rishikesh) trip image galleries are out there! Me and my college classmates undertook this trip in May of 2008, right after our exams were wrapped up with. Hardwar and Rishikesh came first on our map, then Shivpuri for adventure camp + rafting, then to Gaurikund and finally trekking up to the Kedar. The days didn't go without adventure (and stomach upsets). Some left midway, some joined midway and we thinned out from 7 in Rishikesh (6 in Hardwar) to 4 in Kedarnath (Anikesh, Deepanjan, Piyush, me).Here is some link fodder:
* Kedarnath-Rishikesh-Hardwar :: trip briefing
* Moi Image Gallery
* Anikesh's Image Gallery
Spent some time adding a file module (to the website) to share any useful resources like docs, links, maps, pdf, etc. Expect some activity in that corner soon (even for the Leh and, maybe, Gethia).
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Washed away
The Yamuna, that nullah that i last remember it as, is back to being a river now. It's as odd as the resurgence of hair on a bald person. The pontoon bridges lie reduntant. Any businesses near its banks - like the juice vendors and farmers - have displaced. The banks lie desolate, but beautiful. Now that the water levels have risen and the banks are closer, I walk upto the edge, right where the land ends. I assume that the edge won't erode and continue to act sophisticated. An odd fisherman or two are the only population around, if you ignore counting in the migratory cranes that decided to break their journey for a couple of days. The water is muddy brown - which is a welcome change from the earlier shade of evil black. Countless eddies churn the waters, but to no effect. For the first time it seems that the river has the potential to support life. And I also come across things that suggests the river's affiliations to the end of life. There are tiny earthen pots lying around, which MUST be containing ashes of the dead. It is confirmed when I spot hollowed, brittle bones around one of the pots that lies smashed. The rest must have been washed away in the agressive currents The water levels are conspicuously higher.
She flows with great intensity, thanks to the torrential showers. The monsoons haven't arrived yet, I'm told. If that is so, then I can foresee the great Delhi floods of '08.
Once the rain clouds go away, Yamuna would be back to 'black greasy smelly chemicals' mode it was earlier in. I shouldn't mind - the pontoon bridge would be up again, and the sugarcane juice vendors would come back to its banks and ring cute little bells to attract their customer for another glass of refreshing juice. Blue bulls - currently living deep in the forests nearby - would move outwards, where I can see them grazing once again. But the greatest delight once it's back to being so is that I get to reminisce; reminisce over each and every artefact that ties to my memories.
The scenes today would make for reminiscence the next year. Fruition period.
She flows with great intensity, thanks to the torrential showers. The monsoons haven't arrived yet, I'm told. If that is so, then I can foresee the great Delhi floods of '08.
Once the rain clouds go away, Yamuna would be back to 'black greasy smelly chemicals' mode it was earlier in. I shouldn't mind - the pontoon bridge would be up again, and the sugarcane juice vendors would come back to its banks and ring cute little bells to attract their customer for another glass of refreshing juice. Blue bulls - currently living deep in the forests nearby - would move outwards, where I can see them grazing once again. But the greatest delight once it's back to being so is that I get to reminisce; reminisce over each and every artefact that ties to my memories.
The scenes today would make for reminiscence the next year. Fruition period.
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Friday, July 04, 2008
days of insignificance
Have forgot the spelling of 'address'. I always end up spelling it 'Adress' then end up wondering as to why. And the i's are turning up as y's. Maybe I'm looking for shortcuts. So 'happiness' is now 'hapynes' and 'feel' is 'fel' - don't fel much hapynes over anythyng, its boryng these days. Am I descending 400 years back into archaic english?
Stuck in a mental block over exg. Now that I've begun with it, I don't feel like working on anything else. Adding new things, fixing up stuff and revamping it altogether occupy premium thought space. I did put my Kedarnath trip online, but waiting for Anikesh to contribute his pics, so that people have more to see this time. Will announce it when that's done. Hopefully today itself.
Busy weaving a cocoon I shall soon recede into, unless there's some collaborative action around.
Stuck in a mental block over exg. Now that I've begun with it, I don't feel like working on anything else. Adding new things, fixing up stuff and revamping it altogether occupy premium thought space. I did put my Kedarnath trip online, but waiting for Anikesh to contribute his pics, so that people have more to see this time. Will announce it when that's done. Hopefully today itself.
Busy weaving a cocoon I shall soon recede into, unless there's some collaborative action around.
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
retailmenot
retailmenot is the best thing I've come across online this year in terms of making visible something that was always there. We all want bargains wherever available, and its generally something you discover yourselves or through a well-wishing friend. People feel very smart when they get more from a deal than the ignorant joe next door. Picking on that concept, the company behind bypass registrations - bugmenot - came up with the idea for retialmenot: aggregate the bargains at a single destination and build communities that share more and add to the website. The consumer should be able to squeeze out the most from the market juice.
The site looks slick and the homepage makes one feel rewarded to have discovered it. To build their community and keep it in the forwards direction, there are incentives to those who contribute.
Just searched techcrunch, and found this about retailmenot. Seems that they were pulling big numbers/cash back in March, so I can only double that, considering the rate at which it has been growing.
Sad thing is that the concept is lacking in India - that of referrals and coupon savings. I'll have to wait.
The site looks slick and the homepage makes one feel rewarded to have discovered it. To build their community and keep it in the forwards direction, there are incentives to those who contribute.
Just searched techcrunch, and found this about retailmenot. Seems that they were pulling big numbers/cash back in March, so I can only double that, considering the rate at which it has been growing.
Sad thing is that the concept is lacking in India - that of referrals and coupon savings. I'll have to wait.
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
