A N N A J O H N ' S D I A R Y

Ess Emm MEETUP...liveblogged!

first in attendance and in my heart- brimful

second to show- "ads", who was actually two mins early, thus confirming for me that she CAN'T POSSIBLY be indian ;)

BTW- ads took bart to the powell st station and then WALKED here (to north beach) and was STILL early.  we have no excuse next to such an example.

third- anand and vinod, who sweetly asked if we'd mind if they joined us...and i rewarded such courtesy with a guffawed, "uh, it's a MEETUP." ;)

OMG, OM MALIK IS HERE!  you are all suitably jealous.

om thinks my writing is way better than two years ago.  "less angsty", "more structure".  w00t!  :D

wow, i'm not the only one who's had "issues" with infamous elderly indian people who work in "media".

om does not like SM's RSS w/comments and apparently, the "without" option doesn't work.

everyone is taking pictures of everyone else.

re: dirt oh, abhi...  :D

saheli is here!

the iPod shuffle IS awesome, thank you.

panini all around!

"MIA is so over..."

podcasting is SO over. ;)

BlogHerCon...and more BlogHerCon. 

bye vinod!  have a safe trip to ny.  :)

om's shuffle is stocked with brown music.  ONLY brown music.

it went from almost ALL GUYS to all girls.

deepa didn't show.  :(

i overheard brimful and saheli talking about something burning in berkeley and i freaked b/c i was scared they were discussing VIK'S annnnnnd...apparently VIK's now SUCKS.  meh.

i didn't see "bride and prejudice" and that is apparently okay.

saheli can bring ANYTHING back to a physicist or mathematician.  ANYTHING.

lo, bliss, i know thee

o
m
g

i'm at BlogHer and i wish this would go on for days.  yowza.  :)

p.s. chai is sitting next to me on the floor and we're four feet from dooce.  how's that envy taste?  ;)

I rock the mic, they say I'm not lady like

GOP Mallu : yo

GOP Mallu  signed off at 10:51:50 PM.

GOP Mallu  signed on at 10:10:50 AM. 

politicaldesi: you can't play with my yo-yo

GOP Mallu : oh my..i yo'd you by mistake :-)

politicaldesi: indeed

politicaldesi: anil is a doll, btw

politicaldesi: love him

GOP Mallu : cool

GOP Mallu : i'll be hearing all about your time together this weekend

politicaldesi: yayyyy

politicaldesi: tell him i'm boring

politicaldesi: and that i want to do the same thing again and again and again

politicaldesi: i.e.

politicaldesi: mysore dosa in georgetown

politicaldesi: and then watermelon martinis and kir royales at blue gin

politicaldesi: awesome

july 26

what are the odds?  i ran in to JT while crossing "Ts" and dotting an "I" at New York Washington Sports Club.  i thought it a good omen and i said as much, to the bewildered membership coordinator.  apparently, JT works out there nearly every weekday.  how lucky am i? FINALLY!  someone at the gym whom i actually know.  i've never had a workout buddy before.

oh yeah, DC area malayalee vomens...we're doing HH when i get back next week.  and THIS time, it'll be gallery place/chinablock or the convention center vs adams morgan/tryst.  :D

:+:

as if you assumed otherwise, but just in case you had, i'll reveal the predictable and obvious:

it's
1:30am
and
i
haven't
packed
yet.

w00t me!

24 hours from now, i'll be wading through the steaming masses in CALIFORNIA, yearning for my luggage!  i can't believe i'm going to go to sleep, go to work, make a deadline, rush home and maybe hit the gym before colliding with rush hour traffic on my way to my 7pm flight.  insanity, thy name is wednesday.

:+:

if the gilmore girls were on EVERY night during prime time, i'd do an hour of cardio a day.  tonight i watched rory lose the chilton student and the next thing i knew, it was minute 45.  yowza.

july 25

annnnnd...july 25 was the day where nothing i did went right or was good enough.  at work, i grew frustrated b/c i was massively confused by what i'm trying desperately to get done before my flight on wednesday...i felt seriously lame for a few hours, until i was reminded that it's only my fourth day and that NO ONE besides unreasonable me expects me to grok it all...

