In the fourth quarter of 2007, American cellphone subscribers for the first time sent text messages more than they phoned, according to Nielsen Mobile. Since then, the average subscriber’s volume of text messages has shot upward by 64 percent, while the average number of calls has dropped slightly.

Teenagers ages 13 to 17 are by far the most prolific texters, sending or receiving 1,742 messages a month, according to Nielsen Mobile. By contrast, 18-to-24-year-olds average 790 messages. A separate study of teenagers with cellphones by Harris Interactive found that 42 percent of them claim that they can write text messages while blindfolded.

Reading this piece of article, I could actually relate myself with it. Somewhere I personally feel that I have become obsessed with technology. My mom used to make me and my brother write greeting cards, and letters to our friends with colourful pens and pencils during our childhood. But today when I think of writing a letter to someone, I instantly think of emails. Till 5^th Grade I used to have poor handwriting and got remarks such as ‘untidy’ and ‘improve your handwriting’. I think all these remarks were hitting somewhere deep inside me and I finally asked my mom to bring me ink pens and cursive writing books so that I could improve my handwriting. Well! I used to practise a page of handwriting diligently and developed beautiful handwriting, which got me compliments over the years. But I guess that phase was short lived in my life or I can say till the time I didn’t buy a laptop. My handwriting actually had a life from being bad to good to beautiful and back to bad now. The beautiful, smooth movement of the once mighty pen, have been overshadowed by the swiftness of the fingers in tapping keys, atleast in my case..

I can boast of a huge collection of stationery that I keep buying from every other place. In fact, my friends bet that I cannot step out of a stationery shop without spending a few bucks on pens, pencils, short notebooks, diaries, and what not. But now when I see, that collection is just adorning my cupboard and room. The screen has completely replaced my writing pad; when I want to use cursive writing, I have a number of fonts to select from; the colour palette in my wordpad has replaced my colourful pens and pencils, the delete button has replaced my love for beautifully shaped erasers and finally my signature is also digitalized now. The only relief that I see amidst all this is that I am still not addicted to reading books online; I was telling someone the other day that I like the feel of paper in my hands and the smell of new books enchants my senses.

Your handwriting shows the basic traits of your personality but during this era when we don’t use the stokes and the curves with our hands ,should graphologists pickup a career called typology? Although I agree that that technology has made our lives simpler in many cases but that feel of joy of writing on a wonderful piece of paper, folding it, putting it in an envelope, applying the stamp and posting it finally can never be replaced by the quick tic tac of the keys.

Although I have been blogging for just four months but it feels that it’s been ages now that I have been in the process. My special thanks to Kevin and Sylvie for giving me this honour and most of all Michael for recommending my blog. I want to thank my mummy, my papa, my neighbours, their pets, pets’ friends, a bra, a box, a diary… Sniff!! Sniff!! the preist, LOL cats, eggs, rotten tomatoes, and everyone who has been a part of my bags. Sniff!!

I have thrown a little party and all of you are invited. Everyone will get plates, forks, knives, and caps.

And ze cake. Uh oh!! Rush! someone is already eating it.

It is not long that I was introduced to Pink Floyd but since then there hasn’t been a day when I have not played Pink Floyd on my laptop. Listening to David Gilmour’s team is a part of my daily routine now, and it left a patch of sadness in me when I read that

Wright, a London native, met bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason while at Regent Street School of Architecture, joining their band, which went under names such as the Meggadeaths and Sigma 6. The three musicians formed the Pink Floyd Show with Syd Barrett in 1965, evolving from a pop and R&B cover band into an improvisational, psychedelic outfit. Wright contributed to an easy Jazz piano style to the band, and much a part of the minimalistic style of the band’s arrangements as anyone.

Though not as prolific a songwriter as his bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour, he wrote significant parts of the music for classic albums such as Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, as well as for Pink Floyd’s final studio album The Division Bell. My personal favourites as Wright’s greatest compositions are ‘Great Gig in the Sky’ and ‘Us and Them’.  As a band, their 1973′s Dark Side of the Moon remains as their masterpiece, which stayed in the US top 200 for 15 years.

