tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66398442011-07-08T23:37:27.710+08:00"A beach house," he said, "doesn't even have to be on the beach. Though the best ones are. We all like to congregate," he went on, "at boundary conditions". "Really?" said Arthur. "Where land meets water. Where earth meets air. Where body meets mind. Where space meets time. We like to be on one side, and look at the other."Gauravnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-1003511809062523342009-09-13T13:46:00.001+08:002009-09-13T13:53:36.580+08:00

So I'm moving blogs again - after 792 posts on Blogger! It's been a good innings, but Blogger has been achy for editing stuff for a while now, and Movable Type Open Source's features and Gandi.net's drop-dead prices allow me to go for it, so I'm going for it. You can continue reading my life at blog.ggvaidya.com, which unfortunately means a whole lot of broken links (oh, pooh). I don't know

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-17057167123810553302009-08-18T02:53:00.000+08:002009-08-18T03:05:51.195+08:00

Blogger is breaking in stranger and mysteriouser ways every day, but - thanks to somebody understanding how HTML forms are supposed to work - it lets me POST content into its script, and that's all I really care about. But I would really appreciate that WebKit feature wherein you can rearrange form elements on the fly ... oh well, can't have everything, I guess. So, a decent day. A valient

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-80723081451319772792009-08-16T15:55:00.000+08:002009-08-16T16:54:52.090+08:00

So, I just woke up. Like, right now (well, more like 3:30pm SGT, but you can't stress the short stuff like that). This is a fantastic achievement for me, as it has been months (years, maybe!) since I've woken up this late. Heck, I played board games all night a few weeks ago, and even then I moseyed home at six, slept at seven, and then was up again by one. Three thirty is a mountain that few men

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-50022585338658188592009-08-15T01:57:00.003+08:002009-08-15T02:24:51.189+08:00

It's been a fairly frustrating and unproductive week, and I've been looking forward to the weekend for so long and with such passion I can't even begin to explain. There's so many little non-work things I need to catch up on, many of them small-scale even by the fairly unambitious standards of non-work things. And I'm being slowly engulfed by the drying, crackling flames of burnout, which is

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-87815974821829177642009-08-10T04:08:00.002+08:002009-08-10T12:34:29.094+08:00

Okay, so I'm going to stipulate that those two tall buildings with funky things on their roof is no less than the buildings I grew up in. I guess this based entirely on that curve in the street, which I vaguely remember from somewhere I once saw or something (it helps that Judges Court road is mostly straight except for this one bit), and on "New Road", which I remember geographically is where my

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-54696237244454101252009-08-09T11:07:00.001+08:002009-08-09T12:00:18.223+08:00

Okay, this is a long overdue blogpost, but I've got Things To Do, so I hope you'll excuse me if I hurry it up. I promised myself I'd write this while bunking in with my cousin in Bombay; he's now in London, his daughter (my niece!) is all growned up, and the relationships I was thinking about then fail to signify (or, you know, signify especially hard right now, depending). But if there's one

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-63338091759834714732009-06-10T23:08:00.002+08:002009-06-10T23:35:34.780+08:00

There's a very chirpy article about Mr. Singh, recently re-elected Prime Minister of India. Incredibly optimistic, it's very heartening at a time when India is slowly climbing up my list of countries-I-want-to-end-up-in. Since I'm oh-so Indopolitical tonight, I might as well mention my concern at a BBC article on dynastic politics in India, jumping off from Ms. Sangma's entry into politics (her

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-37943813542809341022009-05-13T07:50:00.003+08:002009-05-13T08:59:01.769+08:00

I woke up to the strangest dream this morning: my mum, dad, and sister were "in a house" (which house? Somehow I assumed it was somewhere in Singapore, but it couldn't be, could it?), and we were moving to Australia. It was a pretty abstract dream about moving, running around, packing this, anticipating that (including sage advice like "eat lightly *before* flying somewhere new, but then eat

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-9240941025298815402009-05-03T23:39:00.003+08:002009-05-03T23:50:52.965+08:00

The contradiction in the title is easily explained: it was a fantastically good weekend on all counts, except in terms of "things I should have got done", of which basically none were done at all (arguably, I slept in for ages on Friday and Saturday because I stayed up late Wednesday and Thursday to push the first release of Graphics-Magick-Object, my first CPAN module). But the fact remains that

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-25131877026371335532009-04-27T00:19:00.003+08:002009-04-27T01:43:59.186+08:00

Okay, this is about the first time I've filled up a quiz without someone tagging me directly or any such, but it was just too much fun to pass up! It was a challenge, so how could I resist? Here are the instructions: Using only song titles from ONE ARTIST to answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people you like and include me. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-58942815659272254912009-04-19T22:40:00.003+08:002009-04-19T22:46:12.391+08:00

I hate 'em. So stressful! E-mail's so much better, if not quite as quick. Ah, well. We suffer in the silence we're forced to break when the ringing stops. Had a strange idea last night; how about computer science teacher as a career move? A more interesting (and possibly less stressful) life than project management, probably better paying than startup-programming-junkie, a whole lot more

