Sepia Mutiny

Sigh, couldn't the SM'ers have just told us they wanted a day off? I'm sure we would have obliged. But a whole day of no Sepia Mutiny is just wrong! We can't even comment on the same post 50 times because there's no new posts! It's like having your instant messenger not working.

I was expecting an April Fools day joke, a la last year's prank. But I wish this one was more exciting and had me rethinking myself. But, alas, it was obvious in about 1.3 seconds. Some of the funny parts:

*The Happy Hippie font is the same as used for SM
*There is a link to a temporary SM blog on the home page of this "hacked" site =)
*Way too many mango and exoticism references
*The tiny little smiley face at the bottom left of the wordpress SM blog
*The whois database clearly says that this domain was registered in August 2004 and expires in August 2006 - hence not possible for Manish to have forggoten to renew.

Oh, why am I wasting my time analyzing this? I guess I'm bored =)

Anyways, Bring SM Back you pranking mutineers =)

Sausalito Pics

A couple pictures from my trip to Cali - specifically from Sausalito, one of my favorite chill places.

My sister, my mom and me

















My future house overlooking the water






























No glue required!















I'm a dork, I know

Crash

So I saw Crash last weekend - the Oscar winning movie. Definitely not my normal type of movie. Usually when I want to devote 2+ hours of my night to a flick, I want it to be funny and lighthearted. I stay away from movies that are too serious unless I'm really in the mood. I had horrible dreams after watching Crash - but this is coming from someone who hasn't seen a scary movie since Sixth Sense (I saw dead people in my room for a month).

Anyways, I really thought the movie was done well. Normally when there's so many characters and plot lines in a movie, it really doesn't work and you don't remember who's who.

The ending was depressing, as expected. But the irony of the movie is what made it so enjoyable. It kept you on the edge of your seat throughout, because you had no idea what would happen or which character would run into another, and how. I don't think I've ever heard my husband say the word "Fuck" so many times. The movie just gets your emotions so riled up. I can't talk about it too much without ruining it for someone, so go watch it.

I'm really glad this movie won the Oscar instead of Brokeback Mountain (Disclaimer: I haven't seen BM yet). It's a good feeling knowing that a movie based on racism climbed to the #1 spot and so many people saw it. I hope it opens the eyes of some people. I guess I'm more passionate about this because I've seen firsthand what the result of ignorance is when the Sikh community becomes the victim. Anyways, I hope at least a few people will think twice before they act out of prejudice.

And, to end this on a lighter note - Bahar Soomekh is hot - or at least she was at the Oscars.

Inside Man

So hubby and I had date night last Friday. There's this Italian restaurant I always see so we decided to try it. It's our new favorite local restaurant! The place is gorgeous, live piano player/singer, great bread, great food, great service. We were very happy campers.

We also went to the new theatre at our local mall - they're completely renovating and the theatre is brand new. It was gorgeous! Tons of food in the theatre, and not only did they have the typical arcade, they had a section with leather chairs and magazines for old fogies like us. They also have two Director's Halls with extra-wide leather seats and food service (for $3 more per ticket). We're definitely going to check that out the next movie we see.

Anyways, we saw Inside Man (the new Spike Lee movie). Hubby really wanted to see it and I heard Waris Ahluwalia was in it so I wanted to see it even more. It's so refreshing to see a sardar in a real American movie. I think the dialogue he got was great and he acted it out perfectly. They got the message across without it sounding like a lecture. When he first came out and the NYPD called him an Arab and knocked off his turban, half the theatre was laughing and I heard "Yeah, get him!" It really made me realize I live in CT now, not California. That's why I was relieved he had a second scene where he actually got to talk. But it was definitely disturbing to hear the audience reaction.

