Twenty questions

Righto, so mac tagged me again. Looks like he and I are playing tag often these days.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what would your reaction be?
Not very happy I guess. It would take time, but I'd definitely get over it. No one is worth ruining your happiness for.
2. If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?
Dreams belong to the twilight land between waking and sleeping. I'd just let them be and not wish for them to come true.
3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
Any one of those brainless bimbos who pretend to be television personalities. On the other hand, it is called the idiot box...
4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Spend it on my family and friends.
5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Bad idea. When you break up, you lose your lover and your best friend.
6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?
Unrequited love is a blessing?
7. How long would you wait for someone you loved?
Hmmm..
8. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?
Try to break them up. Definitely! All's fair in love and war.
9. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?
Keep children safe from sexual abuse.
10. What takes you down the fastest?
Someone I love being unhappy.
11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Ten years is a long time. I'm not making any plans.
12. What’s your fear?
Losing the people I love.
13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Dependable.
14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
Single and rich.
15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Drink coffee.
16. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who will you pick?
And here I am, not falling in love with even one person. Two would be luxury.
17. Would you give all in a relationship?
Within reason, yes.
18. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing he has done?
Yes. If I have decided to forgive, then I would forget too.
19. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?
At the moment, single. I may change my mind at a later date.
20. List of 6 people to tag:
Everyman

Mac tagged me

Many weeks ago, Mac tagged me. He wanted to give me an excuse to write, or maybe deprive me of my excuse not to write. It worked. It took some time, but it worked. I kept hearing him in my head; 'Hey Orange, tagged ya!'. I tried ignoring the voice. Tried really hard. But to no avail. It kept popping up most unexpectedly. Well, like I said, it worked. Here I am, meekly doing the tag.

I am: Not what you think I am.
I think: Too much. I tend to overanalyse everything.
I know: I should get back to writing more often.
I want: To travel more.
I have: Some really great friends.
I wish: I could drive.
I hate: Losing sleep.
I miss: You.
I fear: Many things. Salamanders, dark nights, dentists and the list grows.
I feel: At home in Chennai.
I hear: The music of the spheres.
I smell: The aroma of jasmine on the rain drenched night breeze.
I crave: This one's easy - chocolate.
I search: For the truth hidden within myself.
I wonder: Where I left the candles. Every time the power fails, it's the same story.
I regret: Not going home more.
I love: The rain.
I ache: To see the monsoon clouds rolling in.
I am not: What you think I am. Really.
I dance: I do?
I cry: I do!
I don't always: Do the right thing.
I fight: When I shouldn't.
I write: For myself.
I win: Sometimes, when I lose.
I lose: Very rarely.
I never: Want to hurt anyone.
I always: brush my teeth with Himalaya Dental Cream. It's a toothpaste like no other.
I confuse : Mostly myself.
I listen: To voices in my head telling me to do a tag.
I can usually be found: At work.
I need: My family.
I am happy about: How happy my eldest niece is.
I imagine: The worst. Always.

Tagged with an 'O'

Broom tagged anyone with an 'O' in their middle name or their blog to do this tag. Now, my middle name doesn't contain the letter, but my blog - well, it is the ORANGE FLING, remember!! And when one hasn't been blogging and desperately feels the need to get back in the flow, a few tags here and there really help one out. So here goes.

The Rules:

a) The rules must be mentioned in the beginning of the tag.
b) You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
c) At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I do have a middle name, but it's my father's name. And so I'm going to do a tag using my blog name.

T - Ticklish. I can end up in giggles if someone just looks at me with the intention of tickling me. And with this affliction, I don't need to tell you just how embarassing getting a pedicure can be.
H - Happy. Most of the time. It's my preferred state of mind, except on the rare occasions when I'm wallowing in misery and loving it.
R - Round. Like a ball. I roll when I should stroll.
E - Eclectic. My taste - in books, decor and men. On my bookshelf, you will find an Enid Blyton next to Wuthering Heights, both sharing shelf space with the latest Danielle Steele and Walden.
E - Epicurean. I love good food. And drink.

I - Independent. I love living on my own and being my own person.
N - Nephews and nieces. I love them. All of them.

O - Orange. The colour of my blog which I love.
N - Nocturnal. Me. I come alive at about 8 p.m. and love the night. Can sit out and watch the stars right through the night.
E - Egypt. It fascinates me. Ancient Egypt with its pyramids and its temples, its pharoahs and its museums. I dream about travelling to Egypt.

And I tag - anyone who wants to do this tag.

Judgemental? Who? Me?

