something different

I got to work at exactly 9 again instead of the planned 8. I seem to be snoozing from the time I hear the alarm to 8.40 precisely which is really strange. Doc was late by a few minutes so everything was cool. He was happy with the steady progress during the time he was away. I tried out the R=5 sodium borate which is almost 80% metal in the glass. But the higher speed roller quenching didn't do much good because I got more crystal than glass. So I am now done with the sodium family and we have moved on to lithium. We made our first glass today and got good results. During the time Greg was doing the glass, I was engaged in my visa application process. I got a letter from the consulate saying that I didn't have a financial statement. I faxed my W-2 but that wasn't legible. So I scanned and sent the email. They checked it and told me that I didn't earn enough money for them to be confident about my financial status in Japan. So Doc framed a letter with all the money specifics and I faxed that again. This time they told me that it was good enough so I went ahead and mailed it. MTV's Boiling Point cracks me up..
            I got back and just chilled and watched TV. I was waiting for Jessi to call so that we could go running and do weights. We ran for a mile, reduced to a walk and stretched and then ran another mile back. We ran for about 15 minutes which was shorter than I normally go. But I also did a sprint and weights after that. I got back, showered and ate a sandwich and finished my V8 smoothies. I talked to Britta for over an hour and a half. It was good to talk to her again, she tells me that her parents are driving her insane and she has been there only for 9 days! And then I told Matt to come over after his shower and we talked as well. And now, I am chatting with recently married cousin. She really misses her hubby who is at London for work.. I know what she is going through, been there.. I haven't talked to Andi for about a week. I miss her.

[Listening to: Mary - Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (3:55)]

She was my first American female friend at Coe. I got to know Jessi and roomies really well since first semester freshmen year. She's really cool and a special friend at Coe! 

I got mail!!

Well, I talked to Doll last night and the conversation ended around 1 PM. I needed her input on certain questions I had. It's been hard to get a hold of her because she talks to one of her friends around the time I try to call her. We talked about how to get around that as well. In the process of heading towards the restroom to brush and got to bed, I saw the next door open and people talking. So I popped in and introduced myself. There was a guy and two girls. I ended up talking to them till 2.30! I didn't even realize that it had gotten that late. I have never before met younger people so intelligent and well-informed about issues. One of the girls was very vocal and I talked to her more that the other two. But one of the reasons for that was that she wasn't really give them time to respond to my questions. But, I have a feeling I might get to know them more in the summer because I am usually free and like have people to talk to and hang out with. They are Carver scholar kids who will be doing research in the science departments. They have given one student per research faculty member. They have interesting times ahead.. I'll try to help them on the way if they need any help.
         Woke up to my alarm but didn't wake up till 8.40. Damn, I thought I could be in at work at 8 and make more glass. I got there and 9.15 and realized that there was a safety meeting at 10. So I couldn't start stuff until after that. Greg made a lot of solutions which should hopefully be done tomorrow. I then checked the tracking on my camera and found out that it had been delivered. Headed straight to the mailroom and got my package and deposited the cheque as well. I had been waiting for the cheque for about a week. I saw a hilarious hidden camera show on MTV where the show sets a time and whoever lasts that long gets $100. The funniest one was to see how long a girlfriend could last without lashing out when made jealous.. I laughed my guts out! I called verizon when I got to work and they answered my questions about the roaming minutes. And I also talked to the Japanese consulate and they need a financial statement and I will be faxing them my W2. Got back from work and went running. I did a different circuit which was 10 minutes uphill, 3 minutes downhill and 8 minutes flat terrain. I also sprinted about 50 metres at the end. Rob helped me do weights today evening. I had a longer weights session and I tried new exercises and stretches. I stretched a lot after running so I am not as sore as I normally am. I hung out with Jessi most of the evening. I just got back from watching 21 grams with her. That's one weird movie where they keep flashing back to the past and then going to the future and then to the present. It was pretty disorienting. There was a scene when someone was doing self multilation which made both me and Jessi gag. I ate some pasta salad with her that she got from home. I am going to run and do weights with her tomorrow evening.

[Listening to: Singing In my Sleep - Semisonic - Feeling Strangely Fine (4:30)]

This is Bhavya, my best friend from Hyderabad, India. She has seen me through some tough times.. 