So now what really gets to me is that American movies can find real sardars to play the role of a sardar. Seems simple, right? Yet Indian movies, in a country that has the largest Sikh population, cannot find a real sardar to play a sardar. It disgusts me to see sloppy turbans on guys with their cut hair sticking out - or worse the goofy bandanas over what appears to be an onion atop a guy's head. And I know there's Sikhs out there who want to, and can, act so it's not a matter of finding them. Indian movies just don't give a shit about represeting this minority group properly, even though Americans can find this tiny little group and represent it accurately.

obsessed i am

ok, i think this one picture sums up my obsession with aishwarya rai.

what's up

Sigh, back in CT I am. Blah. I had a blast in California, and, as usual it was too short of a trip. Usually I'm out there working during the day, hanging out in the evening and not horribly sad about leaving because I miss my hubby. But this time hubby joined me for the second half of the trip and that just made it HORRIBLE to leave. It was like reliving our dating days .. cruising around and exploring different places. Sigh. But i got to see my niece and nephew and that always makes me smile. But I still miss cali =(

Vacation Plans! I'm choosing between Belize, Venezuela and Chile. American Airlines has a reduced miles award program thing - and it's too good to pass up and these are our choices. I still need to start researching but let me know if you've heard anything.

Meanwhile I need to get back to work because I'm swamped and need to go deal with more people who don't realize anything (ok, sorry, trying to vent my frustration without going into details).

IWS March

Hey guys

Some new articles on IndianWeddingSite.com you might want to check out.

*Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdev - Wedding of the Year

*Out of Town Guests at Indian Weddings

*Fashion Advice

I've had dinner with some of my favorite girls this week and it's such a great feeling! Living in the boonies of CT has really made me appreciate this time I have with them. Socializing was so easy in college - I went to class, hung out with friends, ate with friends, went to class, did some more hanging out etc etc. We had Thursday night Friends nights that could never be missed. And, oh the bhangra practices. My life wouldn't have been the same without bhangra in college.

Anyways, it was so easy back then and I'm sure I took it for granted ... rushed into married life thinking that would stabilize the drama college life brings. Sure, there's no drama but there's a whole lot less fun along with it!

I guess going out every month or two and reminiscing about college is a good thing - but then inevitably we have to discuss how we don't know what's going to happen in life and how important it is to have things squared away and planned.

Why can't college be a recurring thing? Go to college, graduate, enter the real world, then go back to college and repeat =) That would be a great balance!

Updates etc

So my mom and sister were over on the east this weekend. The weather was great ... as compared to current California weather =) Haha, how many chances will I ever have to make that statement? Well, my husband has made it about 300 times now which should be no surprise. It actually snowed in San Jose! Dad said it came down and disappeared within 10 minutes though. That's insane.

We went to Canal Street and they got some fake Coach and Burberry purses. I love the little earrings and hair trinkets too so I got some of those. And of course, my mom had to buy at least 10 shawls because she can't go on a trip without doing that.

We also saw Rang De Basanti .. mom didn't care for it and I was bored. I mean, the message was great and all but I just thought the movie dragged on way too long. And far too much blood .. not my kind of movie. Give me a message but I can do without the melodramatic bloody scenes and mothers in comas. I can handle bloody gore in american movies, but not indian. My poor mom had no idea that's what the movie was about and went in thinking it would be fun and games and riding on horses while singing haha. I guess I should have let her know =)

I'm in California right now with a packed schedule so I'm not going to get to see very many people =( Having dinner with my best buddy tonight and dinner with the girls tomorrow night. Friday hubby is flying in and we're going straight to In n Out =) Then we fly back together on Tuesday. Yay for Cali!

Let's just hope the weather is good this weekend so I don't have to hear about the great east coast weather from my husband again =)

Sunset in Bora Bora

I took these pictures of the sunset on Matira Beach in front of our hotel in Bora Bora on our honeymoon. I've always wanted to print them out. Now I'm thinking of finally ordering some large prints and framing them as decoration in our basement family room. But I'm just scared about the quality of ordering large prints from KodakGallery. Maybe I should find the original, high resolution images and take those somewhere to get printed.

