Revolutionary Road

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Last night, when I closed this book, all I could ask myself was, "Why did the book end the way it did?" An intense story of April and Frank Wheeler, a couple disillusioned with their surroundings, it tracks their story over an year peeking into their shortcomings, their internal struggle, their likes and dislikes in each other, their childhood, their romance and their neighbors - the Campbells. On a lighter note, alcohol and cigarettes are as much a part of the book as are the main characters. In almost every second scene, someone is smoking or someone is drinking.

Any discussions about the characters would take away the suspense about the characters - I would rather say that read this book if you are looking for something intense, but I am not sure if it is intense enough to make you sympathize with the characters. The characters demand your empathy only half way through the book and thereafter, the characters just stick with you till you completely forget the book...

PS1: I need to watch the movie soon to see how well it has been adapted

PS2: I am excited at the prospect of Christmas. It will be my first 'snow' Christmas. I cant wait to see the decorated shop windows and the huge Christmas trees at the malls. In Sydney, it was a 'summer' Christmas - definitely fun but what is Christmas without snow. All the books/movies that have romanticized Christmas with snow flakes need to proved right.

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Duh...what?

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I don't know if these scenarios have a specific name to them, but I would like to call the look on Seinfeld's face when George or Kramer come up with something weird as duh/what expression - An expression which shows helplessness more because of lack words to retort back or maybe because no words can alleviate the situation..

Being married is similar to living with your best buddies - you do everything together, definitely more than what you would do when you are with your friends. I dont know about other marriages, but mine has a lot of these "duh/what" scenarios. Maybe these could give ishu more ideas with his cartoon strips. Consider this:

Indian stores abroad, especially in small towns are typically a small-space affairs. A single entrance and one cashier punching in the prices define a typical store. The other day, as we entered the store, we saw a tall good looking Russian ( I am pretty sure she was Russian, coz Russian girls are beautiful, are tall and have golden hair) standing in the queue at the cashier. My husband immediately smiled at her and said, "Hi. How are you?" Little taken aback, she responded to the pleasantries, while I gave my husband a suspicious look. My husband said, "Wasnt she the receptionist at the dentist yesterday?" For all the trust I vest in my memory, I replied back with a negative, to which my husband said, "Never mind. Its good to exchange pleasantries with a beautiful girl." If that receptionist was a male, my husband would have not recognized him even if the guy thrust his face right into my husband's.

Ona tangential note, while this is one reason why I prefer male receptionists, there is another more selfish one. Nah nah. I am not one of those planning to ogle at the biceps, blush at a handsome smile or shudder at a smooth yet rough touch. I have other reasons - While scouting for a job, I happened to call few offices, technically called cold calling. Everytime a female would pick up the phone, unless it is an old lady with a shivering voice, she would usually hang up the phone after saying, "I am sorry we dont have any job openings." She would ignore my next sentence - "Is there anyone that I can send my resume to, so that you can let me know if something comes up?" And even if she heard my and choose to answer, she would say, "Send it to me and I will decide on whom to send it to."

Now, when men pick up the phone (please note that they might not be receptionists or anything of the sort - since I am calling offices, mostly it would be a sales guy picking up the phone in anticipation of pinning down a customer or someone working at the office and to be not called a sexist, the same could apply to women.. I repeat, all the women who answered the phone may not be receptionists or assistants) , they are nice. Maybe they are nice because it is a woman on the other end of the phone (and they havent seen her yet) or maybe men are generally nicer on the phone (damn it, they get the benefit of doubt) - a typical conversation would last more than a minute as they usually let me spew out my reharsed introduction; if it is not the right guy he takes down my number and the right guy actually calls me back; the conversation usually ends with 'good luck in your search'; and the email with my resume attached is usually replied back with 'impressive resume' (this makes me blush at times)

Whats your verdict? Have you been in similar situations and do you agree with the 'men are nicer than women, to women, on the phone'

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The fall collection

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Not very long ago, I was completely smitten by the onset of spring. The vibrant colors that lined the streets enthralled me whenever I went for a drive. And yay, the feeling is back. The fall is equally beautiful - the colors are a shade darker, the density a little lesser - but that doesn't deprive it of its beauty. A drive through Poconos (the mountains in Pennsylvania) attracts one with all these different shades of yellow and red, so much so that one feels compelled to believe that these mountains are indeed golden in color, when viewed from a distance.

I remember where I have seen this picturesque scenery before - The lead pairs in Indian movies prefer to hang around these trees to sing their heart's song. Well, no wonder that this beauty inspires them to sing and dance so much - so much that the director is inspired to interject one such song inspite of its insignificance to the script.

So you all know the scenery that I am talking about, right. If you dont, then I have some pictures here, taken from the car coz I did not want to step out into the rain to take the pics. While these are some badly taken pics, trust me when I say that the myraid colors of red and yellow are captivating and enlivening. Savoring this image is like eating an exotic tasting ice cream along with Ferroro Rocher before going on a strict diet routine. Soon there will be no leaves and all one can see is the skeletons of these trees floating on the snow... Dear Spring, please come soon... When I get four of my wisdom teeth removed, I will ask the doc if I can keep them for the tooth fairy so that she can expedite the spring. (Technically, wisdom tooth is a baby tooth, since it is jetting out of its mooring for the first time)

P.S: Viewing full images would be a good way of appreciating these not-so-revealing photos

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