...and on HERstory, a comment thread turned interesting but ultimately problematic for me, as non-profits became the topic of the day.  i was taken aback by two comments left AFTER i thought i had clarified things (it was never my intention to start an entire convo about that which i clarified).  then, a well-meaning friend whom i know IRL ripped people a new one b/c they are sweetly protective of me and thought that i was getting disrespected.  the worst part of this is not the fact that said friend then proceeded to reveal areas of the "80"/my private life(!)
OR
that i didn't notice this until a third friend pointed it out
BUT
how it affected my perception of the situation. for better or worse, i couldn't shake my friend's take on the situation.  in the end, i did feel talked down to a bit, vaguely insulted, patronized...you get the picture. 

well, i've managed to come full-circle.  a few minutes ago on SM i apparently hurt someone's feelings.  fan-fucking-tastic.  they system DOES NOT work and i am going to bed before i muck up anything else.  today, i am not a good blogger and that ouches.

so much for being proud of interval training and torture abs at the gym...

>:{

july 24

bored? read this post on HERstory that is bringing the meany-pantsies out from the rocks they reside under. i'm not upset though.  they're out-commented by the sweet, good, kind, understanding people 15-1...

sigh.

okay, fine.  tired or not...

today i:

- attended church, where my feisty orthodox priest called out them protestants ;)

- shopped at whole foods, where i tried high-protein granola + vanilla yogurt for the first time.  i actually bought some-- i never do that no matter how yummy the samples.

- ate boursin cheese with the fresh sourdough from aforementioned...

- almost tried vegetarian sushi roll things.  totally weaseled out. 

- passed out into a carb coma for three hours.  couldn't believe how tired i felt AFTER.

- deleted a piece of shit who kept posting some poor girl's cell # on SM

- decided that all four fantanas are not cute.

- tried to update my fotolog:

(that's blogger kingsley, from saturday when i met him for the first time)

- freaked out slightly that i haven't packed for my wednesday flight yet.

- freaked out even more b/c i'm only going to get six hours of sleep... :)

:+:

to the only sibling i have, the only person who has my dad's DNA besides me, the only girl who has me wrapped 'round her pinky finger--

happy birthday, akiko.

kindly note the man's profession, y'all-- [much thanks, NG]

From: Bhaskar T <---------@gmail.com>

To: suitablegirl@gmail.com

Date: Jul 23, 2005 7:07 AM

Subject: I happen to see your blog- Bhaskar, India

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    Hello

 

   I happen to see your blog on internet,
   and it was fun going through all the
   links and pages.

 
   Wishing you good luck,

 

    Bhaskar
    Researcher on Overseas Indians

july 20

thanks to all the sweetness sent my way, i had a FANTASTIC first day (though it almost launched with a rather inauspicious start...think alarm clock clusterfcuk).

THANK YOU! :)

your first day is bound to go well when people sincerely exclaim, "i'm so excited you're here!" and similar right after you get introduced or re-introduced.  i felt like i was stepping into a familiar, much-loved pair of jeans; the role was one i've played before and yes, it was a good fit.

i didn't get to apply any makeup or do anything spectacular with my hair (see: aforeblogged clusterfuck) and so i felt less than polished as i rushed out my front door.  at least i remembered to generously perfume with my lucky signature scent (whose name i shall never reveal).  the hair thing turned out to be an inspired non-choice; it was so damned hot, a chignon was the only merciful option. it's probably a good sign that i didn't even think of such shortcomings, i was so immersed in my day.  ah, staying in the moment/mindfulness.  once i master that, i shall rule the world (as opposed to having occasionally great stretches of a few hours).