But the band’s relationships deteriorated after the 1979 album, The Wall, and Waters had threatened to withhold the album if Wright refused to quit. After a lengthy legal battle with Waters, Wright joined Gilmour and Mason. The group recorded two Pink Floyd albums and played on more than 100 shows on a Division Bell Tour in 1994, making it the most lucrative tour in the rock history at that time.

Wright also worked on Gilmour’s solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album “On an Island” and the world tour and there were continuous speculations about group reforming to tour again but now with Wright’s passing I guess that remains a dream.

As a musician Richard would be missed but his songs will always ‘Echo’ in our ears and would remind us of his great work and contribution to the Rock music.

This video is one of my personal favourites from the band, and one of the greatest contirbutions by Wright- The Great Gig in the Sky.

An Italian showgirl and model is offering her virginity for one million Euros.

Twenty year old Raffella Fico – a contestant on the Italian version of TV show ‘Big Brother’ earlier this year – wants the cash to buy a house and pay for acting lessons.

She said: “I can’t wait to see who’s going to pull out the money to have me.”

The starlet is quite comfortable with the arrangement, adding: “If I don’t like him I’ll just have a glass of wine and forget about it.”

I can’t wait to see who’s going to pull out the money to have me.

Raffella has even drafted in her brother to back her claims up. He says: “She’s never had a boyfriend. I swear on my mother’s grave. She’s a devout Catholic and prays to Padre Pio every night.”

Last week a 22-year-old US student, Natalie Dylan, launched an online auction for her virginity on a Californian radio show.

The most annoying thing that I found about this article were her brother’s comments. What is he trying to prove by saying that she is a true catholic? I am not a catholic and I am not sure what Bible preaches but one thing that I can say is that no matter which religion you are following, none teaches you to do such bizarre things to make your dreams come true. I sometimes sympathise with the sex workers who have to work even when they don’t want to but there can be many reasons behind choosing the job. I could still understand doing something like this had you had a family to support, you were struggling for your ends to meet and you are left with no other option but this.  Her statements “If I don’t like him I’ll just have a glass of wine and forget about it. I can’t wait to see who’s going to pull out the money to have me. “ definitely doesn’t give me a feeling that she is going through some crisis. Is she a wannabe, who is trying hard to become popular by doing just anything and everything?

It pisses me off when people try to do things under the veil of religion. I remember a colleague Asma, who was a Muslim and had a compulsion to wear burkha. She was well versed with the preaching of Holy Koran and used to share them with her friends as well, something good that she was doing. But what got on to my nerves was that she was preaching to others but when it came to her own self she decided not to follow any of the teachings. She taught that a woman should not wear lipstick, should keep herself covered with a stole all the time, should not let her hair open etc. When she herself used to step out of the house, she used to wear full makeup, let her hair open and although she used to wear burkha while stepping out of hostel but that burkha used to go off as soon as she covered a few miles from the place. I could never understand why she was trying to do such things or why people like her try to impose things on others when they themselves don’t want to follow such stuff?

I respect people who take their religion seriously and follow it, I am not a religion fanatic but if someone believes in his/her religion, I respect that. I have never been one of those who has criticised any religion or has said things against any body’s religious views or opinions but I hate people who try to hide their black souls behind the veils of their religious views. All I’d say is Grow up! Life is too short to divulge into such stupid things.

Sorry for a dark post today but I think I needed to write this down. Coming to the lighter side, Jay from The Depp Effect gave me this award.

I love her blog except the insects that she loves posting, which gives me good reason to pee in my pants. She lives in some beautiful part of the world where a lot of greenery still makes your mornings fresh and the twitter of birds still work as a sweet alarm clock. I must not commit this crime by not mentioning that she is a Jhonny Depp Fan. Cheers Jay! 

Image Source

7a.m. Wake up! Yawn!! Switch On Lappy Top

Check Official site. There are only queries and queries. Have they lost it, they are asking me queries at 7 .15 a.m. in morning? …Procrastinate.

