Train journeys from Portland part II

This time around I was again at a family table, aisle seat :-) But this time, was not stuck with a family, instead had a girl travelling alone next to me and a so called couple sitting in front..
I call them so called 'couple' coz a lot of things were very strange about them .. Hmm.. Ok maybe not strange but slightly cooky if you please :p
To begin with, they established the fact that they were indeed a couple. We exchanged the usual Hi, how are ya and what brings you to Portland conversations.. In the process, she was quite candid to say that they went to visit her family but having said that she wasn't very happy with them for a lot of reasons. I mean, she even started telling me how her family's weird behavior at times ticks her off. I was almost about to say well, "lady that’s just too bad but lets stop cussing familes now", when I realized that the guy wasn't really saying much, he just added that "naa, they weren't so bad". Did she let it pass, no sir, she kept insisting, they are ok to talk to over the phone but you can't really spend time with them and that she was glad she was there only for a day..
I mean, we all have problems of various degrees with our families. Times when we look up above an wonder why weren't we allowed to 'choose' our families instead , but the point remains that the Indian value system will always cherish families many degrees more than the American counterparts. That’s just how we are. We learn when we are mere toddlers that - what we can't cure, we must endure.. And endure we do.. :-)) I am just making it sound bad but it ain't really..
Well, coming back to my so called couple, after the initial socializing stupor, like always there was a lull. Not that I had a problem with it, they were showing a movie I had not seen before "Prince and me". Kinda like "Anna and the king" rt ? I always thought it was flicked from that :p (the number of times I watch the same movies over and over again during these train journeys could fill a separate blog alltogether) !
Anyways, madam decides not to watch it for some reason and get a bottle of wine.. These firangs have a nice way of making even train journeys entertaining :-) So she finishes her bottle of chardonay while her companion is giving the girl next to me these "You intrigue me kinda looks" :-) But very subtle I must say, if you were sittin next to me you would never even know ! Since I had the priviledge of being in the opposite seat, I could steal a peek :-)))
After a point came, so what do you do, do you stay in Seattle kinda questions to the girl..His girl frnd during most of the conversation tried to stare at the bottle in her hand but chipped in once in a while with her 2 bits about how Seattle is a great place to be in :-) :p
I was almost torn between which amusing scene to watch, the one on the screen or the one unfolding in front of me.. While I was still contemplating this, the girl frnd says "I'll be back" and disappears.. Hmmmm the plot thickens..
Do you think the story gets a little convenient here ? Think again.. Turns out that one of the passengers just walking down the aisle is the colleague of the girl next to me. He stops suddenly and goes hey Julianne :-)))) It was soo funny.. I think mainly coz Julianne didn't really want to see this "I am a cross between a grunge rockstar and a fading politician". But obviously out of courtesy he is introduced to everybody . Worse still is the fact that he had already noticed the empty seat next to Mr. my girlfrnd is missing and I don't mind :-)
Well, he sat there an they had the most awkward conversation I had ever had the oppurtunity to see :-)) Julianne kept putting all conversation to an end and trying to get the message across for him to scoot. But he was very persistent I must say. There were times when I really wanted to laugh out loud, I swear !
After a point I couldn't take it and I really wanted to at least smile or giggle. I just got up to visit the bistro car. I was almost giggling all the way :-))
Well, so I am at the Bistro an what do I see, Miss Chardonay is surrounded by 2 Mr. Harley Davidson varieties an she's actually feeling their biceps :-)))) This had to be the most hilarious train journey ever ! So she sees me an swiftly moves away frm the 2 men. That in itself was too funny for words ! She tried to introduce them in a very slurring way as I saw 2 more chardonay bottles empty and in front of her. I was thinking to myself this is classic ! Movie in itself.. :-)
Well, after that I must say, it kinda got boring coz Julianne got down a few stations before us and there was hardly any talking happening in the opposite seats.
All in all, a very fun trip I must say :-))

