26:365

25:365

what i've learned from this project is that i can't capture beauty as well as i intended. i'm just not skilled at it. and its kind of scary. it means that every time i gasp from true beauty (of the mountains, the sky, a flower, a friend, artwork, or life's pleasures) i gotta remember it. i can't always depend on my olympus digital camera. i have to use my brain. when i have a crappy day i need to remember the beautiful mountain range the day before or how the rain lingered on the grass. i'm not giving up-im going to continue, but honestly these pictures do not do justice for what i really see during my days. i apologize.

im giving my sister the camera for a couple days, so most pictures will be from the internet till next week.

ps. this project is hard, its hard for me to keep up with it, so there will be more massive updates like today, where a whole week or so will be updated withing 15 mins.

24:365

23:365

please read Ultrabrown

22:365

work holiday party-two of our good friends. had tons of fun. had lots of food. had lots of drinks.

21:365

20:365

19:365

13:365

I had made this wordle this weekend as a cover photo for my 365 album. this morning i stumbled over an article regarding wordles-and inaugurations! Someone took the words from yesterday's speech and made it into wordles and compared obama's wordle with bush, clinton, lincoln. kinda interesting, but not very accurate. wordle lets you shuffle around the word and each time u shuffle different words are emphasized. so this comparison is a complete fabrication, but interesting still. plus it gave me a chance to show off my wordle. strangely, i have quite a few similar words as obama's cloud.

i've started school again and so it is harder to stay up and post. i've been exhausted lately. however, it does give me a chance to see cooler things, since downtown is full of interesting people places and things.

i have an evaluation at work tomorrow. so i'm slightly nervous about that! so glad the week is almost over.

12:365

today was a beautiful day. historical day. hopeful day. i spent so much time trying to fix these pictures together, i dont have much time to write about it. i felt so proud to be american today. to be a non white american. i am so proud of obama, his family, everyone who was at the national mall, and of course us voters.
picture #1: my friend brought a tv to work! but we couldnt get reception... after much frustration we decided to watch the show on the spanish channel with the sound down and the radio up high. worked pretty well. #2 our office intently watching, left side are coworkers, right side are our patients! time almost stopped at 10 am this morning. #3 two great men, as one door closes another one opens.

please read one of my favorite bloggers' account of her day for the full inaugural summary. her writing is really good and she was very up close and personal.

11:365

I love this picture, I've cheated again and stole another wedding pic from someone. but forget the bride and the flowergirls, i loveee the love connection going on in the corner. I wish love was that simple. I wish it wasnt associated with so many labels, ceremonies, or so many complicated emotions. i just wish it was simple friendship. pleasure.
like these two, having the time of their life just giggling in the corner while this huge event is going on on their left. I love that they're telling secrets that we'll never know. I love that they look like a mini bride and groom. I love that the boy is looking straight at her-it shows some sense of honesty. I love how the girl is smirking... like she's beginning to feel all those emotions that corrupts friendship in the first place. too cute i tell ya.

10:365

i saw nothing cool today except this truck. reminded me of my name. im grumpy. so i have nothing to write either. today was just a boring day. we had an beautiful mass at church. i hung out with my cousin and a friend. i ate good food. i watched brothers and sisters. but nothing spectacular happened.

i'm in denial about a lot of things.

9:365 Baby Love

I thought this was cute! This kid is crazy funny and speaks malayalam like crazy. i wish i could get some tutoring services from him. nothing too exciting happened to me... weird.. nothing to write about. i sat in on a women's Bible study a few years ago, where all the moms' only concern were their children, and the kids' futures... and even their grandchildren. i thought it was the lamest thing ever. how can people be so self-less? how can all your concerns be focused on these little rascals that suck energy, time and effort out of you. they don't even listen to you. they don't ever appreciate you. but they are so so cute. and whenever i see a baby or a kiddo, i just want my own! lame lame. i find myself thinking about my kids.. and things i need to tell them about the world.. and my grandkids.. and how i want them to be successful. only a few years have passed and i've fallen in the trap too...

8:365

.... i'm a little hesitant to start this post. yes its about exercising. its about weight. its about... as oprah says... "falling off the wagon" (i had to throw that in there! its the phrase for 2009?)

but don't worry, its not a depressive post. I've actually been doing really good. Unknown to you I even have a blog just for my weight issues.

So yesterday I went to an actual facility to workout today. Usually I just run at home, so i was feeling very intimidated to go somewhere to do it. I am so overwhelmed by exercising somewhere where other people can see me... and judge me. So it is one of the fears I need to get over this year. Oprah calls this the "clean-before-the-maid-comes-and-judges-you" phenomenon. I want to work out at home and start looking good before I run around that lake in front of the whole neighborhood.

Anyhow the workout didn't go that great, I left the house too late, I spent most of my time getting used to the machines and I had already made plans right afterwards. Anyhow I think i will go back, at least once a week or so.