Tagged by the Broom.
Thought about it. Came to the conclusion that I am not judgemental. I am kind and considerate and accepting of everyone else's faults. I am the earth mother. I am perfect. I do not make judgement calls.

• Not even about people who float around being indecisive.
• Or about people who procrastinate.
• Or about people who don't blog because they are too busy.
• Or about people who can laze around a whole day while undone work piles up.
• Do I judge people who say 'Oh we must do dinner' and then never get around to calling or doing anything about it? Of course I don't.
• I don't judge people who leave things lying around the house and are (to put it politely) messy slobs.
• I don't judge people who judge people based on what they do or do not read.
• I don't judge people who are stubborn and refuse to see another person's point of view.
• And classmates who have dropped out of sight for the last fifteen years and call only because they want you to do them a favour? Them? Of course I don't judge them.
• Cousins who don't call or reply to emails. Nope. I'd never judge them.

Just like I'd never judge people

• who don't think Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever.
• who don't love cats.
• who eat brinjal ( that slimy weird purple vegetable).

And most of all I do not judge people who think they are so perfect that they do not judge anyone.

P.S. I am a judgemental so-and-so, aren't I? Let me go and find a hole to crawl into and come to terms with it.

This was fun

Saw this on Mac's blog first, and then yesterday A Thuth Bruth put it up too. Thought I'd try it out. It's fun.

Have you ever...

1. Smoked a cigarette?: Yes. The first time was awful. I threw up. The second time was on a train to Chennai. A childhood friend who was supposedly "looking after his father's friend's young innocent daughter on her ownsome lonesome" spent half the night teaching me how to inhale without coughing. I do not smoke now. I do not like smoking. And I would have to like anyone a great deal to put up with them smoking anywhere near me.

2. Crashed a friend's car?: N....o....... but it's not for want of trying. My guardian angel just works overtime. And of course, like Mac, I do not have a license yet This is a good thing. It stops me from going out and crashing friends' cars.

3. Stolen a car?: Hee heee no. But have helped steal a No Parking sign.

4. Been in love?: You bet!

5. Been dumped?: Oh yes. It was the best thing that happened to me.

6. Shoplifted?: Hmmmm.... not sure this counts, but it involved a friend of mine, a handful of stolen peanuts, and a cop on a horse chasing me. And no, it was not a wild dream I had.

7. Been in a fist fight?: Not that I remember. And I would if I had been in one, wouldn't I? Wouldn't I?

8. Sneaked out of your parent's house?: Never needed to.

9. Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back?: Yes. Oh boy, this one was fun, Really. In retrospect.

10. Been arrested?: Well, there was the Jethro Tull concert, where we escaped by crawling under the stands. Then there was the time that my friend had to pay the cops a couple of grand. But no, not been arrested yet. Wouldn't want to be.

11. Gone on a blind date?: Kind of. Never again. Ever!,

12. Skipped school?: No chance. Sisters Fortunata, Emerentia, Antonia and Anasthesia were too strict to allow that

13. Been on a plane?: Yes.

14. Seen someone die?: Yes. My great-uncle. I watched through the window. I was a ghoulish child I think.

15. Purposely set a part of yourself on fire?: Yes. My hair and my nail. It was a stupid thing to do. And it smelt awful.

16. Been jet-skiing?: (looks all around) Oh you're asking me? No. No way.

17. Met someone in person from the Internet?: Shain-man and the Jujube for starters. Mac, Rama, Seena and Me somewhere along the way, I hope.

18. Taken pain killers?: Yes.Try not to.

19. Flown a kite?: Yes,loved it.

20. Built a sand castle?: Yeeeessssss.....

21. Gone puddle jumping?: With my grandfather. This deserves its own post.

22. Cheated while playing a game?: Heh heh.

23. Been lonely?: Gosh no. Been alone but am happy with myself.

24. Fallen asleep at work or school/college?: Yes. fell off a chair at a conference and pretended the chair had broken.

25. Used a fake ID?: No. Unlikely to ever do this.

26. Felt an earthquake?: Yes, Thought I was having a hypertensive crisis.

27. Touched a snake?: No, I have never touched a snake. My mom has, though.

28. Slept beneath the stars?: Not much sleeping happened, but yes, many times, the last time not long ago.

29. Been robbed?: Yes.

30. Been misunderstood?: Well, there was this one time when I sent a card with the words " Could you lend me a kiss? I'll return it with interest." And was treated to a lecture on my frivolity and total lack of understanding on the seriousness of borrowing, lending and interest, by the receiver. You can't get more misunderstood than that.