Oh, and I just thought this blog needed to be broken up with some images =)































I also love these shots, though not for framing:

Change of Plans

Sigh. No more Thailand plans for spring. It seems like spring is a horrible time to go weather-wise so hubby is against it. He wants to go in November when the weather is supposed to be better. That's so far away! So I made him promise me a vacation before then.

I also made him sign a contract (scribbled on the last page of my planner which I don't use) saying that he'll take me to Thailand and a Europeanish destination this year, apart from any other mini trips because he loves me. HA! He signed it. And now I have double proof with this blog in case that page disappears =)

I spent the evening cleaning for my mom and sister - then realized that I lived with them long enough that they know I'm not a neat freak =) Lol. I'll do some more last minute cleaning tomorrow but then I'm done.

I took my niece to painting class today. That was .. interesting. I was happy to see that there was a kid there brattier than her =) But I was sad to see her bullying around some little boy - actually it was kinda funny - but I still got mad at her and set her straight =) I love my munchkin.

It's funny how much she desires to be just like me. She has a keyboard to type on when I'm on my laptop. She sits and walks like me. She folds her hands/arms like me. She loves matching her clothes and accesories to mine. This girl is only 3! It's cute that she admires me but sometimes it's hard being her favorite friend =)

Right now she calls me and hubby by our first names .. I'm trying to get her to attach "mami" to my name and she's slowly picking up on it. When she was little she couldn't say Sonia so she calls me "So-ee" and I love how unique it is so I made sure she kept calling me that. Hubby wants her to keep using his first name and does not understand how that's going to be awkward when we have kids. Oh well.

Ok almost midnight, I should sleep. Adios.

Thailand?

Ok thanks for your advice on my previous vacation post =)

Hubby and I were thinking about it and we really want to do a vacation that you wouldn't easily be able to do with family - I think NZ and Australia would both be good family trips and aren't too extreme. So we're thinking Thailand. The beaches are supposed to be beautiful, Bangkok has lots of cheap shopping, my husband was born there, we love thai food, it's my dad's favorite getaway - why not!

I'm doing research though and it seems that April is very hot in Bangkok. So that may pose a problem. But looking at these pictures is crazy. And prices in Phuket (beach area) for hotels are great - looking up that Leonardo movie right now that was filmed on a beach in Thailand (I believe). Ok off to do more research - let me know if you've heard anything!

New Colors

I got sick of my old blog template - way too gray and nothing like me. Green has always been my favorite color so I thought I'd bring that in =) A little more cheerful around here I think.

I need to decide on a vacation destination. I want to do a sightseeing/exploring trip since our last one was a sit-on-the-beach trip. There's Australia - where hubby wants to go. There's Greece - which hubby doesn't think will be too interesting. There's Morocco - but I don't know what we'd eat there because I'm assuming the meat will be halal. There's New Zealand - but I haven't done enough research on it. Hmm. I'm lost and not in the mood to do so much research but I need to decide soon.

Oh wait, I need to book flights to CA next week first. I'm such a procrastinator.

My mom and sister are coming to visit this weekend!! Yay!

Google Ads

You know what I really hate sometimes ... Google Ads.

I hate going to a website that is solely created for Google. The home page stretches down like 10 feet and is full of keywords with no real message coming across. The left, right, top and bottom of the page is covered in Google Ads. The footer on every page is full of keywords and links.

I mean, come on people. Do you really want to ruin the look and feel of your entire website so Google will like you. Hell, I'd love for Google to love me, but I'm not going to to turn IWS into a Google machine. I wonder if soon every site will be the same and all you'll really see are keywords and Google ads.

How am I supposed to compete with these idiots without selling out?!?

Welcome Back!

Yay, everyone's back from India! My best friend is back and now I have my regular person to talk to everyday. Wow, I forgot how much I missed complaining about life =) And my in-laws are back and I have 9 new suits and a bunch of accessories (including cute shoes!). I'm a happy camper. Now if only I had room to house all of this stuff.