I failed Lent.

i haven't been online for a whole week...gave up MSN...AIM...and just stuck to e-mail, phone calls, and personal contact...it was my way of supporting my catholic friends (of which i have none) and doing something for lent...well turns out that staying off AIM and MSN is just too freakin' hard...so my lent experiment (hey that rhymes) is over!!!

school is shuffling along...five more weeks till exams...yikes!!! next week - i've organized Thai Nite for the law school...hopefully we'll get a good turn out like we did for sushi nite...although the RSVPs are a bit short so far...we're going to hema's fav. restaurant in the whole world - Thai of Athens...she's probably drooling if she's reading this...haha...anyway...that is the only thing i have to look forward to next week...shawn has sadly informed me that football season for the gang is over...i might just go play on my own though - through the ball really high then run over and catch it on the other side...might guilt them into playing with me...we'll see...

well i'm outta here...i will see you ONLINE..haha...laterz

Its Funny.

i just think its funny how many poor souls happen upon this blog looking for "ketchup flavored potato chips" - ahh the search powers of google...i guess the super-smart dudes and dudettes at the googleplex haven't figured out context and relevance...hopefully they won't - let humans have some purpose...geeze....anyway if you're a poor sap lookin for those awesomely crazy good ketchup chips (they are too) - just click here and indulge.

well the rest of spring break is on - in the happenin' town of marietta...hangin out at momma's house...R & R.

What Happens in Miami Stays in Miami.

ok...well maybe not all of it stays there...some of the kosher stuff can be talked about...so i was in south beach, miami this past weekend...for milan's bachelor party...all in all it was fun, tiring, and a bit of a strain on my student budget...but hey - once in a lifetime for the ol' guy....its worth it then...silly thing is that he's not even a bachelor technically...but thats a different story..ha

so we started fairly early...left ATL around 6:30AM....didn't get to south beach till about 6PM that night...crazy driving that much for a weekend...got a glimpse of star island but we never ended up going around it...thats where all the stars live - shaq and company...our hotel was a bit of a dump but it was in prime location...although we had to constantly play spy moves to get extra towels...so first night...we got ready...grabbed some grub right on the ocean...we got gypped though...the special was drinks - 2 for 1...turns out they just double-price the drinks...so you end up buying two regular-priced drinks...doh! then we chilled for a bit...headed back to the hotel to get our drink on...i had agreed to play along and broke my drink-fast...had some rum...got a good buzz...well as we got ready to go out...one of the guys fell sick from the alcohol...and then the other just got really tired...milan was pissed...then another friend of his flew in...we got some more grub....hung out for a while...and called it a night at about 3AM...

the next day...we went to the beach...it was a bit rough...but still fun...then from there we went back to the room...got ready for dinner...i really wanted cuban...but i don't think everyone else was on board...so we found a really cool mexican place - senor frog's...had a good meal and some margaritas...the tables were outside...so we could watch all the people walkin by...we made the perfunctory cat calls when necessary...tried to get milan to use some dirty pick up lines but he was too chicken...saw some crazy nice cars that weekend...bentleys, rolls royces, all rollin around like toyotas...it was nuts...later that night we went to a club called opium...stupid bouncer wouldn't let us in cuz we didn't have any girls with us (too much sausage i guess)...said he would let us in if we reserved a table - meaning cough up $600 for three bottles of champagne...uh no...so instead we headed over to a place called nikki beach...supposedly thats where the celebs hang out...it was a cool place to bring women...we had some crazy expensive drinks ($11 for a jack/coke) and headed back out...at this point it was 1AM and i headed back to the room cuz i had first shift driving...we had to wake up in 4 hrs...the guys went on to some seedy "gentlemen's club"...no thanks...

the next morning...we high-tailed it outta there...droppin our friend off at the ft lauderdale airport...the drive back home was long and uneventful...we did happen to visit historic hahira, GA...good subway franchise..ha...that was it...

