swing swing

Here are a few clips of Andi and I doing a few lifts. I took the vids with my canon A80.

http://centerleft.net/images/joyban/MVI_0861.AVI

http://centerleft.net/images/joyban/MVI_0862.AVI

http://centerleft.net/images/joyban/MVI_0863.AVI

[Listening to: Oh Yeah - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Save My Soul (4:36)]

TIME Person of the Year 2004: 10 Things We Learned About Blogs

TIME Person of the Year 2004: 10 Things We Learned About Blogs

Italia!

I am going to Italy in the summer for the borate conference! YIPPIEEEE! All I have to do now is write an abstract for the poster I will be presenting there and it'll cost me a couple of hundred dollars. Trento, Italy, you will be seeing me in about 6 months!

[Listening to: Clark Gable - The Postal Service - Give Up (4:54)]

i hate being sick!

i have the flu or that's what the nurse and I think I have. I have been little feverish, ache-ish..and this sore throat is killing me! It hurts everytime I swallow. I have been eating soup and PBJ the last couple of days. It sucks! Hot liquids soothe my throat for that oh-so-brief period before the pain while swallowing sets in again. The nurse had asked to hole up in my room and not see anyone because I was possibly contagious. I think I certainly was.. So, the only person who came by for a bit was Andi who made me tea and other hot liquids. That was so sweet of her.. It's nice being taken care of because I'm the one usually taking care of other people. She does feel that being around me for prolonged periods of time might make her sick which is probably true. I don't know how much longer I'll be contagious but I don't want to get her sick. However she did tell my friends that she wanted to take care of me since I take her all the time. That was a nice thing to say. It makes me happy to see her when she visits to check up. I have been thinking of more happy moments with her like the first time we held hands or the first time we kissed.. I feel good when I think good..

I didnt attend lab or any of the meetings today.. I don't know if I should do classes tomorrow.. I guess I wait to see how I feel when I get up in the morning..

PS: Andi's my ex-girlfriend..

[Listening to: When I See You - Third Eye Blind - Out Of The Vein (3:58)]

another one of those quizzes


Your element is Fire: Strong, hot tempered,
powerful, and passionate. Well now lets see,
being fire you are quite strong and powerful,
people look up to you greatly and often seek
your protection. You have the ability to gain
many friends and you are always one people can
count on to do what you say you will do. You
are extremely loyal be it friends or family
you'll stick up for them and you are never
willing to put them in a position that could
hurt them. You know what roll you play in life,
leader, and you intend to let people know it.
Not everyone is capable of leadership but you
certainly have the willpower and flare to do
it. You have quite a temper if it shows itself,
one that can often lead you into trouble. Once
your mind is made up there is no changing it
but no one said that was a bad thing.


.:-|What is your true element?|-:. -With Anime Pictures and detailed answers-
brought to you by Quizilla

this is interesting. I found a link to this quiz on Oranges From China.


Your Heart is Red


What Color is Your Heart?
brought to you by Quizilla

my mood lately..

I have been listening to Relient K's new album "MmHmm". These are few excerpts which show how I have been feeling lately..

We were talking together
I said, "what's up with this weather?"
Dont know whether or not
How sad I just got
'Cause on my own volition.
What if I'm just missing the sun

And tomorrow, I know,
Will be rainy at best.
And the forecast, I know,
Is that I'll be depressed.

But I'll wait outside
Hopin that I'll catch sight of the sun.

Because on and off,
The clouds have fought
Their control over the sky

And lately the weather
Has been so Bi-polar
And Consequently so have I

                  "High Of 75" - Relient K


cause we're so scared to find out
what this life's all about
so scared we're going to lose it
not knowing all along
that's exactly what we need

and today I will trust you with confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
but tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
oh, inconsistent me
crying out for consistency

and you said I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember
the end will justify the pain it took to get us there

and I'll let it be known
at times I have shown
signs of all my weakness
but somewhere in me
there is strength

and you promise me
that you believe
in time I will defeat this
cause somewhere in me
there is strength

                  "Let It All Out" - Relient K

I just want to feel better and happy. I hope I find strength in me heal my wounds and relieve the pain. I can't remember if I have ever felt stronger emotions before I came to Coe. This place has been a roller coaster ride, with fantastic highs and depressing lows.. I'm getting a taste of real life outside the protective umbrella of home and family. I guess it's making me a man. a character building experience as people put it here..

I am staring off into space again. I just got back from a staff meeting and am trying to motivate myself to start reading again. I have some things on my mind and I am trying to remove them so that I can concentrate.. But I have that weird clammy tight feeling in my chest.. I don't know.. i'm not very happy now either but I don't want to talk about that either because it's too consuming.. I hope all my homework and stuff keeps me focussed..

