Adiós 2009, Year that was..

Share

As I remember, reflect & readthru 2009 from the edge of it-- I see no major health issues, my wealth continues its up trend, job is Ok not great but anyway nothing so worst to complain but this year made its mark with few emotional scars. Even with my optimistic nature, I have to say objectively this year isn't all that I hoped for.

Personally, 2008 is the year with so much news about marriage, new born,.. but largely news of 2009 has been about breakups, divorces, separations, death. But in the Mist of confusions, complications, hardships, sorrows, net weight gain(+3kg.;()..I had made some cherishing memories & experiences which will last forever.

My trend of traveling to few corners of earth and stepping into few uncharted experiences continued in 2009 may be more so then in the past.

when I readthru some of my blogs, even as early in march'2009 I have seen this year to be more confusing.
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/thats-what-happened/

Its been the year, of moving from old to new. I mean orkut to facebook..;)
I had a tattoo..;) had to be high point..;)
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/tattooed/

my Travel adventure continues-- had to be one of highlight of the year.... south west France road-trip, trip to Nordic countries, etc..
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/tag/travel/

Luck had its way in linking me up with few interesting people and also broking those links. sometime just breaking the soft-link but sometime even the hard-link(out of touch). Nevertheless, those souls added interesting colour to my life.
Thanks to all those & big sorry to some of those, if my action caused any hurtful feeling. Although I dont regret much of it, my Intention was never to hurt anyone. Its probably the act of destiny (so don't blame me)).
And my lasting tribute to my grandma & lovely friend who passed away this year. My world was made better because of their presence and had many many joyfully moments with them. May your soul rest in peace and I am sure you would be my guard angle.
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/tag/Journal/

I would like to believe that I have become more wiser. apart from people who I shared my conversations and time with, its also thanks to TEDtalks, speeches, books, documentaries, etc..
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/tag/defined/

And network of blogger had increased to new heights. I made remote connections to folks across the global and I had opportunities to meet few of them in person. for those who I haven't met yet, I am coming soon..life is long and world is small.
Thanks to you all ladies & gentlemen for being here and for making my world bigger & better.

Wish you all Happy 2010 & beyond.

Song for the mood.

Merry Xmas

Share

There are 4stages in life.
you believe in santa,
you don't believe in santa,
you are santa
you look like santa.
whichever stage you are in,
Have a peaceful Merry Christmas..

Nostalgic

Share

Suddenly i get all sentimental
nostalgic in a sense unusual
found myself talking like you're near
you know..someone reminds me of you.
and its I guess in your own plan,
you made sure i'd be reminded of you.
rest in peace my dear friend,.

Happiness (un)Defined

Share

I so much wish to understand happiness
the risks that come with it
the confused worry it brings
the uncertain fear of its departure
the mess it leaves behind
the temporary nature of it
the joy it creates in abundance
the love it makes me feel for myself



The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardor which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tranquility of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice. Wherever prudence does not direct, wherever justice does not permit, the attempt to change our situation, the man who does attempt it, plays at the most unequal of all games of hazard, and stakes every thing against scarce any thing... ~ Adam Smith

Soccer Kid..the smart one

Share

Thanks to susispice

War on climate

Share

I posted my 2cents on global warming saving earth(?) and watching AlGore live

I find this interesting TEDtalk from Legendary scientist David Deutsch puts theoretical physics on the back burner to discuss a more urgent matter: the survival of our species. The first step toward solving global warming, he says, is to admit that we have a problem.
Civilizations has gone to dust and sooner or later we could be too. Only logical way for our civilizations to live-on as long as possible is to figure out way & learn to survive better even with changing temperature and ofcourse also reducing(/postponing) temperature changes by altering lifestyle choices. It has to be both not one or the other.

while I was away- part 3

Share

Weekend before the last, I made trip to Alicante, Spain to catch-up with a friend. I don’t know much about the place. but I thought its good excuse to visit another place in lovely spain. If you don’t know already, I am totally biased towards anything & everything about Spain, my first love.

Alicante,is little coastal town. european commission being the biggest employer, which is were my friend works. I say little but its bigger than luxembourg.;) place to see- castle on top the mountain and nice view on a clear day overlooking the beach one side and city on the other. it was close to 20degrees in mid-november. loved it. Spain like greece typical mediterranean culture, people having dinner at 11pm going out to pubs/bars at 1am..and some bars are opened only at 3:30am. needless to say about crazy night outs. less said the better.;) what's more wonderful..is the interesting people I meet.

friday night..meet Mar, who couldn't speak english..but she kept the conversation with some translation help from my friend. That’s very nice of her. one of many things what I like about Spain & Spanish people...even without the language they always try to be inclusive. their kindness to be immigrates (not just high-skilled but everyone) and their general awareness of the world..very good..

saturday dinner & sunday lunch was at friend's friend place. german guy & france guy was the host us and hooked up with very deserve group..age, nationality, et..food= asian food. they cooked chinese & korean food. host is travelers. they work 6month save money and travel for 9months. asia is their favorite destination..it was nice to take about their travel experience..

I so wish, I could be as content and as free flying bird like them.

while I was away - part 2

Share

....
wanting to fly with angels wings.
wasn't to be this time, atleast just yet..

while I was away - part 1

Share

ok..not sure you care about it, but thought I should update the journal.

almost 4weeks back, I went on 9days road trip in south west France with a friend and wanted to write about the experience but it’s so beyond words I kept postponing to post. And I don’t want to write about place to see, things to do since I can’t do better job than folks at lonely plant, tripadvisor, virtualtourists.