Happy Bachelor's to Milan - hope he has a joyful marriage ahead cuz i ain't driving 24hrs for another bachelor party!!!! haha....laterz

you might think its cute...its just part of my diabolical plan to take over shawn's farm one day...step 1 - learn how to ride a tractor...step 2... 

hema's first contact with a goat...she later contracted foot and mouth disease and was deported back to england...

A panda enjoying his bamboo. 

as what happens with any man after the woman keeps up the nagging - he gets fed up and sulks. 

hema with her new man! maybe i'm biased, but i think he looks like a gorilla... 

Hilarious. Valentine's Day Came From India.

You have to read this with an Indian accent. Compliments of Hema.



Not-withstanding, what nonsense you've been told by a priest, the truth is that the Valentine Day was originated in India, and to top it, in Gujarat – a state of Mahatma Gandhi who preached Non-violence! Interested? ...........................................Read further.

Well, it is well known what the people in Gujarat are like, especially the Patel men folk. It is a known fact that they (Patels) don't treat the opposite sex (their Patalanis) with the respect; some of the firebrand members of the opposite sex(wives) thought they deserved.

One fine day, one brave Patalani (Patel lady - her name is thankfully lost in oblivion), had enough of "Atyachar"(Torture) perpetrated on her, by her husband, and then she finally chose to rebel by beating up her husband with a Belan...Yeah, the same Belan with which she made chapattis for him everyday; only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who was flattened like a chapatti, albeit an oblong one.

This was a momentous occasion for all the Gujarati women and a revolt soon spread, like a wild fire, with several housewives beating up their, bad as well as good, husbands with Belan; and there was an outburst of moaning chapattis all over Anand and Ahmedabad.

This was a long time, some 400 years ago, when Mahatma Gandhi was not around. The Patel men folk learnt their lesson and behaved a bit better with their Patalani partners. However, there was no putting down the burgeoning feminist spirit of the times, and each year that day the womenfolk, if only gingerly and lovingly, as a token gesture, beat up their husbands to commemorate that eventful day, which had contributed substantially to better their lot.

The men folk also submitted to this, in good humor, since they didn't really get beaten up anyways. The entire ritual soon became a caring and loving affair, with wives having the satisfaction of beating up their husbands, their husbands cringing in mock fear and pain, and the guys having the supreme joy of submitting to the whims of the women they loved. This custom continued for many years, even when the British occupied India.

As Gujarat fell more and more under the influence of Western Culture and language, some of the more fashionable and educated women, sometimes wearing leather boots and clothes (this even created a fad for leather Belans for a short time, but it soon passed, as they could not use them to make chapattis) on that day appeared with a Belan in hand, and called out to their husbands "Belan time" before starting off.

This was noticed by the British, and they were quite amused and endeared by the peculiar ritual. They also saw it for what it really was, i.e. a manifestation of love, not of hate. The ritual soon spread to Britain and many other Western countries, -specifically, the catch words "Belan time!". Of course in their foreign mouths, it was bastardized to "Velan time" and then to "Velantine". And from that day onwards, 14th of February, since it was indeed that day that 400 years ago an irate Gujarati Patalani housewife nearly committed man-slaughter, came to be known as Valentine's Day. The custom of hitting with Belans died a natural death, but 14th of Feb still stands as a symbol of undying and universal love.


And as Paul Harvey would say…
“And now you know the rest of the story”

The Two.

hello people...haven't updated in a bit...just had our two year anniversary last week...it was a lotta fun...went to IMAX to watch an african safari...went to the zoo...its like jungle love for us...haha...kidding...it was a lotta fun...hema did a great job planning....i guess next year she's gonna expect me to do something....have to top that...gotta start planning now!!! she also got me some cool things from india - a blue kurti and a tintin book on herge and the comics...oh yeah - and potato chips from india and england...i'm crazy about weird potato chips...magic masala here i come!!!

saw some good movies too - the insider, clockwork orange, bad day at black rock...also some good books...by ira levin - boys from brazil and the stepford wives...

well off to miami later this week...will write about it later....oh yea....and pics from the zoo - u gotta see me at the petting zoo..haha