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-8851264317225739302009-04-04T01:50:00.001+08:002009-04-04T04:16:34.638+08:00

Hmm. It's almost two a.m., I'm procrastinating this last bit of homework I've got and a bunch of lecture slides I should go through before the workshop tomorrow; stuff's all printed out, but I don't know how I'm going to get up in time and find a cab and then rush down with everything I need ... Yep, that's it. This is exactly like being an undergrad again. Updated 4:15am 2009-04-04: And once

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-91578242576474802042009-01-26T03:10:00.005+08:002009-01-26T03:27:48.795+08:00

Gong xi fa cai! This Chinese New Year finds me in good spirits: things are going pretty well workwise, I'm starting on a short-term course in a week which could change my life in interesting ways, and I've got semi-viable plans through mid-2010. Which means 2009 is - in the gross - fairly decided. Pretty unusual! It's also January 26, and - apart from hoping that nothing untoward happens in

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-42486830301195558832009-01-12T01:40:00.001+08:002009-01-12T01:41:14.765+08:00

Yes, I'm still alive. Also, Singapore's still way too hot, but let's not go there. I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm aTraveling Self-Knowing Extrovert

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-67045966491518098082008-12-28T22:24:00.002+08:002008-12-28T22:52:38.801+08:00

I'm kinda getting bored of this whole schtick. There's only so many games you can play, random websites you can visit (oh, hey: you should check out the most ridiculous Batman comics ever released! Pathetic, yes. Funny, definitely) before you get bored stiff and solid. And somehow Wikipedia just isn't fun any more. There's stuff to do, but it just isn't as sit-down-and-join as Wikipedia used to

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-55897762053052896982008-12-24T01:44:00.003+08:002008-12-24T02:32:17.977+08:00

Well, hey. Hello. It really is very nice to see you again. Seriously! I'm not kidding. After Wordpress' prettiness and Twitter's overexcited interface, Blogger's bland colours are like coming back home. And of course it is home: I've "kept" this blog since March 2004; at four years, this is one of my longest single, continuous residences anywhere. Home it most certainly is. I'm going to be

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-20471352227789983062008-12-18T02:35:00.003+08:002008-12-18T02:45:10.799+08:00

Major quickie: MacBook's back from servicing! Yay, hooray, and other such exultations. Unfortunately, the whole thing's been pretty traumatic for it. Most of my preferences and so on have returned normally, but most system and all developer systems have stopped working. Probably a whole lot easier to reinstall than to hunt down whatever configuration problem there is. Praise the heavens that

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-66125653223204121672008-11-03T23:46:00.003+08:002008-11-03T23:51:06.788+08:00

Michael Palin is more famous than Kenneth Williams. KW - what an institution. And - as John Cleese said the other day - Palin is no longer the funniest Palin, alas. But I still love him in Brazil.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-67434017971640933992008-11-03T22:36:00.003+08:002008-11-03T23:21:16.382+08:00

Was having such an excellent weekend; went to the gym and everything, stomach was definitely on the up-and-up. Then - disaster! Today was horrible. I woke up with a sore throat, and the mucus dripping down my throat made me feel positively awful. Dragged myself out of bed, as there didn't seem much point in doing anything else; and anyway, my room being brightly lit means there's no sleeping in

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-18813547292257264082008-10-29T11:11:00.000+08:002008-10-29T11:15:40.890+08:00

As some of you may know, I've been having bad abdominal pain for the last two days. As such, I'm spending time in hospital (horspital!) waiting rooms, from whence blogging is hard. If you are so concerned, you can follow my progress on Twitter. Cheers!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-10148284524129273562008-10-25T02:26:00.002+08:002008-10-25T02:34:27.312+08:00

One of the bestest things about the Goons is, once you listen to them for any length of time, you start thinking like them. There was a lovely gag in this week's Goon Show on BBC Radio 7: a German spy is marched in to see Maj. Bloodnok, an interview ensues. At the end of it, the Major orders the spy lead back to his quarters. We hear the sentry barking orders, and military-precise footsteps

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-81956370301282833152008-10-19T23:40:00.003+08:002008-10-20T00:00:39.730+08:00

Leopard, as you may know, does the incredibly smart move of moving the RSS reader into exactly the right place: into the inbox. (Admittedly, Opera's been doing that forever. But I've never much liked Opera's mail reader in general. And the total-backup of the e-mail here is sweet. But that's another story. Anyway, one of the nice side-effects of that is forcing me to read all the friends' blog

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-20157611779324860392008-10-18T12:01:00.002+08:002008-10-18T12:24:27.046+08:00

Woke up with the most massive eyebags. Ah, well. Not entirely sure how to proceed. I could work on the Test Anything Protocol spec for a while. Or on either Singapore.pm or my own much-neglected website. But I don't feel like working, especially not on a computer. Even I need some kind of break! Other option: play Half Life 2. Yech. So boring. And besides, I'd like to conserve my "Xbox muscles