at lunch, i went to may company where for once, the chanel woman noticed that i existed without me clearing my throat a dozen times or looking at her piteously.  i wasn't shocked when i learned that she was one of their national makeup artistes-- i'm sure the regular dept store wench would've ignored me.  THIS is why i buy all my shit at the boutique on maiden lane in SF, not that you asked.

i just meant to buy a powder, since i hadn't applied any and i was running low anyway...i ended up getting coaxed into a black leather chair for a total face.  my yeux/ojos/kanna have never looked better.  when i have $65 i'm totally springing for the limited edition eye shadow compact she used on me. it was inspired by a chinoiserie screen that graced coco chanel's rue cambon apt.  visually arresting, unbelievably gorgeous, it's like the pallu of a good sari.  it's also $$$$$$$$$$$.  sigh. 

july 19

whenever i have something important to do the next day, like a flight or starting a new job...i can't sleep.  figures.

yes.  my genius readers, you know that i've got a week before i jet blue to california, so it must be the latter.  which one of you called my life a roller coaster?  i can't remember.  no matter, it so is.  i started a DIFFERENT job a week ago and it ended up being so far from what i expected or anyone else expected, it was just an untenable situation.  after three days, i understood why such a "great opportunity" had not been filled.  blech.  here's the thing: you know it's trouble when you're six hours into your new gig and your supervisor has thanked you/said sorry for the tenth time.  "i can't believe you're still here!  did i say still?  oops!"  um, yeah.

the people i was working with were lovely, the situation wasn't.  it's unfortunate, b/c it paid more than i've ever made, but if we've learned one thing from my 25 hours of employment last week, it's that i have a price.

i'm excited about tomorrow.  this is the job i interviewed for ten days ago.  the interview didn't even feel like an interview, it went so well.  the people were so kind, the expectations were familiar and the location is phenomenal--it sits on TOP of a metro stop...i.e. you ascend metro's escalators and you make a beeline for the huge glass doors that are all of six feet away...sweeeeeet!

i'll be ascending those damned escalators in 6.5 hours!  sigh.  why can't i ever get any sleep?

:+:

i get to meet glenn's friend from ny on thursday, which is shaping up to be another massively significant day.  never mind that i've never met glenn...i'm beyond such trivialities at this point of my online existence. ;)

:+:

i kicked ass today.  i didn't get to go do something fun, like write at tryst, but i org'd my apt like i was martha stewart on blow.  i vacuumed.  thrice.  it's a good thing.

suddenly, i'm Queer?

someone fwd'd this call for papers to a listserv i'm on...the following paragraphs abducted my attention:

Queer South Asia
Love and Sexuality Beyond Conventions

Sexuality is not talked about openly in South Asia. Marriage and having a family are central for the construction of society. Accordingly all forms of sexuality which deviate from the norm face problems.  Remaining single, changing partners or being homosexual are not options for the "standard" South
Asian...

Following the controversy around the film "Fire" in 1998 a queer movement developed in India. It fights for equal legal rights and the acceptance of society for differing styles of living. "Queer" is used to describe all people who question the sexual norm. It thus encompasses not only homo- and bisexuals as well as transgender but also heterosexuals, who, for example, do not want to marry.

huh.  while i haven't ruled it out eventually, right now i'm nowhere near wedded bliss.  sometimes i wonder how i dare entertain such blasphemous notions, but the older i get, the less necessary the entire arrangement seems. ;)

in recent heart-to-heart convos with my mom, i've stated that i might not ever get married.  she's reacted admirably, with a restrained sort of support which almost masks her very reasonable disappointment. my mother loves me, so she'll be in my corner no matter what.  she's not the one who crawls up my ass about the whole subject...that's other members of my fam.

the truth is, i probably will get married in five years or so.  however, i'm so far away from that possibility that if you unreasonably, improbably and hypothetically put a gun to my head, i'd say "no, i'm not getting hitched".  i guess that means that if you put a gun to my head...i'm queer. 

wow.

well, paint me a rainbow and buy me some flannel shirts.  i'm a strange girl after all. :D