[Listening to: Sober - Muse - Showbiz (4:04)]

last full day at home

after going through all those blogs, I was exhausted last night. I left some feedback on some of the people I found who did swing. I'll wait to see if anyone replies.. I took a quite a few pictures on the garden and the flowers in it. I'll have to see if they turned out well. I have started getting some things organized for the packing. My bed's covered with my stuff now. I don't think I have enough to pack both my suitcases but I have to take both back.. I'll be carrying back some cool stuff, like a couple of bottles of french Bordeaux from dad, african stuff.. yeah, things like that..

this new blogrolling thing is pretty cool. I must have over 25 links to different blogs now..i also got a movie and some software offa my brother. I need to look at his music and take some of that too.

I watched Shall We Dance yesterday evening. It got me in the mood of dancing again. It's like any other click flick. I'd rate it under the catagory of Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, that type of movie..

grounding thoughts..

I'm in the weird quiet reflection mood again. damn! It always grounds me. This is usually not very positive either. I wonder why it's easier to think about the negative things than to ponder and think happy. There are some things I really wanted but I can't have them now, not in the near future anyway. Hopefully, I will accomplish and get these things later...

something I'd like to do

You know, I have always wanted to travel and go somewhere with Andi. I think it would be a lot of fun. But I don't think that's going to happen. She is going to Germany for a year, she needs to save up. I was thinking about this as I was just chatting with Sarah and she was telling about her prep for London-Florence. I just wish I could go and visit Europe instead of just transiting through the airports without actually seeing the city. I wanted to visit Kristin but then decided against it for multiple reasons. If I was asked a couple of years back, I would have definitely gone up to see her. And then visiting Andi and Inga in Germany sometime next year... I have to see if I can do that when the time comes. I guess there are a lot of factors that will go into making that decision. The most important being money.. I guess I'm going to wait and see.

My tropical winter!

The last day before I was to fly out, I packed all the things I was to carry home. I tried packing everything in one suitcase but it felt that it would burst open because it had so many things in it. I had so much of shopping to carry back along with my books, clothes and shoes. I went out with Matt and Amanda in the night for dessert from her game. I was quiet most of the time because I was reflecting on things that had been going on in my life. And they were talking about stuff they didn�t like to eat. It was funny actually. They were talking like an old married couple. Well, I guess they have been dating for a long time and they seem so much at ease with each other with no doubts about the other person. Peace of mind.

I woke up early in the morning to finish the last bit of shopping that my mum wanted me to do. Micheal�s got a lot of business from my mum. But things there are pretty expensive. So, I think we will be shopping online for mum�s pmc things now. I also bought an mp3 player and the camera that dad wanted me to buy for the office. I had such a tough decision to make when I was thinking about buying the 40 gb mp3 player or not and finally I just got it. And then I got back and left for the airport at 3 because I had my flight out at 4.45 pm. I had to go through a special security check, which meant a complete, pat down and carry on baggage check. The only people that I saw that had to go through with this check were brown skinned people. I mentioned that to a security agent there after my check was done. It did seem racial but we should be getting used to this soon I guess. I got to Chicago and had a couple of hours to burn. So I decided to call people while I had the chance. I used my bluetooth and there was this one lady who kept pointing to my headset as it was blinking blue. I smiled and told her what it was and there was a questioning look. I guess she had never seen a wireless headset. I talked to Andi for a bit, and then ended up talking to Doll and Mammi for the rest of the time.

The Delta flight to London was very spacious. I don�t think I�ve ever been on a flight that had so much of leg space. It was amazing! And I happened to sit adjacent to the lady who was pointing at my headset. It was a funny coincidence. She was a minister in a small town in Wisconsin and was going home for the winter. She taught classes to the prisoners in a maximum-security prison in that town. She was very defensive about them and told me that she loved working with them. I think she felt that I had a negative view of things in the prison system.. Like Andi said, if there were no good movies on the flight, I would actually sleep. It was true for the most part. I saw Collateral and that was the only movie worth watching. So, I did sleep most of the way there. But I did see the magnetic dartboard system that I was searching for. It was $40 though. So, I don�t know if I should buy it on the way back.

I have never seen so many Indians in one place apart from India. The London airport was teeming with Indians, old and young. I had a 12-hour layover! So, after I got my boarding pass, I decided to look around at the stores. I did look around for an hour or so and then got bored of the stores there. First, there wasn�t a lot there to see really and second, things were soo expensive. Especially since a pound was two bucks! So every thing was twice as much as the US. However, I did see that Bailey�s was cheaper there than in the US. So, I will be buying a couple of bottles on the way back. After that I just sat around and started killing time by reading Contact. I actually tried calling Sujatha aunty but it wouldn�t connect and I tried getting online at one of the kiosks and that didn�t work either. So, I just gave up and returned to sitting around. I managed to catch a wink for a couple of hours sleeping with my arms around the baggage using my bag a pillow. I did eat some there, a slice of pizza and a sandwich for $12. Isn�t that insane? Finally, about an hour before my flight was scheduled to take off, I saw the gate assigned to the plane. So, I took off to the gate and was one of the first people to reach it. I was on the plane 20 minutes later.