A new addition to the crazy macher_jhol clan

We found out last week that my aunt/sis is going to have a kid next february. I am very excited about it because I might actually be the one of the first people from the family to see the baby since I live in the US. I will definitely visit her sometime after her baby comes. I talked to her today and she seems positively buoyant about being "preggy" as she calls it. She has already started looking and shopping for maternity clothes. Tubldi and Anil have interesting times ahead. And apparently, I will be helping with the diapers because she told me that I was going to do it. I talked to mum and dad and some people at Gurgaon today morning. I wish I could talk to them longer than a few minutes. I also want to talk to Robi. I finally chatted with Britta since she's been home. I might get to chat or call her tomorrow evening. And god knows where the hell bhavya is. She has summer vacations but she is unable to come online to chat. ****!

[Listening to: Not Enough - 3 Doors Down - The Better Life (8:05)]

This is Komal, a sister if I ever had one at Coe. I've been told that we look like two spoilt rich asian kids. That cracked me up! 

Two drop dead gorgeous babes. This is how my girl and Britta look when all snazzed up. And oh, this was at Voorhees before we headed over to homecoming 2003. 

That's Inga in her new car. I like the color..almost pinkish red. She is a wonderful person I got to know when she was a semester long exchange student from Landau, Germany at Coe. I was her diplomat. 

This is Kristin at Presidential Ball 2004. I danced one number with her that night. She looked really good and had a lot of fun. Happier times... 

overcharged!

I woke up in the morning and checked my account to find that I was overcharged by Genghis Grill. I immediately called my bank and found out that the restaurants add the extra charge but debit only the amount thats on the receipt. I was told that the superflous charge was normal..I deposited komal's cheque and replinished my account. My account's biggest nourishment is on it's way. I hope it gets to me soon because I have to pay off my dues...

[Listening to: Send It Up - Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want (3:41)]

a productive day

Another early day and for a change I woke up without the alarm promptly at 7.15. And then snoozed for another 10 minutes when I heard my phone vibrating. My parents called in the morning but before my brother got on the phone to talk to me, the call got disconnected. damn.. I got to work around 8.20 and got started on research. The day was pretty productive because we made 2 glasses and got density results using the other pyc. The reason the micropyc is not popular is due to the fact that its manual and not automatic like the ultrapyc. One thing good about the micropyc is that the time involved in the measurement is shorter by half. With Doc gone, everyone was relaxed. It was evident when half the researchers turned in late. I got out of work earlier than usual because I didn't have anything else to do at work. I got back. I was contemplating not running because it was absurdly humid outside. I also decided to carry my cd player on the run which turned out to be a bad decision because cd players skip like hell. So, I ran only for about 10 minutes and walked the rest of the way. I might buy a flash memory mp3 player for the exercising. I ate out with marty at Genghis Grill for dinner. It had been over 4 months since I've been there. I love that food! and their chocolate cake is soooo rich, yuMMMy! I just wish I had loaded the bowl up more. But it was good because I normally overeat there and this time I had the right amount I think.
         We then watched Day After Tomorrow and movie hopped to Chronicles of Riddick. They were 2 good action movies. I enjoyed both the movies. I wonder how plausible most of the science in Day after was but it was entertaining for sure. We thought Riddick was going to be horrible but were pleasantly surprised to see that it was fun. I will try to search online to see how much of the science in Day after is bunk. But the movie was really funny at times because it made several political snipes at the US administration which ranged from environmental non-policies to illegal immigration regarding Mexico to third world nations. I don't think many americans would appreciate the political direction of the movie but people who live in developing nations can relate to the movie. I still think the US not signing the Kyoto Protocol which deals with emissions of greenhouse gases is extremely negative. It clearly shows how much power the industries have behind the scenes in the policy making. This is particularly bad because US is the largest producer of greenhouse gases. The movie was sensationalist in nature but global warming will happen pretty soon at the rate we are going. There was a hint of the possible future which seems dark for mankind unless we do something about it.

[Listening to: Somewhere I Belong - Linkin Park - Meteora (3:33)]

fatigue!