31. Won a contest?: Competitions and exams, any number. Lucky draw contests, never.

32. Run a red light/stop sign?: Refer answer 2.

33. Been suspended from school?: No, never even came close.

34.Been in a car accident?: Which one do you pick? The one where the tanker lorry crashed into the jeep, or the one where my Kinetic and I made friends with the copper pod tree in the front yard or the one where a Maruti Gypsy nudged my cousin's scooter at the stop sign and my cousin didn't realise i had fallen off the pillion into the path of an oncoming bus?

35. Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night?: No idea how much ice cream is there in a pint but have managed more than a litre at one sitting.

36. Walked the streets drunk?: Yes. And climbed the median on Mount Road too.

37. Had déjà vu?: Yes. Yes. Yes. Not very pleasant sometimes.

38. Danced in the moonlight?: Yes. When I wasn't sleeping under the stars...

39. Witnessed a crime?: Yes. And I don't want to think about it, let alone write about it.

40. Squished barefoot through the mud?: Yes. When it's clean mud I like it. Otherwise YUCK.

41. Been lost?: Metaphorically, yes.

42. Been on the opposite side of the country?: Opposite is a relative term. But I guess, yes!

43. Swum in the ocean?: Played in the ocean. Swum? No.

44. Cried yourself to sleep?: Sob Sob Sniffle Sniffle Snore. Many times.

45. Played cops and robbers?: Many times.

46. Recently coloured with crayons?: No. But would love to. Love colouring books and crayons especially if it has Pooh and Piglet.

47. Sung karaoke?: No, I'm too young to die.

48. Paid for a meal with only coins?: Yes. About ten of us took up a collection one Sunday morning and went for breakfast. And then walked back to hostel from Woody's because we couldn't afford the bus fare.

49. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?: Oh yes. It was worth it.

50. Made prank phone calls?: Oooooh yes!

51. Caught a snow flake on your tongue?: No,never seen snow.

52. Written a letter to Santa Claus?: No. At our house, Santa Claus was a myth. A nice myth, but a myth.

53. Blown bubbles?: Yes, and I love blowing them

54. Bonfire on the beach?: Yes. In earlier and younger times, the prelude to the moonlit dancing and sleeping under the stars.

55. Cheated on a test?: Yes. This deserves its own post.

56. Gone skinny-dipping in a pool?: In a pool, not that I remember. In a river, yes. I was all of two years and someone took a photograph(thankfully now destroyed by 'accident') .

When it rained on the equipment

Everyman tagged the rest of us MCCians for a post on our alma mater. I thought about doing this. Again and again. I had a lot of fun at MCC (everyone does), but I just couldn't pin it down to any specific incident(s). Or so I thought at first. But slowly, the memories came rolling back. And oh, how I giggled to myself, reminiscing about one incident and another, and then another.
Like most old colleges with large campuses, half the fun of studying at MCC was staying on campus. There was always something to do, and something or someone to laugh at. For us resident women students, the main source of our merriment was the WARDEN. I realise now that she must have been in her mid sixties, but at that time, we thought of her as closer to eighty. As far as possible, she stayed out of our hair, and we stayed out of hers. We would attend prayers and clap along while she sang, and she would watch us play badminton, volleyball and wall tennis (smashing tennis balls against the hostel wall) and once in a way encourage us with 'good shot' and 'well played'. As you can see, for the most part, it was a peaceable association. Of course, we laughed at her little foibles and follies, but never to her face. Or at least, never until that fateful night when she decided to lecture all of us on the care of the hostel sports equipment. The immediate provocation for said lecture was that it had rained and all of the sports equipment, having been left outside, had been ruined.
I'll attempt to reproduce her speech and memory permitting, I promise to stay as true to the original as possible.

" Girls, I am very very pained. Really very painful behaviour. All of you. You are all grown women and it is a shame that you have not learned how to handle equipment carefully. Cocks and balls must be handled with care. You think you can just like that find cocks and balls to play with? It is not like the Halls. The men students have lot of equipment. The college has taken great care so that women students also have equipment to play with. So you must treat the equipment with care.
You know what has happened? It has rained last night. And you know what happens to equipment when it is left in the rain? It is ruined. Look at this (waving a shuttlecock - definitely destroyed by the rain - in the air very vigorously) - What use is a cock when it has become stiff? And look at these balls (pointing to a pile of wet and totally ruined tennis balls), they have absorbed the water and are swollen and slippery. Balls must be dry. You will not be able to play with wet balls.
We will have to get new equipment. And I will tell the Principal that all the girls have promised me that you will handle the cocks and balls with care always. Do you promise, girls? "

We never figured out whether she was a total innocent or very very wicked. Personally, I go with 'innocent'.

Shain, thank you so much for that tag. Yes, I did enjoy MCC.