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-65555505650745292072008-10-18T00:59:00.002+08:002008-10-18T01:10:02.880+08:00

MacOS X 10.5 "Leopard" is as fantastic as everybody says it is! It's ridiculously pretty (duh), has a nice, crisp loop compared to Tiger's more hazy feel. The laptop feels a little bit snappier, but that might just be me. The new Mail.app is as good as I thought it would be; and I can't wait to dive into all the other apps that I have to play with. First things first, though; right now, am

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-15322123937800183402008-10-16T03:09:00.003+08:002008-10-16T03:16:42.343+08:00

Okay, here we go. Spent moneys on MacOS X Leopard - at long last! The plan is to get it installed by this weekend, doing a complete backup one night, and then taking my Mac in for repairs once it becomes impossible to start my laptop when I want. So far, it takes about six times before the screen comes up. Hopefully, it'll stay below ten for a while. Good news: today (well, yesterday, now) was

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-82718687169650999932008-10-15T10:14:00.003+08:002008-10-15T10:25:21.500+08:00

Okay, this is definitely worse than it's ever been before. If I can keep this thing going until the end of the month, I can buy Leopard/Time Capsule next month, do a complete backup, and then send my baby in for replacement. I've got my photos and e-mails backed up, but seriously; I'm going to be buying Leopard/Time Capsule anyway, so I might as well get it done now and be sure everything's going

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-2618570975090348212008-10-14T23:30:00.002+08:002008-10-15T10:35:38.641+08:00

My MacBook Pro went black today, and took a while to resuscitate. Brr, scary. And having bought an Xbox and iPod Classic recently, am in no spirits to buy Time Machine and/or Leopard to make sure everything (or most of everything) stays around when they eventually have to take my laptop in and have it replaced. Then again, this is my data and stuff I'm talking about ... surely, any price is

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-33355020219684258772008-10-12T23:46:00.002+08:002008-10-13T00:05:30.739+08:00

Less than a week after Apple finally acknowledges the NVidia graphics problem bug, my laptop starts showing signs of a relapse. Luckily, the 'hold-down-T-while-booting-then-reboot' thing worked now, but who knows for how long? Brr, scary. On the good side, my last Twitter read: Finished Gears Of War, a bit of Half Life 2, bought newly released Saramago book and two others, ate three Ramlys, and

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-18901191311787548192008-10-10T00:41:00.002+08:002008-10-10T01:12:13.170+08:00

Such a long article and no mention of J., George, Harris, and Montmorency? Still, learned a new word.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-34967996510508123572008-10-06T00:40:00.002+08:002008-10-06T00:47:21.431+08:00

Just spoke to someone for one hr 14 mins. Apparently, the record is 5 hrs, and my name's on this. Strange thing to be remembered for, but hey, anything goes, right? Apparently, we were both at ECP at roughly the same time (me: 6pm-8pm, other person: 6pm-9pm). What if we'd met? Would things have gone the way they did? Also: I finally asked the question I needed to ask. And it was the right

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-47410331831118656272008-10-05T10:51:00.003+08:002008-10-05T11:15:27.459+08:00

I had a long, complicated, tragicomic dream last night, exactly the kind of crap I don't need right now. She was in it, and school, which really is exactly the most horrible thing I can imagine (school, not Her). School was horrible (but hey! Interesting design; one tall building with everything on top of everything), as you might expect. A teacher dragged me over the coals for eating in class.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-91443650506189608172008-10-03T19:55:00.003+08:002008-10-04T11:36:36.341+08:00

So: People-I-know-with-crushes is at a local high, which is always fun. Yay long convoluted chats at obscene hours of day and night! I finished a major something at work today. It's going to take a LOT to make it really work, but atleast the basic bits are all in together and 'holding on', so I think I can be a bit optimistic. Huzzah. I finished Portal (and fell in love with "Still Alive", as

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-27022747158190044272008-10-01T23:48:00.002+08:002008-10-01T23:55:33.938+08:00

We have toilet problems. I hate toilet problems - with my digestive system, I can't afford not to. Grr, argh, and other uncomfortable sounds, in any order you please. In other news: finished Portal, the "Water Hazard" chapter of Half Life 2, and (yesterday) Act III of Gears of War. Productive holiday? Nup. Fun? Except for the toilet issue - hell yeah.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-56750582233372420672008-10-01T11:34:00.002+08:002008-10-01T13:20:58.144+08:00

Hello, there. As with all conversations in the future, it's hard to know exactly what to say, and what you'll want to know - what's important to keep, really. But this being my blog and all, I feel a little entitled to say what I like. So here goes. I first heard about you around April 7, 2008. You were born, I hear, on September 29, 2008, at 7:05pm CDT (Central Daylight Time), which

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-26184202663280266932008-09-23T09:47:00.000+08:002008-09-23T10:11:43.339+08:00

First time in a long time I've had an "appropiate" dream (and not a "bad" dream, either! A first from since Saturday or something). Apart from the current ongoing family drama, the overall theme seemed to be a general lack of interesting women. My stomach shows no sign of getting better, which is (obviously) worrying - as is the fact that the pain seems to come and go. An ulcer? God, I hope not.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-49065261329610440902008-09-23T01:13:00.002+08:002008-09-23T01:14:18.823+08:00