My alarm didn't go off in the morning. A direct consequence of my fiddling around with it before falling asleep. I forgot to change PM to AM when I was done playing with it. But luckily, I slept early last night for a change and was awake by 8. It took my eyes 40 minutes to open up fully which was rather strange. It felt like there was a layer of something over my cornea which was preventing me from focussing. I felt much better after the shower though. I headed to work at 8.30 because Doc wanted to meet with us at 9. The meeting was another hour yet again with my day dreaming through some of it. I got reprimanded for not being there when Greg was putting the solution into the drying oven, that was funny because it sounded like Doc wanted me to babysit him through the whole process even the transportation of the solution to its day long resting place. I also asked Doc why he split $4200 42 ways because me and Ben will be there for a total of 27 days, which means the $4200 should be divided 27 ways. Anyway, he told me that the grant was made for 3 students going for 2 weeks each. I am good with the amount he is giving me although more is always good. ahh..the greediness comes out in the open.. I wanted to make more glass today but people were using the glove box and the pycs. So we just made more solutions today for precipitates. Today's weather was rather dreary and it was pouring most of the time. I got my Japan visa app stuff mailed today. I attended a talk giving an introduction to spectroscopy which was 80% a physics lecture which was hilarious because the speaker was a chemistry proffesor at coe and 20% of demonstration involving a blowtorch and UV tubelights. I left work at 4.30 because I was going shopping for a bit at 7. I had to exercise those 2 damn donuts i ate in the morning. I don't know why I had 2 because I normally have just 1. Ten minutes into the run I felt like stopping, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of burning off the calories. I ran the same circuit in the humid weather. I also did weights for 35 minutes. My muscles are sore and tight everywhere. I tried the stretches that Marty showed me. I think they did help a bit. But I still do the owws while sitting and standing and climbing stairs. Marty gave me a ride to target and bestbuy to shop. I bought microwave safe dinnerware. I wanted to buy Corelle but target doesn't carry corelle unfortunately. So instead of buying $30 dinnerware, I bought a $10 set. I followed the stereotype of students and went cheap. And god damn, rechargeable batteries are expensive. I bought 8 batteries for $27. I bought a compactflash reader at bestbuy and looked for an universal adapter to use in Japan. I have to find out what kind of plug i need before I can buy it. After getting back, I watched music videos on yahoo and I really seem to like Lostprophets. I might have to buy their cds.

[Listening to: Chap Stick, Chapped Lips And Things Like Chemistry - Relient K - X 2003 (disc 2) (3:10)]

This picture was taken by Pat Cook at Presidential Ball 2004. A bit too bright but good nonetheless. 

what a day!

I talked to Doll late last night after talking to sunny. It's really funny that Doll's older than me and I seem to be educating her in the ways of ahem...you know.. since I know some about it from varied credible sources..hehe.. Getting people out of their shell is loads of fun...hehe..:) She also knows about all facets of my life which no one else knows. And she talks to me about everything. It's so good to talk to someone without thinking because there is nothing to hide from her.
            Yeah..the late night caused my ears not to respond to my alarm. I think I slept through it again because I was supposed to be in at work at 8 and I woke up at 9! I got to work an hour and a half late. Doc wasnt pleased but softened when he heard that I had alarm issues. I also realized that Chris now has an independent project which means that he can't assist me anymore. I talked to Doc and got a new assistant. We had the Wednesday lunch today and we had food from Pancheros. I was expecting those large burritos but I was dissapointed to see make-your-own small burritos. However it was good food nonetheless. I dozed through the talk and was thinking about Andi..lol.. I really miss her already. They must be half way through to Yellow Stone. I made a lot of good glass today and saved nitrogen. But alas, a waste yet again because the pycnometer was acting temperamental. I kept trying for an hour to get it to work but it didnt give in. My glass had absorbed water so I couldn't save the sample. I have to do it all over again. This is beginning to get frustrating!
            But the thing that brightened my day up was when Doc told me how much of per diem he is going to give me. $100 a day for 13 days!!!! freaking hell, I can save so much of money, things don't get sweeter than that! And I also jogged for 25 minutes again and weights for 30 mins. My muscles are all tense but I feel good! I stretched but the muscles are still tight. I need to learn a few new stretches to go after my run. And I have been eating healthy too..Makes me feel happy all over:). Although evenings are still pretty boring here...

