Resolutions.

so i haven't really thought about any resolutions for the coming year...i'm just so close to perfect that its no use...i keed i keed...well something was bothering me the other day...not for long...but long enough that i thought i should focus on it...


i want to improve on the philosophy of giving to give. period. i think i've done a pretty good job of not expecting anything in return over the past few years...but over the past year or so i've gotten annoyed at times when i do stuff for others and expect that over time there will be a similar reciprocation - and there isn't any whatsoever...whether i'm spending my time doing things....or going out of my way to help out...or even just doing something thoughtful...i usually don't expect anything in return...but when you give repeatedly and the other person remains a taker and nothing more...it gets to me...and so thats what i need to improve on - getting back to the basics...have no expectations...just giving to give...what else...oh yea.. i don't want to take on another resolution and just break it...but for hema - i resolve to get a haircut in the new year! as of now i remain her lovable gollywog.

well its off to hawaii in a couple days...can't wait to get in the water - surf, snorkle, get eaten by sharks...i'll be posting pictures during my downtime...you might just get one of me hangin ten off waikiki...duuuuude. meanwhile - i leave you with my uber-cool-i-think-i'm-james bond-in-a-tux pic.

Kite Runner. My take.

if you haven't read this book by Khaled Hosseini (his debut novel) - you have to...i started the book this afternoon and only stopped for dinner...i don't want to give away more than the back cover...briefly its a story of two boys growing up in kabul - one the son of a powerful merchant, the other the son of their servant...the story unfolds from the early 1970s through present day Afghanistan - so mixed in is a backdrop of the comings and goings of religious/political turmoil...i just thought i would talk about a few things that i took from this book...(note that some of the accounts in the book will make you uncomfortable)

the story is definitely haunting...i think it will take me a few days at least to stop thinking about the main characters - hassan and amir...Hosseini did a great job with character development...i think i identified with the story more because i'm a guy and i could relate to some of the boyhood in the story - especially flying and running kites...i want to say more but i know some of you are reading this book - so i won't...

i thought one of the lines from the book was pretty thoughtful - there is only one sin in the world - lying...everything else is just a variation of lying...think about that - the book will definitely explain if you're at a loss....

the book highlights loyalty...perhaps this is given a centerpiece because it is so interwined in the fabric of pashtun culture...i can identify with that as well...yet the book takes loyalty to where it becomes a fault...that really troubled me...it made the story dark for me...yet it was necessary to give the story life...to make you question why such loyalty existed in the world...

there is one line in the book that is a delight for pessimists and really grabbed me - one character says, "I'm so profoundly happy . . . . Happiness like this is frightening . . . . They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you." i know that line is somewhat like the daily fortune in the paper - hindsight is always 20/20...but i dunno - the pessimist in me identified with that line...my past can definitely attest.

the other line in the book that really connected was when one of the characters, beaten at life, resigned to his fate says - "I want my old life back." i definitely know of moments some time ago when i might have muttered the same...

finally - the story is ultimately about redemption...i'm not giving anything away - the book starts off with the foreshadowing comment - "there is a way to be good again..." here...redemption is ugly as it should be...and the ugliness is begged for, but cowardice keeps it at bay...and so as times passes, life only makes it even more wretched than it started out being...my question is - when an inherent character flaw is the foundation of your mistake that haunts you for the rest of your life...is it fair to burden your conscience? to make you atone for that supposedly involuntary sin?

but in the end...the book haunting and melancholic as it may be is just great literature...its powerful...it makes you think...it connects...wraps you into the story...in fact - i who have never been to afghanistan and thought it to be a land of bleak mountains and ruthless clerics found myself connecting to the land and its culture...part of this may have to do with some of its ties to a common culture in the indian subcontinent...but part of it was simply the powerful writing...involving the reader so that he was not an outsider...of course there are some literary flaws in the plots/characters/storytelling - but this is his first novel...and to say in the words of rahim kaka - bravo.