A Lyttony of Bulwer-Lytton winners. Yes, you heard right!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-21466454241024175432008-09-23T01:02:00.002+08:002008-09-23T01:03:49.980+08:00

... but I think this is really cute: fake Mr. Bean iPod advertisement. I'll leave now.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-25772363425301965342008-09-10T01:25:00.002+08:002008-09-10T01:27:22.249+08:00

Boredom percolates everywhere; I stare at the screen and hope for starlight. Only the whiteness of the websites appear. One last glance, and then I disappear.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-50822002148600003292008-09-09T00:46:00.000+08:002008-09-09T00:47:13.064+08:00

Well, I was taken aback, anyway.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-36695535805957244652008-09-08T23:17:00.002+08:002008-09-09T00:05:21.887+08:00

Stormy lightning splits lit sky. Now it's calm, guitar calm, television droning in the corner, wonder when the darkness ends, the day will come and another day.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-27588126731756225062008-09-02T14:41:00.002+08:002008-09-02T14:44:07.603+08:00

Jenny Owen Youngs is a feisty, hyper-sensitive, disease-free singer/songwriter/former girl scout who wants to be your friend. claiming influences from Beck to Jesus Christ Superstar to Britney Spears, her music is an echo of Erin Mckeown hopping into Jeff Buckley's Pontiac, cruising backwoods Alabama red dirt roads and singing along to The Sundays and Nick Drake. Her songs straddle the

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-83350571005230931512008-08-23T21:50:00.004+08:002008-08-23T22:09:39.423+08:00

In keeping with my recent "buy, buy, buy!" mood, I've today purchased Brazil. I was going through a "omg why oh why" thing, but now that the movie's started, it's all vanished - this movie is absolutely worth it! The beauty of the visuals, the sharpness of the wit, and the fantastic soundtrack make up for anything. So, hurrah me! OMG Gordon Kaye is in here as well! Tiny role, but there you go.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-24870877851639900442008-08-23T15:11:00.002+08:002008-08-23T15:34:13.250+08:00

Since I'm stuck at home, without much to do (without much I want to do, truth be told), this really is the perfect time to catch up on my blogging. Especially what with Blogspot's new interface and all that. But really: other than my Pune article cleanup being finished, what have I to report? I'm really just looking forward to, in chronological order: Going to PP and drinking some nice soup,

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-60903128004050338692008-08-22T00:30:00.002+08:002008-08-22T00:46:20.447+08:00

Am sitting in bed watching My Name Is Earl, which I'd forgotten how well it ages. My second viewing, and every episode is as great as it was the first time around. Unbelievably funny, and it's not even my favourite episode yet. On television this minute: Season 2 ep 4, the the "Time After Time" sequence. Sheer brilliance! And yay! Was so sick all day today that I completely forgot my tooth was

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-13442808537564835362008-08-21T01:20:00.001+08:002008-08-21T01:20:33.617+08:00

Also, my tooth hurts. Dagnabit.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-6929494513115944622008-07-14T19:57:00.003+08:002008-07-14T20:00:33.949+08:00

Thanks to Saturday Night Fry, I now know that one of my favourite ringtones on my last phone (called "Walking Around" on the phone) is really the main theme of the Alla Turca from Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, making this also the first Mozart piece I like. So it goes! Oh, also: I have a guitar now. Yay me!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-81155441661870471852008-07-12T09:48:00.001+08:002008-07-14T20:03:12.836+08:00

Rather ill-advisedly tried to do everything all at once - chill out, tidy room, and backup computer. Just finished backup, room is thirty percent done with no obvious signs of imminent completion, and chill out - ha, ha. And now I own my own television. Good heavens - when did I get so mercenary? Let's see how tomorrow goes; who knows, it might even be worse!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-6553396039300758342008-07-08T00:27:00.001+08:002008-07-08T11:35:50.767+08:00

Via e-mail to Blogger, no less! Ah, the wonders of the steam age!I'm loving this, in case I forgot to mention this before. I stopped just now and looked out from out my two windows, and the view is so splendid it makes my heart ache. My bed is perfect: right length, right height, right width; right degree of softness even, perhaps. My table is going to be at the perfect height beside it. There's

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-508815667824594422008-07-04T13:03:00.000+08:002008-07-04T13:05:26.228+08:00

From Tiong Bahru MRT, as it turns out. Seriously, how cool is that? Loving my new smartphone. Yay!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-56078361626552863432008-06-24T01:16:00.002+08:002008-06-24T01:40:52.244+08:00

Managed to hit high scores on all three heavy duty activities: Managed to get Family in to see Office and Officemates. Said goodbye all nice and all. Spent hours just fretting over houses to see. Was disappointed when only ended up with one "interesting" and one "maybe", except the "maybe" turned out to be "really interesting" so now - with no further effort - we're juggling three viewings