7.30 Upload stuff, check website for the unwanted promotions. Delete Delete. Buzz Off!!

It’s already 8 a.m Huh!! Get out of bed. Brush, prepare tea, pick lappy top and back to work.

Start researching for an article for Donkey Blog. Errrmmm… subscription problem- fix,  Comments not moderated – moderate. Try to add donkey header- no avail. Eeeks!!! It’s 9.30 ! Start researching again.

Dammit! It’s time to take bath.

11.am. Open Daddy Papersufer. Leave comment. He asking what is the back of a knee called.  Brain Dead! No Answer.  No comment. Fuel.

Start researching for Donkey Blog again. Open Drowsey Monkey in another tab. Ohh!! She and Olga are running a competition. Write  a dirty comment. Leave.

Errmmm …research and no blogging. Huh!! What is Margaret doing in New York? Oh!! She has added another article. Don’t read till you complete research. Research….

It’s already 2 p.m. What? Lunch time. 2p.m.-3.30p.m. lunch.  

Back to Lappy Top! Open Official website.  Glace, everything seems alright so far! Ehh!! I had to fave blogs on technorati. Add blogs to technorati. Update profile, no time to add piccyy , check more blogs. Dianne is back from her holiday. Leave comment on her blog.

I promised Fracas that I’ll add Fraccers in my Scratch Roll. Add and leave a comment in her Flaunt section.

Darn!! I have to write an article now. The research material is there. Let me first check MyBlogLog. Oohh!! There is this Digg Button that I have never used. Update profile, check how to use this silly button. Huh!! Lost it. Freaks!!! It’s 5 p.m.

No blogging. Only article. Okay, dedicatedly write an article till 6.15 and upload till 6.30. So far, so good. Tea time

7 p.m back to Lappy Top. Check Donkey Blog. No ass has left a comment. Never Mind! It’s just 3 days.  Solve queries on website. I should check what JD is doing. Yeah!! She is was talking about coffee. I love coffee. Leave  a quick comment.

Mental note- Check Jay, 70s and Michael before the day ends. Aww!! Rev is sad. Leave hugs for him. (Google Reader is open permanently)

Sigh!! Dammitt!! The stats of my blog are not working. Open wordpress forums, search search.

Mom (calling)- “Scratchy it’s dinner time. “

Me- “Coming Mom!!”

Close Laptop. Dinner and chit chat with family.

Back to room by 9.30 Check the stats thingy again. Need to add plugin, add it, looks fine, edit details.  Open FMB, Quick fuel for all.

Oh Scratcher’s time. Login to chat…open rest of the websites. Solve queries, add updates.  Chit chat with him for  …eeerrrmm.. 2 hours.. 3 hours. Make more plans. He wants to open another website, which means more work. Keep reading stuff in different tabs while he types. Damn!!

Stop chatting, I need to work!  Ummm…1 a.m. ! I think I’ll work tomorrow. Yawn! Good Night!

No doubt I have lost my marbles!!

I’d like to thank B4by from The Upside Down of Me for passing the ‘Fun Blog Award’ to me. I am so gleeful.

I pass this award to Margaret, The Rev , Fracas , and Jay. They are all fun blogs, go check them out.

Hugs and Wishes for Fracas and 70s, who have not been keeping well from past few days. I thought I’d present them a few gifts to make them feel better.

Fracas- As you all know, that she is a famous Food Porn Chef. No you don’t know? Check my Scratch Roll. So, here I present her a delicacy in her style with a hope that this makes her feel a little better.

70s- She lurves knitting patterns so, this one is for her. Get Well Soon!