The Virgin flight wasn�t as roomy as the last one was. But it was ok, I planned on sleeping this one through because it was night time in Nigeria and I wanted to get on that clock as soon as I got in. I didn�t want any jetlag. There was someone from campus waiting to pick me up. I got through customs and everything in a breeze. I was however hit with the humidity the moment I got back because I was wearing my sweater and sweatshirt. It was 25 C outside with high humidity! And this was winter in tropical Nigeria. After a 2-hour ride back to campus, I was finally home.

Later in the day, I showed mum all the things I got and she was very happy with all the pmc she could now work with. It felt nice to be home after so long. It was good to see mum because I hadn�t seen her since winter. I slept for a long time after that. Mum told me that she saw my pictures while I was sleeping. They were actually very good pictures. They came out really well. I was pleasantly surprised.

And then began my every day schedule of sleeping at 3 am and waking up at 12 when mum woke me up telling me that I shouldn�t miss breakfast and it�s not good to wake up right before lunch. And then I would eat toast and drink tea. And then I would sit on the net. Around 1.30, dad would come home and we would eat lunch. After that, I would watch TV if there was something good, or sit on the net some more. On Thursdays and Sundays, my brother and I would play basketball with other people. Fridays, we had pizza night at the International House. And then, drink tea in the evening and watch some more TV. And then dinner around 10, and some more internet. Around 12, I would read till I fell asleep or answered emails. I actually answered all my emails the same day, usually straight away because I had nothing else to do really. I haven�t emailed so much and so frequently in a long time. Inga and I emailed back and forth almost everyday. Andi and I would email every other day because there wasn�t much to say really since neither of us were doing a lot.

I called some of my friends on Christmas. I talked to Andi for a little while but couldn�t talk to her much because I got her in the middle of gifts. I tried calling Kristin and Mary, failing on both accounts. I then talked to Britta for a long time. She is at ease on the phone when she talks to me even though she doesn�t like talking on the phone a whole lot. It was nice to talk to her and catch up. It did feel odd because we didn�t have the late night chats since I got home. I guess it was something we did pretty often and I got used to it. I did get to talk to Jessi and I could say that she was surprised to get my call. But I remember that I called her the last time I was home too. I couldn�t talk to Komal because she is MIA. I got to chat with most of my friends and got atleast one email if not more from all of them. I talked to Andi on Jan 1 for about 50 minutes with my mum breathing down my neck asking me why I was on the phone for so long and what could I possibly talking about! And that�s why I couldn�t call anyone else because I had the feeling that I ate up my call time allowance in one shot. Hehe.. It felt good talking to Inga after I got home because I hadn�t talked to her for a bit. I was also concerned after the email I got from her about her breakup with her long-term boyfriend.

Apart from that, nothing much has really happened. We had the acting Indian High Commissioner come to our house for lunch along with some other Indians on campus. And I finally got to see I Robot which I�ve always wanted to see.

And of course, New Years was a blast. I haven�t had so much of fun in Nigeria ever. We got to the International House around 8.30. I had this one drink called Champagne Screw which tasted like soap. Yuck! I chucked three quarters of the drink in a bush. We then waited around till 9.30 for the dinner. The dinner was a pretty good buffet with free red and white French wine. After dinner, my brother and I sat with the other kids and socialized for a bit. There was a raffle drawing in which my mum won a dinner for two at the restaurant in I-House. And then the party began, at first we just watched other people go on the dance floor. After a bit, the youth decided to and join in. There were only two Canadian girls in our group and so we were asking them to dance all the time. I don�t think they have been asked to dance so much in their life! I danced more with the 21 year old girl more than her younger sister because the other boys never left her by herself for anyone to ask. I finally got talking with the group and it was smooth sailing after that. I danced a lot and did a few of the basic swing turns and stuff that the girls could handle. I actually found an R&B song that has perfect rhythm for six count swing. After my parents left, we went nuts I guess. My brother and I tried to teach Bhangra to a couple of European women. After that, my brother switched among us to dance with the Slavic ladies. They were pretty hot and every other guy in the group thought so too. They were all looking at them and drooling.. hehe.. Plus, they were drunk so that made for a better dance experience ;). It was funny to watch them dance with us with their young children and husbands around. I don�t think their husbands enjoyed dancing as much as they did anyway. Towards the end, I talked to Michelle (the older Canadian) about what she did at home and all. It was actually a two way conversation. I remember when I got back to my house that I could have told her about Kit�s research about Antarctic�s permafrost since she was studying the Canadian permafrost up north. We got back at 4.30 fully awake but the moment I lied down, I was out in a couple of minutes.. New Year�s eve was actually fun. Yay!