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-19288814478978604162008-06-18T02:21:00.002+08:002008-06-18T02:35:01.898+08:00

Things to think about: Picking folks up from the airport tomorrow. Really? Will have to take a taxi. Would be nice, though. Will I be able to get up early enough? Go to work, do the catch-up polka. Probably cancel night plans with family in return for greeting at airport etc. Hopefully, will get time to go do the house-hunting-hoedown too. Particularly if I get up superearly for the airport,

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-4800956658634862452008-06-14T02:56:00.003+08:002008-06-14T03:15:46.089+08:00

I had the strength to write a proper blog entry. Was not rushing so much on PT3, and had time to "enjoy the scenery" as it were. There wasn't so much happening this month. Family trip! Moving house! Finding house! Grr. My mouth was enjoying greater pleasure. Stress makes me bite my cheeks, causing awful gashes, and sometimes I get toothaches which come and go. Grr and all that. The Goon Show was

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-6401281854936573112008-06-13T00:06:00.004+08:002008-06-13T00:36:33.055+08:00

Went house hunting today; fairly disappointing - we saw two places; I hated one and Ifty hated the other. So. We might be increasing our budget, which will certainly help us find a place. Let's see how that goes; in any cases, we are finding a place ASAP, because I can't take much more of this calling-up-agents stress. And stress makes me particularly unhappy because: work is stressful! With

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-87469098480380737992008-06-08T22:26:00.003+08:002008-06-08T23:17:29.949+08:00

So: I finally managed to finish the Undead campaign, and praise FSM, for I hate the undead. No class. No society. We've gone back to playing Orcs now, who I love, because Thrall is easily the most charismatic character I've played so far (that dwarf commander wasn't bad, but oh well). Incidently, the trick to finishing the campaign isn't micromanaging, it's building heavy buildings. So far, I'd

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-35052081558802757642008-06-06T00:38:00.003+08:002008-06-06T00:49:43.981+08:00

A quickie; I'm going to sleep now and don't feel like going, so I'll procrastinate by writing things down. Work: Very important to me right now, both to my ego (have to make deadlines, have to make it work, have to make it elegant) and socially (hanging out with friends all day long is fun!). Am going to try to get in earlier next week, try to get a more sensible schedule going so I can have

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-36995782704649972132008-06-04T01:55:00.003+08:002008-06-04T02:56:01.305+08:00

Yeah, surprisingly, eh? After yesterday was such a complete, painful waste, today was enthusiastically pleasant. To begin with, morning was torrid and without life, and I limped into work a little later than usual (but not the foobar that was yesterday). Had a McBreakfast on the way in, and promised myself yet again that I would resort to such horrible means to obtain nutrition in the mornings.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-1719960835667930972008-06-02T01:06:00.002+08:002008-06-02T01:40:40.199+08:00

Saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off again today, after absolutely forever. Such joyful film-making and acting! Still undecided about whether to buy the DVD (or rather, when to buy the DVD), but probably sooner rather than later, the Amazon-purchase-hold holding back things for a while, though, thankfully. Still, the Ferrari's final scene is one of the few completely laugh-out-loud scenes in moviedom as

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-47333471205721930602008-06-01T23:48:00.003+08:002008-06-02T01:00:19.338+08:00

Not my fault, is hard to find. Am vaguely impressed that when I finally bought a copy, it was a strange experience of ending up at the store after closing and buying the last copy off the shelves, when I only ended up going to Jurong Point because the dining-in facilities at the Bukit Batok Pizza Hut had closed for the weekend. So it was pretty unexpected all-in-all. Good things: the price (

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-87167392495759654822008-05-31T23:56:00.003+08:002008-06-01T00:15:13.915+08:00

... is on the television screen, and although they just did the "front two lines of the phalanx runs out, kills soldier after soldier, then wanders back later when they need to get back into formation", it's still a fantastic movie, and I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. Gladness! Tomorrow (or sometime this week), I'll be seeing "Assassination of Jesse James", and perhaps becoming very unhappy

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-89375511757882438312008-05-26T01:27:00.002+08:002008-05-26T03:45:49.312+08:00

A vague list I paid mucho mucho money for .Mac, and promptly felt very guilty. I'm not going to pull the move-all-my-money-out-of-my-account-before-they-debit trick this time, though, I have to stop making spontaneous online purchases with the power of my mind. Was very disappointed that I could publish my calendar but not make it private. Anyway, it came in use with an hour, because of me

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-50858764134764926882008-05-20T10:53:00.002+08:002008-05-20T11:18:02.727+08:00

So, there ends the weekend which was not a weekend. As a way to start the next week, I woke up (after re-sleeping, then having a really weird dream about packing to return to Singapore - from Manek? - and, later, two charging elephants) - I wake up at 10:45, which is pretty much the earliest I can wake up and not have time for breakfast. As an aside, in case you are not one with the Twitter, the

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-33687769815680410992008-04-24T18:22:00.003+08:002008-04-24T18:53:04.697+08:00