[Listening to: Ironic - Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (3:49)]

sunny!

i talked to sunny for a while tonight. It was good to talk to her and catch up. She is going to visit me June 26! I am really excited to see her because I haven't seen her for about a year. Good times ahead!

[Listening to: Anthem - Blink 182 - Enema Of The State (3:36)]

my exercising regimen has begun!

My day began really early because I have to get to research at 8 in the morning. It gives us first dibs at the equipment which means we can make more glasses. Well, it works well if everything goes according to plan. Pycnometer was erratic today because it is very pressure sensitive and apparently someone had fiddled with the pressure gauge on the helium tank. So, we got bad results which in turn caused a higher density for the glass than the literature values. But thankfully Doc was happy with the results. We would have made another glass but Jon's sample jammed the rollers up and un-jamming them took the rest of the afternoon because the panels of the glove box had to be removed. They are a pain in the ass to reassemble. I also learned to use the Raman photospectrometer which was pretty cool. I have used it before at Iowa State. Both my meals were from the groceries I bought yesterday. I had roasted honey nut peanut butter and jelly and sandwich with a meat mix. And I had burritos for dinner with baby carrots and spicy ranch. I also ran for 25 minutes straight without stopping... I was so happy! Plus I lifted weights to end the exercise. Albeit I was dead tired but it felt good to start jogging again. I talked to Kevin for a while when I was at the fitness centre. But god was it humid and hot out today! And I have been chilling all evening. Chris came by to see if could buy some wine but I told him that I didn't want to risk getting caught so close to my 21st birthday. I think we will do the wine tomorrow. I talked to Andi for a short period of time but for the first time she didnt pay attention to me on the phone. It was really annoying even though I knew she had to pack. I wish she paid attention for even 5-10 minutes. But it's ok..she was busy and I got to talk to her mom and Carlo. I need to talk to Doll when she eventually gets off the phone. I need to talk to sunny about kristin. The Kristin issue is really bothering me and I need to talk to sunny which I am trying to do now.

[Listening to: It is You - Newsboys - (4:25)]

an ordinary day

It was tough to wake up at 9 today but the chat with Doll was interesting because I realized a lot of things about myself and my expectations. It's amazing how much I have adapted myself to function better here, my expectations keep getting modified. Day at research was ok.. We had a long meeting with Doc and we figured a game plan for the rest of the june since I will be gone in July. Hopefully we can stick to that and have a uneventful period at research where things get done systematically without bloopers. I got my fedex billing fixed because I was overcharged by about $110. I also got the cashier's cheque for the visa. And then I went grocery shopping. Jessi called me as I was almost done with shopping but she told me that there was a cheaper place to buy stuff. So I put back everything I bought at Hy-Vee and went shopping with her for a couple of hours. It was good to get out..My meals today cost $3 which is pretty amazing. I also talked to Andi for a long time and we talked about kids which was a stimulating conversation because I have never before discussed kids in that much of detail with anyone. All of us have that at the back of our mind, I think about it sometimes when I think about my future and the direction it is taking.. I still think our futures are uncertain because circumstances change our choices and our life is based on the choices we make.

[Listening to: Waldorf Worldwide - Good Charlotte - Good Charlotte (3:19)]

Technologically challenged..hehe

Making fun of the computer illiterates out there. Seems like most of
these customer situations are in India. Enjoy

http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/cs_obvious.shtml

contact with my girl FINALLY!

After a weeklong period of no communication, I finally got to talk to her after leaving a couple of messages. She attended a lot of graduation parties today. She made me tell her about the thursday night at iowa city..hehe. I also told her about the stuff that went on during the rest of the week. One of her friends, Felix is visiting them and will be getting there tomorrow. They are going to YellowStone National Park on Wednesday. It seems like there will be a communication blackout when she leaves for the camping trip. Anyway, I hope she sends me postcards:). Going on trips with Andi's family is a lot of fun because the spring break trip was awesome! She has a fantastic 2 weeks ahead of her.

[Listening to: Fair - Ben Folds Five - Whatever And Ever Amen [UK] (5:57)]

I haven't talked to Andi for about a week since she went back home. It's been quite a while. I thought she was going to call me friday but I guess she got busy. She emailed me to tell me to call her tonight but I was out. Anyway, I think I might call her on sunday if she is around.