Things to look forward to...

its almost time to call an end to the madness....one more exam to go...and then i'm free baby...free! certain restrictions apply to free anuj. shipping and handling extra. must give a lot of attention or product will break down and cry. please see your nearest anuj for details. so as i'm studying for this last exam...i am constantly searching for reasons to daydream and think of anything except the "dead hand" rule (ask me about that some time...its quite horrific)...

so i've compiled a list of things i look forward to doing...these are in no particular order...but feel free to leave suggestions on other things i should be doing or that i missed...

# watching movies. tons of them! i'll have to see syriana (so that i will finally stop telling goose/shawn about the movie), harry the pothead, narnia, history of violence, gigli (no wait...joking), king kong, and some indian ones too (chocolate, bluffmaster, etc. <-- have to keep up with my bollywood masala)

# going to granville's birthdindrinkathon. i will finally get to set foot in the vast temple that is Peking restaurant in Athens...this will likely translate into....me being made fun of yet again for eating tofu...and then returning to a legal scholar's abode for a libation or sixty..where i will stand by and watch as my friends fall yet another notch in their usual level of tomfoolery.

# hema. uhh...that should be enough...but let me expand...apparently any time that is not spent in the bathroom or sleeping or categories mentioned here WILL be spent with hema...i think she's getting an itinerary ready...i have also been informed that chez desai will be preparing his signature dishes for madame (pizza, basil rolls, eggplant parmesan)...seriously though - if this list were numbered - this would be up top...i mean it babe!

# finishing my note. ok ok this should be on the list of things i'm not looking forward to...but that would be too much work...cuz i would have to find other things for that list...and frankly i don't want to to do that...i mean...look...i've already spent too much time arguing why i should have this here...so well yeah....i'm gonna finish that sucka!

# ice skating. because i suck at it...and yet i love it....especially when i fall and raise my hands high in the air so that no one slices them off as they whiz by...those four-year olds are devilish on skates...

# Hawaii. ok this should actually be at the top of the list...but don't tell hema that...she's jealous of those polynesians who scantily clad frolic the beaches...sigh...ahem...what i meant to say was that i'm going to pay my brother a visit and bring him much needed company...yea...that's all...i'll prob be in bed by 10:30PM on new year's eve...yeah...really...i'm serious man.

# Vinocity. i've been promising to take hema there for almost a year...should happen within the next decade...perhaps in a week's time...let's see.

# Hema. wait. did i already say that? just making sure - CYA.

# Sugar Bowl. i'll prob catch it at a bar in hawaii. how exotic...this is how stewie would watch a ballgame..you know it.

i dunno what else...i should prob go...waste like half an hour doing this...let's get back to the dead hand shall we....

Random

i called this post random...cuz i was just gonna talk about random things...but then as i started typing...i realized i had a plan of what to talk about...so actually its not random...so then its planned...like any other post in the past...hey post in the past...that sounds funny...cuz only one letter is off...post in the past...hmmm...wonder if i can take that any further....post in the past is last....ok that one was lame...hmm...i dunno...


well first random (or planned) thing to talk about it is that i finished the death-knell of exams....constitutional law...uggh...i mean the course was relatively interesting....taught by a zealous professor...is zealous a word? i mean - overzealous is...so zealous should be...too lazy for spellcheck...anyway...the exam was pretty tough...and pretty long..to compare...the other constitutional law exam by another professor was 1 essay question and 20 multiple choice...our's was 3 essay questions...and 40 multiple choice/true-false...uhh...anyone see a slight difference....plus the questions were written to confuse the bejeebers outta you...so in the end...i hope everyone did relatively good...but who knows...

moving on...the next exam is health law...but i can't get myself to study for it...actually i don't know how to study for it....the whole semester was a mix of paying attention and party poker...plus the organization is poor...we'll see...

i am finally over the spell of cooties that i had...just had to use some ancient indian tricks...did anyone say turmeric??? anyway....i shouldn't be sick for a long time...unless of course i fraternize with the enemy...haha...

i can't think of anything else...i'm sleepy...there's a nice sun spot on my bed....and i feel like a cat right now - just gonna stretch really long...squint my eyes....and then fall asleep in the sun....soo..zzz