Sometimes Popagandhi reminds me of Orhan Pamuk; a good example is here. Speaking of OP, while I doubt I will be able to return his book to the library by tonight (although I will try, if I can!), I definitely wanna try "column-writing" once I get back from India. Should be fun. And oh, yes, India! I am heading back to the homeland early tomorrow morning. It's going to be a pretty short trip, so

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-71607200419806675342008-04-11T02:08:00.003+08:002008-04-11T02:31:44.487+08:00

So, GRE biology: the fun begins 0830 (gasp, so early!), Saturday morning, Apr 12, 2008. I'm unbelievably nervous; if all goes according to plan, I'll be finishing reading through my GRE Biology book tomorrow, do two practise tests (one free-timed, one timed, natch) and do some web-based research (quick! What's the archegonium?). My quick look at the test yesternight revealed: I have no clue

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-19951218868166583822008-03-27T00:02:00.003+08:002008-03-27T00:20:12.434+08:00

Atleast, you know, lately. I mean today. It was a good day. Just as I got up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday, today I got up on the right side of the bed, and that means everything's been wonderful today in general. Productive was up - not as good as I'd like it to be, true; but a whole lot better than it's been lately, which is a good thing. I didn't study GRE today - no surprise there,

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-71163492120551990652008-03-26T00:18:00.003+08:002008-03-26T00:23:06.730+08:00

... that in 2006, at the age of 97, Dr. Michael E. DeBakey suffered from aortic dissection, and became the oldest person to be treated for this condition, which is essentially a tear in the inner lining of the aorta, causing blood to leak into the tunica media? Which is especially cool because he developed the technique used on him? How cool is that. And he's still alive (as of mid-March, 2007)

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-15923849287801688272008-03-25T22:07:00.003+08:002008-03-25T22:31:12.572+08:00

Horrible, mind you, in my own personal reduction; I'm not talking out-of-money-without-a-home, but just a whole bunch of not-so-nice things all at once. Not embarrassing, mind, but close. And just generally horrible all around. Grr, ugh, ouch, and all that. Right now, I'm relatively comfy, there's a very angsty episode of The Pretender in the DVD, Nobody Scores was having a fun time a while

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-34620768117269875812008-03-16T02:45:00.003+08:002008-03-16T02:55:28.636+08:00

I'll never understand mathematics. Ever. It's been a lousy boring kind of day. Perhaps my conventional strategy - to aggressively use weekends to go out and do things, and make myself happy - is a much better one than vaguely trying to get stuff done, giving up, and settling for a 20% solution. Blech, blech, blech. And of course there's so much incredible stuff to do! Oh no no no no no. I

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-4551080785089880572008-03-15T19:53:00.003+08:002008-03-15T19:59:09.382+08:00

As near as I can tell, they create their accounts by taking e-mail addresses from competing job-seeking websites, creating an account for you, and then spamming you with e-mails about new jobs. It's completely unethical, unscrupulous and beyond belief. Please do not support www.JobSupermart.com or any affliated companies: we can't allow companies like this to continue abusing our e-mail addresses

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-77554445472795263312008-03-10T01:20:00.002+08:002008-03-10T01:29:45.234+08:00

No, haven't written anything on "my story" yet. No, haven't done my taxes yet either. Clean up my room?! Oh, dear ... look, just look at points 1 and 2 above and then tell me if that's on any sort of priority. I have taken photographs on my new Olympus E-510; haven't had the time to polish them off and upload them onto Flickr yet, though. Maybe in the next few days? (the photos were taken

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-69983414432819196522008-03-01T03:05:00.003+08:002008-03-01T03:10:07.248+08:00

Well, that's over. I bought myself a camera, watched No Country for Old Men at the cinema, and had a really awesome, juicy dinner; a nice, long walk; a long bus-ride; a cab ride, and then had a chance to play around with my brand new camera! My punctuation's gone to bits, so I'm sorry; and thanks to everybody who wrote nice things on my wall - I'll reply to them all individually this weekend!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-62935245991715027202008-02-25T00:29:00.003+08:002008-02-25T01:10:05.263+08:00

Since I needs must write a blog post (because of the twin pressures of request and competition, as also a certain need to express myself in writing; that I am waiting for an e-mail of much importance also contributes to this need certainly), but ... Good heavens. I have to write. This is a need. I need to write, I feel it within me. I want to write, writing can be fun. But I also must write;

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-40244638485966003702008-02-17T00:46:00.002+08:002008-02-17T01:58:42.088+08:00

The good news: today's Civ4 game is going a lot better than yesterdays! My assault on Montezuma and his hordes went a lot better today, results in the complete destruction of his civilization in the late middle ages (when technological limitations had kept him back in the early middle ages, which made my job easier! Unfortunately, I had no horses anywhere in my land, which is exactly why I had to

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-46677253080814688542008-02-16T04:07:00.002+08:002008-02-16T05:22:27.759+08:00

Just saw The Life and Death of Peter Sellers on DVD just now. Good movie? Bad movie? Hard to tell - I roughly agree with a review I saw at the IMDb (which I can't find now, dagnabit), which said that it wasn't that great a movie, but it was competently done and seemed to do a good job of bringing Mr. Sellers to life. But, oh man. Oh the loneliness. You end up feeling all the wretchedness and