7:365 Yearbook Days

yearbook days

I have a beautiful bookcase full of classics, indian literature, adolescent lit, Bibles and prayer books, and tons of junk. Last night I couldn't sleep so I browsed my shelf and picked something that I havent look at for years: my senior year high school yearbook. Whoa. the memories were flowing like crazy. as a book, it wasnt the best yearbook i've seen but there were so many notes and remarks from friends i thought i couldn't live without and pictures of events we though were "so cool" and so important at that moment. I read through every farewell note from my friends and its funny to see where we have ended up. Most of my comments mentioned "med school" and "indian dancing" and "have a great summer." It should have been more like have a great life cuz a lot of them i havent seen since then. Funny how people say high school molds you into who you are, but it is only the beginning of what you really become. No, I didn't go to med school like I had dreamed.... but I work at a doctor's office? (give me some credit-i almost stuck to the goal!) I am so surprised how many people were inspired by my rants on indian culture and my dancing. Now that i think about it, i was such a nerd for doing lil mini dance shows in every class, but reading those comments made me realize how cool people thought it was. And no i dont dance as much anymore...but a lot of my characteristics started from those years, a lot of my morals and ethics were set at that age. sometimes i feel so stuck in high school though. maybe its because i still live here, right next to the school, right by our regular hang outs. maybe because unlike most students i really had fun in high school. highschool didn't just extend to the walls of our school for me, it was really a culture that extended into our neighborhoods, our mcdonalds, our libraries, every morning, every evening, weekdays and weekends-it was a lifestyle. i just have to learn how to live differently.

6:365 Wedding Bells

I dunno if these folks care that they are on my blog or not... but they are still in india so i cant ask! this is my cousin and her new husband-a picture from their reception in india. congrats to them! they are starting the domino effect of weddings in my immediate family. i'm gonna miss her so much cuz she is moving! but as much as i love her-im so tired of people telling me i'm next! i know already. u don't have to remind me. i know i'm moving. i know my wedding will be in india without my closest friends and family. BLAH.
i'm getting more and more nervous about this whole wedding extravaganza. everyone has so much advice and suggestions but... nothing is even planned yet. so stop telling me cuz when everything really starts happening i'm not gonna remember.
the only good advice i've gotten so far is: bring pillsbury frosting for the wedding cake cuz indian frosting is gross. (my sis is smart sometimes)

5:365

this is the reason i love driving to work every morning. my view is jaw dropping and i never get tired of it. the beautiful snow makes the mountains look amazing. and i love how it reminds me of college. our campus was so gorgeous on snowy days. this is also one of my most fav times of the day when the sun is only halfway shining. and... being the radio junky that i am, i'm usually listening to hilarious talk shows and dialing as fast as i can to win the prizes! i am so addicted to my talk shows, and it has been hard during the holiday season without them! so moral of the story is: don't be like me: driving, texting, dialing, laughing, drinking (coffee that is), remembering, snapping photos like me.

4:365

God's really up there and laughs at us sometimes

HA! I guess i spoke too soon about the gorgeous weather! i work to 1 hour of crazy snow in northern denver (but of course, followed by bright sunshine for the rest of the day). today is one of my last days before school starts so i did ... nothing! i ate some yummy waffles though (picture two, whipped cream and berries). don't you hate it when you only have one or two ingredients for a dish and never all of the items together? when you have milk, there is no cookies. when you have beans and cheese, there are no tortillas. i finally had waffles, berries, and whipped cream for this delicious favorite.

just a few notes...i did spend time "Sprucing" up the blog a little. please try to visit the links and blogs i'm following when you get a chance. there is a link for the 365 day project also, which will be awesome once i have more pictures in the series.

i'm reading a book called Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. very interesting and different from my usual Indian fiction. First of all its non fiction. Sudhir gets involved in poor black communities when researching for a graduate school sociology class. so far its interesting, will update when i am done.

also i watched Superstars of Dance, it's a creative show. Both entertaining and educational. I havent caught a performance by India yet, but i really like South Africa! I was disappointed by USA's representatives: all of our dances are "street" hip hop type. We should have picked something more American: Native American dancing, square dancing, tap dance?

3:365

crazy colorado weather today. this morning at church was cold. this afternoon was beautiful (picture 1) and the sunset was amazing (picture 2). i kinda cheated and put two pictures up-but the subject is the same-the infamous colorado sky! we have so many beautiful days, even though we are so extreme-snow one moment and 90 degrees the next, i feel like we are spoiled with wonderful weather. i love that i can walk around in summer clothes, barefoot in the grass in January! i hope i can adjust to other climates in new hometowns that seem to be in my near future!

congrats to slumdog millionaire for the 4 golden globe awards. i watched the movie again and love it just the same! hope you all get a chance to watch it.

2:365

SECOND ONE! i made it...

today i went to lunch with my old high school friends. WOW. everyone has become amazing adults. and wives. and husbands. and managers. and teachers. even home owners. where did the time go from us being over dramatic about prom dates to being 23 yr old adults? i love meeting up with these old friends cuz its not like my other friends. with these ones, we just pick up conversation exactly where we left on graduation day. we spend obnoxious amount of time at restaurants taking over 4-5 tables just talking about what we are doing, remininscing, and dreaming of our futures. this group is our safe zone-we can be who we are however we want to be with this group.
So these are the boys (i wish i had time to upload an old picture of them) i didn't get a picture of the others: left-->right
C-i went to elementary school, middle school, and high school with this guy!! we don't keep in touch that much, but he cracks me up and we always have that elementary/Northglenn/Fundamental Program (yea i was a nerd even in elementary school) connection.
R-grandpa: i met him in middle school in health class and throughout IB we have become really good friends. I have so many memories of hanging out and doing random things during the summers with R. and my mom and dad really like him so i was allowed to hang out with him whenever.
T-he cracks me up like crazy!!! i love it, and i miss him, and want to keep in touch with him much better. he has become so handsome. you've come a long way.
B-one of the best guys i know. again another middleschooler to high school friend to college friend. i'm glad we've kept in touch and have so many memories of doing projects and presentations with him! congrats on your amazing job!!