Train journeys from Portland

Been wanting to blog about these for soooo long now. By now, have forgotten 75% of what I actually wanted to write also.. About 3 months ago for almost 3 weeks continuously I wrote about these trips on my way back. That’s how I spent time since I had my laptop with me anyways. I still carry my laptop around but for some reason, don't even bother to open it for anything! Land at my designated seat an shove the laptop under the seat, it doesn't seem to serve any other purpose…
Once I remember during the days when I used to type away to glory in the train, sat next to a guy who was also working away on his laptop.. The difference being he had an excel spreadsheet open and was evidently doing some accounts.. He was mighty happy when his co-passenger also had her laptop open an was opening MS Word. His contented smile spoke for him. :-)
But after typing a para, I got distracted an ended up playin my cd's instead.. 2 hours and many songs later, he looks at my monitor and says, "You hardly did any work !" I mean, excuse me !!
Firstly do I know you ? And secondly did I say that I was working towards me next annual appraisal rating or anything ? Gosh, this kind of unwarranted behavior really puts me off.. I mean, he's lucky that we were nearing Portland and I was too pre-occupied with other thoughts and hence in no mood to fight. So, in a tongue in cheek tone I said "Who was working" :p
Anyways, getting back to my train journey, its always interesting to watch people all around you. People who are soo different and yet so similar. I have this thing with my seating you see, so I always ask for an aisle at a family table. Don't ask me why, it’s a little whim an bit about more of leg space issue I guess. :-)
Plus in a family table u get to observe so many people at one shot.. God help you if you are stuck with bawling kids but that doesn't happen very often. On my way to Portland this time I had a little girl of probably 10 next to me, Samantha :-) Boy, was she adorable. She had 2 elder sis an mum an dad in the next few seats, but for some reason she just stuck to me.. It had a bit to do with the movie they were playing I guess. "Confessions of a teenage drama queen". I think that was the bonding factor ! 2 people who were nowhere in the category of public for which the movie was made an going' "Oh, that’s soo coool " :-) Seriously, it was great fun !
After the movie got over, we played whats the good word, trivia, spoke about cartoon network and loony tunes, did painting, coloring and join the dots. Boy, it was a good journey I must say. Considering that the train was almost an hour late, it was time well spent :-)))) When I was getting down at Portland, Sammy hugged me hard and asked me to come to her house sometime.. I was touched really. I wish these journeys were more like this..

Man is a social animal ?

Brings back memories of 6th std Social studies chapter, doesn't it ? Well, yesterday was my day to defend this with all my strength.
Got into this big argument with this friend of mine which resulted in a skewed analysis by him which goes like this - "You are not at peace with yourself" :-))
I didn't know where the argument finally landed and which direction it took but before I knew it, wham ! :p
Anyways, what I was trying to tell my dear friend was that I cannot do certain things because well, I just can't. These include eating or drinking in a public place all by myself. I cannot go to a cafeteria and have lunch all by myself, I cannot go to a coffee place an just sit there all by myself or what the heck, go to a theatre all by myself to watch a movie !
I actually thought thats how most of the world is, well, mainly coz none of my close friends don't do these things as well :-)
But guess what, there are lots who do..
My contention was that I have a mindset against things like these, the actual physical capability is questionable as I have never tried it. Maybe if i really set my eyes on it, who knows, I might just go to the nearest coffee shop an grab a cuppa :-))
But I digress. So, yeah, as I was saying, when i go out an see someone sit at a table next to me all by himself (male version as I somehow see only guys doing this), i actually feel sad for the person. I mean, for me eating all by yourself and not even having a company for eating is the pits ! I dunno , maybe I am wrong, shoot me ! But thats the way my mind works..
I see a guy at a movie theatre all by himself an in my mind i go awwwww.... soooo saddd ...
Guess what ! Turns out, some people actually 'like' doing this !
To me its kinda weird coz all this I need my own space funda is fine, but doing things like these all by yourself is taking it a bit too far..
I will not say that I have a very co-dependent existence because I always do things in a group or with friends, but I just feel thats nature. Man has always done things in groups, packs, circles ..
Wonder when all this changed ... hmmmmm..
Am I at peace with myself ?? Totally :-)))))))

Randomness-mania

Ever wondered why everything we do is a reflection of what state our life is in. For some this is so true that they cannot just distinguish between how they are behaving and how they probably should be.
Maybe it also depends of how wrapped up you are in your own life.
Hmmmm....