After spending a moolah on our haircut, it was our turn to take Tuffy to the vet clinic for vaccination. We collected Tuffy from friend’s place, and headed to the same clinic that Tuffy has been going to ever since it became a member of Porshea’s family. The board in front of the clinic said, “We are shifting to Gurgaon to pamper your pets in a five star environment.”  Without giving much heed to the board, we trudged into the clinic. The appointment was fixed, thankfully; the doctor gave the required shots to the fluffy Tuffy and patted its little butt. So far, so good. The doctor handed over the pet to us and said, “Have you never got it a haircut? “ 

“Haircut? Don’t talk about the haircut? But why does a pup need a haircut dammit?”,  wondered Porshea. But then she thought that if she wouldn’t get Tuffy a haircut, it would automatically fall into the category of deprived pets, who are not pampered enough by their owners.

“How much do you charge for it?”

“$12”

I could see Porshea’s face, which showed both the expressions of anger, and astonishment. As it is we were still trying to recover from the fact that we had just spent $40 together for out own haircut. I think she just thought ‘Fuck it! Let’s go for it.”

The fluffy white Tuffy was taken to the bathroom area in the other part of the clinic called ‘Pet Grooming Centre’. The shivering pet was shampooed with a bubble-gum pink shampoo, blow-dried, and given a hair cut. To much of our surprise, Tuffy looked emaciated, malnutritioned- adopted pet after the fancy haircut. Though Porshea on one hand was fuming with anger with what hair dresser had done to her pampered baby, and was feeling pity at the same time for the pup. She picked the little pup in her arms and hugged it.

The doctor came back with a big grin on his face and said “We are opening a five star Pet Grooming Centre in the Gurgaon area, where you would have facilities such a yoga, grooming, spa, games park, hospital etc. for your pets. This is your membership card.”

We took the card with a fake smile on our face, paid the bill, and left the clinic thinking ”What a day!”

Today is The World’s Favourite Reverend’s Blogiversary. Go wish him and tell him that I sent you. Do that, he likes attention. Ha!

One of my friends, Judy, works in a Radio station as Marketing Manager. Work apart, the best part about her job is that she gets free vouchers from big brands ranging from books, clothes, cosmetics, resorts, flowers, coffee shops, dance classes, confectioneries, salons, pubs etc. Also, the number of vouchers that she gets is so high that she keeps distributing them among us (we are three close friends). So, whenever she tells us that she is planning to leave her job, we start our chore of convincing her that she would always regret taking such decision. So far we have always passed the test of convincing her that she has the best job in the world, and she couldn’t ask for more. And as Luren Weissberger said in The Devil Wears Prada,’ the job, a million girls would die for.’ Ha! Once, Judy gave me and Porshea a voucher each of a five star hair saloon, Habib’s, considered as one of the best in India. The amount of each voucher was good enough to get other treatments such as hair massage or steaming apart from the famous haircut. Obviously we were elated, and we had fixed a Sunday appointment at Habib’s South Extension outlet along with an appointment for Tuffy to get its vaccination at a nearby vet clinic. We didn’t bother to read the ‘terms and conditions’ written in fine print at the back of voucher. As it is it was Habib’s, with a nation wide reach. How could anything go wrong? After the lunch on hot Sunday afternoon, we got ourselves dressed, Porshea quickly brushed Tuffy’s hair, and we left along with the happy looking pup wriggling its tail. The itinerary was all planned.  Drop Tuffy at a friend’s place, get a haircut, get the pup vaccinated, pick up takeaway for the dinner, and come back home flaunting much-to-the-envy-of-others haircut. 

After dropping Tuffy at friend’s, we proudly walked at the salon and asked for the haircut without mentioning that we had a free voucher, which means that we would pay them nothing after they would adorn our looks. Smart Asses, huh? Both Porshea and I were quietly preening at our intelligence. We got our haircuts according to our face types, and we looked pretty and took a sense of pride looking ourselves in the mirror. We had decided to get the haircut as of now, and exhaust the rest of the voucher money some other time. We said thanks to our respective hairdressers, and headed to the payment counter. We were presented the bill and in return, we gave our vouchers adorning our never-to-die smiles. The lady at the counter checked the vouchers and sweetly said,” Ma’m, this voucher is valid at the Greater Kailash outlet, and not at this one. It is clearly mentioned at the back of the voucher.”

