Baa Baa brown sheep

Back in grad school, I used to ride my bicycle to school most days, and my husband (then fiance)would pick me up somedays. That day was our international festival. I parked my bike, chained and locked it and went and had my share of the fun. Came out later in the evening, hunted for my bicycle and couldn't find it. We searched everywhere and finally concluded that it had been stolen. My husband went to the university police station to file a complaint.

Towards lunch time, a few circuits connected and the bulb flashed in my head. I told my husband where I had actually left the bike. Sure enough, there it was, untouched and lonely. So he trudged up to the coppers to get the complaint back. Back to me sitting with the sheepish grin! A definite start to the duh moments of my life!

History definitely repeats itself! During my trip to India, my mother in law gave me some important documents and also an important letter to be mailed to her friend's daughter. The trip passed in a flurry of activities. I got back home, woke up (very) early the next morning and unpacked all my bags. Searched for the documents and couldn't find it. My husband also searched all the bags, couldn't find it and sent them up to the attic. For the next 2 weeks, I had to listen to mother and son fret over my forgetfulness. I called up my mom to search for the documents at home. She turned the whole house upside down and reported that she couldn't locate them.

2 weeks later after the jet lag fluff had cleared up from my brain, I went up to the attic and opened the bag's suit compartment. This is the compartment that is kind of the upper berth in the bag, but below the side panels. Both of us had failed to search that. There they were, exactly where I had put it, to make sure I didn't forget them and also to keep them from getting smushed up.

Duh moments continue!

Happy Valentine's day

Govinda sort of spoiled it for me, by saying everyday is a valentine's day for him in his own corny, cheesy style. But still, I won't say no to a bunch of beautiful red roses now and then.

Having being fed on romance, both in movies and books, it is a day for remembering the best romances I have come across.

Tamil movies:
Mouna Ragam: I have seen this movie umpteen times and still love it. Revathy in one of her best roles, as was Karthik, with his "Chandramouli". To me, the best that Manirathnam gave us.

RajaParvai: The romance of a blind man, although borrowed its climax from Dustin Hoffman's, was a beautiful movie.

Alaipayuthey: This was about the happily ever after part, and of course, there was Maddy.

Missiyamma: A nice and soft romantic tale.

Then nilavu: Great songs, that we enjoy even to this day.

English movies:
Pretty Woman, My girl, An affair to remember, French Kiss, Sleepless in Seattle, Ghost, When Harry met Sally, Roman Holiday

Books:
Gone with the wind: Scarlet O'Hara is a household name. That was probably the longest book I read at one go. What I liked best about her was her indefatigable attitude.

Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth and Darcy's romance that still fascinates us after all these years. In fact, I love most of Jane Austen's books

Jane Eyre: This was a book in school and we got the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the book and it remains one of my faves.

Georgette Heyer: I can't really whittle down to one single favorite.

Then there are the regular authors I read, Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter, Kay Hooper, Susan Elizabeth Phillips who can churn some good romance.

A day to curl up and read/watch a good romance.

Back to your mathematical roots

Over the weekend, someone posed this problem to me and wanted my help in solving it. It didn't take me too long to figure it all out. It was fun solving and reminded me how much I love solving such problems.

Here is the problem:

There are 400 students in a school. 180 take Spanish, 160 take Chinese and 160 take Latin. 60 take Spanish and Latin, 70 take Latin and Chinese and 60 take Chinese and Spanish. 50 take none. How many take all three?

Murphy's law goes wireless?

Why is it that the cell phone always rings when you step out of your office? To the point where coworkers start complaining? And when you try to call back, you always miss the other person.
Is this a mobile murphy law or something?

Cauvery's son

Two years back, during my trip to Chennai, LandMark didn't have the 1st volume of Ponniyin Selvan's English Translation. So I had 2 choices. Wait for the book to be back in circ. or try to read the tamil one. As a self-taught-tamil-reader, reading the old style tamil doesn't come easy. And when you cannot read well, the beauty of the novel is lost. So I decided to wait. Note that the option of reading the online translation did not appeal to me.

So on the last trip, I found book 1 and promptly started reading it. I am being redundant many times over, by saying it is a wonderful masterpiece. I am in the throes of it now, but afraid to hurry, coz I don't want it to end quickly. I have read Parthiban kanavu and half of Sivakamiyin sabatham at Pavithra's blog. I am still waiting to read the rest of it. I came across the tamil ones at the museum book store (good place for book lovers). I didn't it buy it though, knowing I won't be able to do it. So that is another wait for me.

The translation has been well done and most of the time, I didn't feel like I was reading a translated work. It does take a lot of passion, energy, creativity and time to do it.

It made me wonder what would have happened if Arulmozhi varmar had accepted the throne of Lanka. Less violence now in that part of the world, may be?