| Reflection |
[28 Jun 2011|10:56pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 calm |
] |
In the mirror, you can somehow see
the person you used to be
yet photos teach, eventually
to accept the truth, if grudgingly.
|
|
|
[16 Apr 2011|05:07pm] |
I "understood" while you raged at them,
it was all cut and dried.
Having now been ranted at,
I see the other side.
|
|
| Of savings and interest ....... |
[23 Feb 2011|07:04pm] |
|
Me: "So as a customer, how do I benefit from having a savings account, apart from the interest rate?"
Bank representative: "Well, it's meant to encourage you to save ...."
Me: "That's not needed - I'm pretty good at saving."
BR: "Then it's mainly the interest ...."
Me: "Which is 0.05%, right? (he nods) So for 100 dollars, I get 5 cents, and for 10,000 dollars I get 5 dollars- I could save more by skipping one beer".
BR (laughing): "That's a good way of putting it. Well, this plan doesn't require a minimum balance, I could move you to another which does require a minimum balance, but has a higher interest rate - 0.1%."
Me (raising eyebrows): "Two beers?"
(both laugh, I come away humming "Don't you know, talking about interest, sounds abysmal" to the tune of Tracy Chapman's great song, and then my thoughts turn to the middle east.)
|
|
| 1 week to home, 6 weeks to New York ....... |
[09 Sep 2010|10:18pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 happy |
] |
1 week to home, 6 weeks to New York .......
After thinking about working on some disease related research, especially cancer research, off and on over several years, I finally decided a few months back that it was now or never - if I didn't do something about it now, it would remain just another nice thought. So I changed my plans for my next postdoc position, and decided not to apply outside cancer research. Some initiative taking and good fortune later, I've been lucky enough to land exactly the kind of job I wanted, and shall be joining the research group of Prof. Chris Sander at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) in about six weeks' time. I may end up not making a big difference, but I'm sure going to give it a hell of a try.
This does send my plans for the year-end for a toss - I had saved up all my leave, including some from last year, and was to go home on Nov 18, for a nice 5-6 weeks' break, including attending two weddings, visiting several places, and then join a new place in Jan 2011. Instead, I'll be going home now, for less than 4 weeks, and shall have a tough time making it to the weddings later - but then this is the sort of opportunity for which a few adjustments have to be made.
And while the work is the most important thing, and the city but a bonus, bonuses don't come much bigger - New York city :-) ! There are any number of reasons why I'm excited about moving to NY, the biggest being that it is arguably the most diverse place on earth. I've had a good time in nearly all the places I've lived in, certainly regardless of whether it was big or small, and I've learned not to expect too much in advance- and yet I can hardly help but expect a lot of NY :-)
And there are lots of friends and family in the US to look forward to catching up with! In fact, the number that I'm aware of is probably a poor lower bound, especially if you add geographical location, of which I mostly only have a vague notion. I'll miss friends and some other things about Europe and Germany for sure - but boy, am I excited about this move, and going home before that! Counting the days :-)
|
|
| A stroke of error ......... |
[25 Aug 2010|07:09pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 amused |
] |
A joke by a friend that the current Indian ODI team was a "CMM level 1 team, depending on heroics", got me thinking on error rates in cricket, and in particular in batting.
The scope for geekery is enormous here, but even with a fairly generous notion of error (e.g. getting beaten, miscues, and getting out), it is clear that on average, a batsman makes multiple errors per outing, so the error rate should at least be 5-10% for a regular batsman, maybe higher. Even Don Bradman must have had an error rate above 1%!
Anyway, my thoughts then turned to what might constitute an error according to the approach to batting that various cricketers have, e.g.:
Sachin: Getting out.
Sehwag: Dot ball.
Dravid: Anything not in the textbooks.
Laxman: Anything ungainly.
Afridi: Thinking.
Tavare: Spectators who are awake.