Boink Boink Boink!

What? Are you kidding us? Fuck it!  $20 for a haircut? We have never had a haircut for more than $3 ever , you mad woman! We are students and not the high-profile-kitty- party-aunties! We cannot pay this much. Dammit! These were the only thoughts that surrounded our mind, and we went blank for a few seconds.

Porshea and I didn’t even looked at each other and let the strings of our purse loose to pay the bill. The never-to-die smile was dead by then, and it with DUMB engraved (in bold letters) on our faces, we paid $20.  We came out sulking-grumbling, and decided not to get a haircut for next 4 months atleast. The first thing was to call Judy and put all the blame on her for not telling us clearly about the ‘terms and conditions’ of the voucher. Silly woman! She almost spat her drink on her boyfriend’s face after listening to our cribbing , and consoled us by saying that atleast we got a haircut form Habib’s. Yeah baby!

Next Post- Tuffy’s Story

 

Of late a lot of things have been keeping me busy so, I was hoping if someone could update my blog and write for me. Guest post anyone? I was just thinking about this, and I think Someone up there said- Alright! Here you go.!

As a routine, yesterday also there were tickling gits at my home to take free sweets from my mom, and there was a lot of chaos and screaming-shouting going on. I was a little irritated so I thought I’d make one of them punish for making so much noise and it’ll be a lesson for all. The punishment would be that one of the young chaps has to write something for my blog or else there would be no sweets for any of them today.*evil grin* One 7 year old among them, who is the naughtiest among the lot and doesn’t leave a chance to tease me was smirking and making faces at me. I decided that he would be the scapegoat for the day. 70s and I have been talking a lot about the elephant posted on her blog so I decided to show him the post first, try to scare him and then ask him to write an essay on ‘I like elephants’. Although my mom tried to protest but I was adamant about it. No essay, no sweets. The rest of the kids were staring me with grim faces, and I am pretty sure that they must be cursing me in their hearts.

As soon as I started my laptop, all 10-12 of them jumped on my bed to see what am I going to show to their leader and what cost would they have to pay to get their sweets today. I loaded 70s blog and showed him the post.I asked him whether he liked the elephant? He first stared at me as if I have committed a crime by asking him such a question and how dared I ask such a question to the leader of the gang? In one word he replied,” No”.  Here was my chance.

I told him to write a letter to 70s telling her how much he likes elephants and rest of them have to maintain a pin drop silence while he writes the letter. With no option left, he decided to write but he asked for a promise. He said,” You will read this essay after distributing sweets among us.” Silly me. Without even giving it a single thought I said yes.

Following is the letter that he wrote:

Dear 70s Auntie,

I don’t like elephants and I don’t like Scratchy but I won’t get my sweets if I don’t write an essay on “I like elephants.”. 

I like elephants. They are nice and cute. They have big bums and I like them. I don’t like their hair pricking me when I ride on them but I like their ears. I like to hang myself on their ears. I don’t like the way they walk with one foot in China and one in India but I want my sweets so I like them. I don’t like them when they blow water on me with their trunk. Elephants like sugarcanes so, I like sugarcanes too but I like chocolates better. We have a God named Ganesha  who has a face like elephant. He looks better than elephants and listen to all my prayers. I pray to him everyday. He has a big tummy and likes eating sweets. I like eating sweets too. I don’t like the picture of the elephant on your blog… it scares me. Why have your parents named you 70s?My name is Ansh.

Thank you

Ansh.

As soon as he completed writing the letter, he asked me to distribute sweets first, and then only I would get the (precious) note. I snootily asked them to collect the sweets from mom. Yayyyy, they screamed, and left my room throwing the note on the floor. I quicly picked it up and read it. But. Before I could react to what he had written, these gits were standing at a distance from me, teasing me with their tongues out and giggling among themselves. All I could do was shoo them away and sulk. As if I had an option.

Note: This was a hand written note but since I don’t have a scanner with me, I have typed it exactly the same. I am sure that you have your sympathies with me.