One day in March

Here's a tag I found on Pam's blog. I had such a lovely time doing it.
If anyone wants to, go to wikipedia, type in your birth date and do as I did.

Three events that happened on March 30th
240 BC - 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
1533 - Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.
1842 - Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.
I guess I should have become an astronomer, a nun, or a surgeon.

Two famous persons born on March 30th
1746 - Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (d. 1828)
1853 - Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)
I should have been a painter, I would have been a painter, if only I had the talent.

One famous person who died on March 30th
2004 - Alistair Cooke, English-born journalist (b. 1908)
A journalist? I could have been. Maybe.

Doing this tag, sent me into a daydream, where I became someone different every second. It was fun.

Everyone who wants to do this is tagged.

Tenned

Pam tagged me and this is "Chinese Freeze Tag" in which I am supposed to list ten interesting facts about myself. I hope this doesn't bore all of you to tears.

1. If I sit in the driver's seat of a car, I shut my eyes when I see a vehicle coming from the opposite direction ( from practically anywhere, actually). Remember this if you are ever going to ask me for a lift.

2. The first time I see a tree, I check it out for climbing possibilities. I don't climb trees anymore, though.

3. I love long walks by myself.

4. I love long drives, preferably at night, preferably in the rain, preferably with someone who drives with their eyes open.

5. I make snap decisions on whether I like someone.

6. A person does not have to be nice for me to like them. If I like them, then niceness no longer matters.

7. When I was a child, I had to empty out my school bag on the verandah so that the family would know if I had brought yet another stray cat/kitten home.

8. At any given point in time, I'll have five books with me, each in various stages of being read. One out of these will be a book which I am reading for the first time. At least one will be a children's book. The others will be old favourites off my bookshelf.

9. If I hear the word hospital, I can psyche myself to a point where my blood pressure almost shoots off the BP apparatus thingie. I scare my whole family with this. I scare myself with this.

10. My favourite breakfast is steamed bananas with fried eggs. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Here are the people I'm tagging. Mac, Shain, Jimmy, Rama, Hill Grandmom, Pickle, Bluebird, N, Desi Witch, Becky and Me the Syrian Xian.

Need to read

Went blog visiting today and here's what I found. me , (not me,as in I, but me, the syrian christian girl who is marrying nonsyrianchristiannonmallu boy) who always has a unique take on stuff - like wanting to get fired, put up a list of books. Look at the list of books below.

• Type "READ" beside the ones you've read.
• Type "WANT TO" beside the ones you'd like to read.
• Leave blank the ones that you aren't interested in.
• Type "AGAIN AND AGAIN" beside the ones you could read again and again.
• "TRIED" for those books that you've tried to read...again and again. (This one Rob put in!)
• "??" For those books you haven't heard of (This one, Paperback put in!
• "SAW IT" For those books you shamelessly watched the movie of instead (This one, me put in)
• "NEVER AGAIN" for those books you ploughed through and wish you hadn't. (My contribution - if I pick up a book, I just have to finish it, no matter how bad it is.)

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) Read
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) Again and Again
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) Again and Again
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) Read
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) Again and Again
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) Again and Again
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) Again and Again
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) Read
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) ??
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) Want to
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) Read
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)Read
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling) Read
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) Want to
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) Read
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling) Read
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald) ??
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling) Read
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) Again and Again
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) Read
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) Again and Again
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Read
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) Read
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel) Read
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)Again and Again
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) Again and Again and Again
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) Read
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) Read
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom) Want to
31. Dune (Frank Herbert) Read
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) Want to
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)Read
34. 1984 (Orwell) Read
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) Read
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) Read
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay) ??
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb) ??
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) ??
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) Read
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) Read
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) Want to
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) ??
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) Want to
45. Bible Read
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) Read
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) Read
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) Want to
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Read
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) ??
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) ??
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) Read
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) ??
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) Read
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Read
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence) ??
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) Read
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough) Read
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) Want to
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) Read
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) Read
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) Read
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy) Read
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) Want to
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis) ??
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) Read
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)??
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) Read
69. Les Miserables (Hugo) Read
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Again and again
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) Read
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez) Read
73. Shogun (James Clavell) Read
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) Read
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Read
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay) ??
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) Want to
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving) Read
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence) ??
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)??
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley) ??
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) Read
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier) Read
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind) ??
85. Emma (Jane Austen) Again and Again
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams) Again and Again
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) Read
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields) ??
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago) Want to
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer) Read
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje) Want to
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) Read
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck) Read
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) Want to
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) Read
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) ??
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford) Never Again
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) Read
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) Read