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-53573576486332677552008-02-15T02:23:00.003+08:002008-02-15T02:42:39.945+08:00

It's late, I'm sleepy, and I'm hoping to have a relatively early day tomorrow, so humour a lack of content in this post, please. In fact, I only write to note three things: My stomach upset is on the wane. I just spent an obscene amount of money on a photo organiser/editor software. Perhaps most interestingly, I had a pleasant dinner-and-walk with The Snake, who will quit the Island for warmer

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-22050275796298239802008-02-10T23:14:00.002+08:002008-02-15T02:37:28.031+08:00

So, managed to go on a nice, long walk again last time - not as long as last time, though, because I went out a whole lot later (last week was about 10kms, this week is 8.746 km, according to Google Earth and the Path Measurement Tool. It was a most satisfying walk, because: I found this unbelievably beautiful huge plot of land just lying vacant, right behind the Bukit Batok Town Park. So

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-60537620733528528382008-01-27T02:35:00.001+08:002008-01-27T02:37:19.366+08:00

... face pwnage. (I'm sorry, I'll stop posting at 2:30am ...)

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-68856612061656274782008-01-26T19:56:00.000+08:002008-01-26T19:57:56.333+08:00

Okay, that's just one-quarter of a marathon, but it's still quite an achievement for a couch potato like me. And, of course, it was tons of fun, although it was so sunny I don't think my eyes will ever be the same again :(.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-32572808978262731102008-01-19T16:52:00.000+08:002008-01-19T17:16:16.496+08:00

More links from the inbox! Inspirations on saving from Dinosaur comics. Awesome reviews of Star Trek:TNG episodes by Wil Wheaton. Did you know that The Second Book of the Kings in the Bible is commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings? Salman Rushdie's letter to Taslimah Nasreen. Some awesome graffiti from the West Bank barrier I'd love to find this out sometime. There's now a

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-60137494347180175152008-01-19T15:53:00.000+08:002008-01-19T16:52:43.473+08:00

I've been pointing out these links to myself for ages, so there's a lot of those! Weta Digital made a pretty nice video advertising New Zealand. A whole lot of articles from PoetryFoundation.org: Original Gangsta: How the poems of 18th century poet Alexander Pope prefigured modern hip-hop rivalries, John Donne's "The Sun Rising", My Poet, an absolutely adorable essay, YawningBread's

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-24673702269676087952008-01-13T08:24:00.000+08:002008-01-13T08:46:59.590+08:00

I'm back in Singapore. Should I forget, this is my favourite APOD photo ever (so far).

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-60625428805751962602007-12-25T14:45:00.000+08:002007-12-25T14:50:46.209+08:00

May I return to the beginning The light is dimming, and the dream is too The world and I, we are still waiting Still hesitating Any dream will do And maybe - just maybe - this might be my last blog post in 2007. So just in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night! -- and have a fantastic 2008!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-72901990872649280842007-12-20T04:26:00.000+08:002007-12-20T05:01:09.364+08:00

So I've been up late listening to the special 'Big Link Up' edition of BBC World Have Your Say on the BBC World Service, who celebrate 75 years of broadcasting today (December 19th) - happy birthday, BBC World Service! - and also have a spiffy new website; nice and clean, although I don't know if the interactivity is worth it. I'm wondering whether to recommend that they - or atleast, WHYS - go

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-75411040311342693622007-12-14T12:37:00.000+08:002007-12-14T12:41:34.231+08:00

Flickr now has photo stats! Yet another way to waste time on my favourite photo site!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-22547276550971905462007-12-11T01:45:00.000+08:002007-12-11T01:54:49.187+08:00

As a complete aside, I loved how The Cat in the Hat used the Beatles song Getting Better (Mike Myers even alludes to it, in character, as "we managed to work in an up-tempo pop tune into the soundtrack, that's important"), and as soon as it started, I wondered what they were going to do about it's rather dark final verse. The answer? Just hum it, then start singing again once the final chorus

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-66014313962998719802007-12-10T23:38:00.000+08:002007-12-10T23:58:05.283+08:00

That didn't end very well. At all. How embarrassing :(. Otherwise, okay, alright. Calls to make home, hang clothes up, then sleep beautiful sleep. Sleep, glorious sleep!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-6312668878047722592007-12-10T01:07:00.000+08:002007-12-10T01:27:55.240+08:00

At the moment, I have the following requests on Facebook: One event invitation Two group invitations One 6o invite request One counter strike invite One harry potter's magic invite One you're hot request (from a guy, unfortunately) One entourage invite Three (!) (fluff)friends invites One define me request Two slayers invites Four (!!) Jedi vs. Sith invites One cat quotes requests. I never

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-26299709812819513152007-12-08T01:42:00.000+08:002007-12-08T02:47:24.338+08:00