Our whole trip was constructed & executed under a week. often the best trips are those which was arranged in last minute. after couple of mail exchanges, me & my friend finalized route map and after couple of hours call time, we finalized hotel bookings. that's it, all done. off we went.

start point- Bordeaux airport, that's were me & my friend met. hired citroen C2, off we go... on the way, we wanted to buy some stuff. we saw carefour and with all the excitement without knowing, we were driving on walking area..;) trip started on perfect note. Our tom-tom(GPRS) name was rooth (its a she..although its driving direction device..;) I am told its because of her voice and so we named our car James(he) just to give her(rooth) some excitement about the trip.

first stop- saint emillion, checked into to big hotel(with not so big rooms..setting the expectation for the whole trip). had nice dinner with local wine.. walking around in moon light was good fun. next day we visited vineyard Chateau La Couspaude run by friend-of-friend's...understanding wine making processes, tasting merlot red,..fabulous and touring underworld chruch.

mr.nice vineyard guy recommended a pitshop at st.Pardon to watch waves from sea thru river famous among local surfers. but we waited for almost an hour but no waves to be seen. we moved out. it seems wave wasn't that big anyways.


next- Cognac,. another tiny town and nice hotel. next day- turned out to be the best experience. via some random friend’s connection, we got royal tour of Hennessey cognac house. Understanding cognac blending process and seeing vintage(1900, 1934, 1800..)ya, 1800 vintage(and best is yet to come.) Met Mr. Maurice Hennessey family member of Richard Hennessey, he explained us history Hennessey ads and talking about Hennessey business during french revolutions & world wars. he took us to Hennessey guest house(/wonderful castle) for very nice lunch and signed off with Fine Cognac bottle/gift bag. off to next destination with evening cafe stop at Brantome.

next stop- Périgueux another tiny town. interesting story here is- McD is banned in the city(which I think is good). and we met another random local friend(of a friend..of a friend). snowing us around and making fun of our sense of architecture (names & brands). Had nice dinner with some strange conversations about capitalism v socialism, life's expectations, how much money required for retirement. needless to say some misunderstanding & assumptions, finally all got clarified.

Next day- based on his recommendation we did pitstops visiting toute la grotte de Lascaux, cave paints of pre-historic men. Well another excitement was- gas was running out. James(our car) had Gas for 80kms, we found one gas stations but I said we can re-fill in next one. And then, heart was beating little/tiny bit faster..wishing & hoping to find gas stations. and we finally did found one after 73km..;)

next day- heading towards Rocamadour. road was blocked due to construction work. But Instead of finding alternate route, I did the brave Indian act, just moved the block sign and drive thru to reach our destinations.;) our stopover was Rocamadour, lovely hilly town.

next was long driving day..visiting Toulouse and reaching Biarritz, another beautiful coastal town. evening we decided to give james(our car)rest. walked sea side. had sangria watching surfers...after nice dinner & drinks. we thought we could walk back to hotel. but ofcourse it had to happen..we got lost..;) called a friend in london to google us the directions..we ended-up in local bar and asked the guy to call taxi for us..;) safely reaching the hotel.

next day..trip to san Sebastian Spanish town of Basque country. most of the day was washed way. so we ended-up having nice Spanish lunch with sangria and ice cream in the rain.
on the way back to biarritz, pit stop at St Jean de Luz bought tasting famous macarons at Maison Adam.

next day- relaxing breakfast at biarittz. pit stop to dune du plya - largest sand dune in Europe. Thankfully no rain so we could have good view from the top and did sand surfing to get down.

reaching our next stop-over at arcachon, another nice coastal retirement town(translation= full of old people). We did long walk in the beach and had nice dinner & wine.
next day..to chateau doisy-daene, a family run classified vineyard(run by friend of..a friend). tasting nice sweet white sauternes..2009 vintage straight from barrel.

Day ended in Bordeaux- it was good bye time to james after 1820km drive. kissed good bye to my friend..

I spent the night walking around Bordeaux city center and took train to Paris next day early morning to met another friend. she recently relocated back to Paris from Luxembourg. so my final day- walking around in streets of Paris. wonderful lunch, watching street artists, evening at Basilique du Sacre Coeur, sitting in steps listening to street musicians who were taking turns to amuse the crowd with lovely guitar music.

Ofcourse I just don't have enough words to explain some of the stranger conversations, episodes, highlights of our trip…like our quest for pharmacy and then finding in very place when we don’t need one, my friend’s addiction to cheese, foie-gras..;), saying “please thanks woof” all the time to every other(mocking english politeness), my music awareness enhanced with introduction of Citizen cope, above & beyond, oceanlab, thirteen Senses, etc...

one of the best travel week of my life came to an end. all good things should end. by product is- exciting memory to cherish.

Explaining the Explanations

Share

For tens of thousands of years our ancestors understood the world through myths, and the pace of change was glacial. The rise of scientific understanding transformed the world within a few centuries. Why? Physicist David Deutsch proposes a subtle answer at Ted.


I differ in one sense that to make assumptions about our so called pre-historic generation had no good rational explanations about our world may not be very correct. for example- vedas had some explanations more correctly noted distance between earth with moon, explanations for evaporation/rain,et. perfectly calculated architectures/construction from olden times means they knew about it not accidentally. maybe they don't give real reason because they thought it would create controversy or it also may be because we no longer have access to those valid explanations which could have been destroyed with times. or may be earth has been recreated so many time with many climate changes and so there was even more advanced cultivation which was washed away by time.. so while I agree that ancient explanations haven't always been rational but I can't believe they knew little. I think they knew more than what we think they knew. ofcourse, I could be wrong but that's my 2cents.