I can see a much longer list in the making here - feel free to add! :-)
|
|
| Comfort zones ........ |
[24 Aug 2010|10:33pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
relaxed |
] |
Of this there is no doubt -
comfort zones are great,
As long as you get out
before you stagnate.
|
|
| Happiness is me |
[17 Jul 2010|06:17pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
happy |
] |
Some days, you keep looking behind
some days it is hard to find
some days it is all around
some days, nowhere to be found
some days, it comes and goes
but some days, it just shows
some days, you see
happiness is me.
|
|
| Andy's gonna win Wimby! |
[30 Jun 2010|09:27pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
My friend: "Obviously Andy Murray's going to win Wimbledon this time."
Me: "No, no - Murray shall lose to Henman in the semis, and the latter shall in turn lose to John Lloyd in the grand finale :-p"
|
|
| Mid-June |
[15 Jun 2010|03:55pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear
The halfway mark is nearly here
What did I do with half a year?
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
************************************
Seriously though, I have done some work, and can always point to the Ph.D as something from the first half of this year :-)
But boy, there's so much more to do in the rest of 2010!
|
|
| Change the world ......... |
[09 May 2010|01:55am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
calm |
] |
We all change the world,
from the moment of our birth;
we all change the world,
even if for the worse.
|
|
| Too much time in front of a computer! |
[07 May 2010|09:36am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 awake |
] |
Realized that on a typical workday, I sit in front of a computer for 12-14 hours, since a fair bit of my time at home is also spent in front of a computer, even if mostly for surfing and communication. Got to reduce this! How about you?
And have a nice weekend :-)
|
|
| Time |
[10 Apr 2010|01:01pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 thoughtful |
] |
Don't keep saying you'd do it
but for the time
you don't get.
You make the time,
or time makes you
regret.
|
|
| Spring? |
[26 Mar 2010|01:44pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
calm |
] |
Eighteen degrees celsius -
Tuesday was so good for us.
Twenty-one on Wednesday,
Surely spring had come to stay?
Friday, and it's under ten
Winter's making fools of men.
*******************************
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
|
|
| Happy New Year! |
[31 Dec 2009|07:12pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
calm |
] |
When? When?
In 2010.
May the year to come bring a happy ending to one or more long-running waits for you :-)
|
|
| Perception .......... |
[28 Nov 2009|10:04pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
calm |
] |
"........ Then after a few months of total emptiness start again to look for true love, desperately look everywhere and after two years of loneliness meet a new love and swear it is the one, until that one is gone as well. There's a moment in life where you can't recover any more from another break-up. And even if this person bugs you sixty percent of the time, well you still can’t live without him. And even if he wakes you up every day by sneezing right in your face, well you love his sneezes more than anyone else's kisses."
- Marion (Julie Delpy's character in "2 days in Paris")
Perceptive, what?
*****************************************************************************
And something off the top of my crazy head :-p :
Tum paas aaye
yun muskuraye
jiya bole jaldi
koi doctor bulaaye
|
|
| For those down with a cold ...... |
[29 Sep 2009|06:20pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
Blow, blow, blow your nose,
loudly down a rag.
wearily, wearily, wearily, wearily,
life is such a drag.
|
|
| Love at first sight |
[02 Sep 2009|01:42pm] |
|
"We saw each other many times before we knew each other. What did you think of me back then?"
"I used to call you Petrichor."
"What? ..... why?"
"It is the smell of the earth which accompanies the first rain after a warm and dry spell ......... I loved it long before I knew its name."
|
|
| Waiting to surrender? |
[25 Jun 2009|05:35pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
Check mate,
check mate
soulmate?
checkmate.
(check. met.)
|
|
| Roger Federer - words are not enough |
[07 Jun 2009|09:28pm] |
|
Kudos to Roger Federer for becoming only the sixth man to win all 4 grand slam tournaments, as well as equalling Pete Sampras' record of 14 grand slam titles - the guy is beyond mind-boggling!
There are sportspeople that one feels privileged to have seen in action - people like Sampras, Sachin, Lara, Akram, Zidane, Maradona, and so on - players of unquestionable genius. Federer belongs in that category, and comes across as a wonderful human being to boot, making him a favourite of many, yours truly included.
I wonder what sort of tally he'll end up with. For now, it's wonderful to see him silence the naysayers who thought he was past it, and time to congratulate him on his historic twin achievements! Long may you carry on , Roger.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.3){kind=small}
rileen's journal