As they have for a while, once I've finished cleaning out my room, fleshing out my plans, and had my trip back home, thenI'll push 'em all, probably all at once. But they'll be worth it! Promise! I got really sleepy around 1am, after waking up around 10 or 11, then going sleep again for an hour or two. I was like, crap, my biological clock is really out of whack! But now I'm slowly waking up

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-62345671531650710392007-12-07T00:17:00.000+08:002007-12-07T00:47:44.662+08:00

It seems like forever since I last really achieved something. I suppose programming achievements don't count; they aren't real, they don't matter. Like all programming, it's just scribbling with chalk on clouds of thoughts, or something therelike. The biggest problem of a lack of achievement is getting to sleep at night: your body wants you to, your mind wants you to, but something inside you

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-41546928020743583302007-11-25T02:24:00.000+08:002007-11-25T02:43:58.652+08:00

The day started out rotten, then gently improved to "aight" and "okay" rating or thereabouts. Which is, you know, perfectly fine by me I guess. I've got more chores now - chores! Sigh. My copy of the PBF Comics Book came in today; it's really pretty funny! Lots of the nasty humour which typifies the website. I'm sleepy, so off I'll go, but if you have the time, read the famous Great Outdoor

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-64664050469605081282007-11-24T11:26:00.000+08:002007-11-24T11:29:32.485+08:00

... a chip on your shoulder whispering softly in your ear: "once again, you fail it!".

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-62503856686075986022007-11-20T12:07:00.000+08:002007-11-20T12:29:38.867+08:00

In light of this Slashdot article, last week's algorithm-based xkcd cartoon is suddenly a whole lot ... more appropriate. More funny, even. I wonder how much more of the 1337 series is going to come true. Last night's Achewood was also good fun. And this is my 700th post on this blog! Rawr.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-91923963964070953602007-11-17T01:39:00.000+08:002007-11-17T02:22:07.627+08:00

It's been a nice week. Lots (far too much) of rushing around, but good food (Subways; hey, it's better than prata!), good company, and very nice computer games. Also: room is nice, neighborhood is nicer, books - oh! books, I finally gave Ursula K. Le Guin a try, and can only regret I didn't try them earlier. Good stuff, that; science fiction in an old-school, Star Trek sense I really find

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-24024610471448571892007-11-07T03:16:00.000+08:002007-11-07T03:20:49.203+08:00

Today's lunch was one of the best I've ever had in Singapore. It was beautiful, delicious, perfect, and well-priced to boot. Imagine: boneless chicken in a smooth, makhani curry; boiled egg in curry; rajma in its own, slightly sweet, curry; and - the piece de resistance! - a simple fish curry which enflamed the palate and reminded one of the Great Fish Curries of the Malabar and the Bengal! It

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-48501900144286381472007-10-31T00:55:00.000+08:002007-10-31T01:06:54.389+08:00

As I am sleepy, that will be all. As of right now, a documentary on the 1986 Aeroméxico Flight 498 plane crash over Los Angeles is on National Geographic.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-8554494211279744202007-10-30T01:41:00.000+08:002007-10-30T01:43:12.449+08:00

I should definitely look at this: the album with "I'm No Superman" on it!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-20922479410169086892007-10-29T23:59:00.000+08:002007-10-30T00:56:23.350+08:00

I'm a little down right now. It might be that our likely next living place is kinda depressing. On the inside, it's much like our present place, except not so much in terms of furniture. It's bigger, though; and kinda prettier in its way. On the outside, though, it doesn't compare. No 7-Eleven across the street, no pretty green patches to walk through right outside your door; likely, no cats

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-58431728905418488542007-10-21T01:29:00.000+08:002007-10-21T02:21:44.744+08:00

One of the few places where I've seen application-level improvements in Bioinformatics. And in New Zealand, no less! I should keep this place in mind, for later maybe. And oh, oh, oh! Isn't this simply the perfect thing ever! Only this other thing I bumped into could possibly be better! And there is also this, being my best chance possibly etc.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-44980001849307911842007-10-17T23:23:00.000+08:002007-10-17T23:26:40.904+08:00

OMG. Seriously. What a character. And you know what's the one thing I love more than a genius voice actor? A genius voice actor with a great sense of humour.

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-85730410863026763762007-10-10T00:12:00.000+08:002007-10-10T00:39:44.526+08:00

Am trying to slowly slide my wake-up time earlier and earlier. The plot is to get up earlier, get moving earlier, so I can get home earlier, giving me a larger block of time to do whatever I want in, and more flexibility at the end of the day to meet that deadline. This week so far has been crazy: I've been barely squeezing in everything I have to do (except for the little bits which ooze out

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639844.post-89795325874279217192007-10-09T00:20:00.000+08:002007-10-09T00:27:58.082+08:00

I just had to sit and individually ignore something like 10 Facebook application invites! Ten! In the last few days alone! Everything from being gifted a garden to being bitten and turned into a vampire to ... to ... well, I don't know, because Facebook in its infinite wisdom redirected back to the frontpage once all requests were rejected. Seriously, this application proliferation is crazy!

Gauravnoreply@blogger.com0