Long live the internet !

:-) A weird title I know. Its not even something new, but everytime I give up on this media as being too impersonal, I get jolted by incidents like these.
So, here's the thing, there is this friend of mine and we used to be almost inseperable in school. A small group of 3 and bloody michevious :-)
With time drifted apart and its been like 5 or even 6 years since I heard anything from her. Was even dissapointed when a few years ago I had to hear it from somebody else that she got married.
Well, guess what I get this mail from her today after some gazzillion years saying she got my 'chat' id from someone and mailed ! Now she wasn't even too sure of the id, but what the heck !
I don't usually check my chat id actually, might just take a peek once in about 2 months !
But for some reason I opened that today and guess what ! There's a mail and a tele no :-)

We had too many things to catch up on, didn't know where to start from :-) But ya, it was good and ya i tried to understand how after a few years she just didn't know how to get in touch with me to send me her wedding card, but ya bygones !
I am happy just knowing that we are connected now and shez right here in Texas actually !

We were thick as thieves for almost 5 years back in school and for 3 years during college. We have both come a long way since then. So yeah, a lot of catching up to do.. :-)

ex and the City ?

For some vague reason, Sex and the City continues to get bouquets and brickbats from one and all :-) We all love Carrie for reasons of our own. Maybe coz of things she does that we always wanted to but never did or even because her thoughts echo the thoughts of the bold an brazen of this century.
2 of my favourite quotes from the much talked about series.

Carrie: Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them, what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered off course, we wouldn't fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do cities. People come into your life and people go. But it's comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you're very lucky, a plane ride away.
Carrie: Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous

I have seen just about all the seasons except the latest 6th season, hope to catch that sometime soon.
There are things that I like about Carrie and there are things that my old fashioned heart disagrees with completely. I can never accept cheating on Aidan because he seems too comforting and Big seems to tantalizing.
But then again, I wonder if its really that far fetched.

One episode which sticks out in my memory for weird reasons in the one in which she tries to be friends with Big because, well, you know, maybe ex's should somehow migrate to being friends sometime. But Big takes the friendship a little too seriously and tells her that he has just got engaged to (the Stick) Natasha.
I wonder which is worse ? Knowing that your ex has a new girlfrnd (and got this one just about 4 months since you last saw him) or that this time he is being a perfect boy friend to someone doing all the things he never did for you. At some level, its an ego blow. Like Carrie, I think it’s the eternal question of why wasn't it me ? Why wasn't it me whom you wanted to commit to ? Why wasn't it me who brought out the newly acquired responsible guy in you? None of this somehow is linked with the fact that you don't want to really get back with him. In fact for all practical purposes, you have no feelings even remotely resembling love for him. But it’s a lingering series of questions because as I said, soemwhere there is hurt and an ego blow. I don't know which one is worse actually. Maybe the hurt gets better with time but the ego blow stays for longer.

Being taken for granted?

Why do we really take people and relationships for granted ? Is it the comfort of the relationship or is it too much of familiarity? Either ways I think it’s a terrible thing to do and the fastest way to kill any relationship. Any relationship I personally think is a full time job, if anybody feels otherwise then either has a relationship that probably doesn't mean all that much or maybe its just a trifle not deep (read shallow) attitude towards making and sustaining friendships/relationships.
Maybe, I am also being generic in some ways, but for good or bad, I have seen friendships only going towards no man's land if you start taking people for granted.
Its been a lingering thought in my head for a while now.

Sleepless in Seattle?

Some days yes ! But thats mostly when I insist on reading thrillers in the night in my cosy 1 bed room apt. I keep telling myself not to do it but sometimes you just can't put certain books down, don't you think ? One such book is 'The Da Vinci code'. Reading that currently and try as I may, I am not able to put it down like a good girl during sleep time. The result is that I am shit scared to sleep all by myself and end up waking up my dear boy friend at all ungodly hours to say 'Talk to me'!
He will probably disown me one of these days :-)
But till then, I continue to read thrillers and be sleepless ...

Test Blog

Been readin too many of other people's blog. Finally decided to jump in an told myself why not.! So here I am, one in the crowd! Just another blogger in the already existing cess pool of zillions :-)