[Listening to: If I Could Be Like That - 3 Doors Down - (4:25)]

Harry Potter Mayhem!

I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban tonight with Britta, Ben and Theresa. I think it was a sold out crowd because we had to wait forever to get into the theatre. They kept us out till 5 minutes before the scheduled time. And then when we got in, we had to sit through 6 previews! The movie was cool, although they did change a few details but it didnt seem that bad. It was over two hours long though. I wish Britta wasn't so grouchy and moody tonight. I always happen to be there when a girl is having a rough day, and all the anger and frustration comes out at me. Her swings compares to Komal's and I had to watch everything I said so as to not provoke her. It would have been so much better if she hadn't been so pissy. Anyway, I know girls are like that but I am still coming to terms with it. I was warned not to disturb her tomorrow. That was really odd because I wasn't going to wake her up or anything of that sort due to her lack of sleep the last few days..

[Listening to: Life For Rent - Dido - Life For Rent (3:41)]

Swing Manna

hehe..that may look like me and Andi are making out while dancing..but, that's just a swing lift..lol. It also is the best looking lift among all the photos I have. What can I say, it's perfect. 

finally no more caf food!

I can finally eat my own food whenever I please. I can start exercising and it's about time I did. Although this also means that I need to get groceries for food and all. I also slept in till noon. It felt soo good because i got more than 7 hours of sleep last night. I was also wondering what Britta was upto because I hadn't seen her since thursday evening and we finally made contact today. She came up to tell me about her adventures in the last 48 hours. She was on a sleep derived high..lol.. The Relay for Life was fun apparently.. and then we just talked for a long time.. I also seem to have a calming effect on her because she sobered down. She is hilarious when she is on a sleep deprived or caffeine high because she laughs at every thing. I am also jealous because her boss took her out to eat the last couple of days and she has been eating well while the other mortals here were stuck with cafeteria food.. It was also lonely eating by myself. The last couple of days were the first times that I actually ate by myself. While talking to Britta, she told me that I seemed like a jerk the first time we met, and she thought I was very possessive about Andi because I was paying a lot of attention to her. She realized later that I was quiet because I didn't know anyone in the group watching the movie apart from Andi. It's always interesting to hear what my friends thought of me the first time they met me...

[Listening to: Saathiya - A.R.Rahman - Saathiya (5:57)]

And another night of fun!

Some times at research when its all boys around, we have the strangest of conversations. Today was about porn. We just sat there for 20 minutes talking about it with Jesse, Marty, Jon, Chris and me there. We also talked about drugs at random. Never a dull day at physics alright. I was so lethargic today that I just wanted to get finished with work and leave. I got back to my room and lay on the bed watching tv, i realized that if I wasn't careful, I could fall asleep. I was so tempted to nap but I had to see Love Actually tonight before 8.30 and return it to Kristin. She is leaving tomorrow and I don't think I will see her before she leaves.. I could have seen Harry Potter with her and the group that was going but I told Britta that I wanted to see it with her. I also think the movie with Britta will be more fun although we might go with Jenna because she wants to see and will also give us a ride. It feels really odd that I haven't hung out with Britta for a couple of days because she was so busy. I sort of got used to us hanging out all the time. Although, I might get to see her more during the weekend before she leaves for home.
            I didn't want to nap because I was going swing dancing tonight at the Hilltop. When I got to Kiki's, I saw Kelly and was pleasantly surprised. She got her haircut and she looks very cute with the new hairdo. Both me and Rob told her she looked good in it. Kiki and Kelly were both dressed very well tonight. I also heard some talk about sticky boobs which I understood later in the night. We got there and saw that the four of us were the only ones there. It was a lot of fun with just the four of us because we got to dance with each other and try new moves. I learnt a few new moves from Kelly, she always has something new to show which is very cool! Although the moves I learnt caused a lot of contact with her boobs. That was a rather interesting experience because I tried it with Kiki and it was the same thing. A first for me was poking Kiki's fake breast or "sticky boobs". Rob, Kiki and me are in a picture where Rob and me are poking her chest. God, after that the girls started poking and feeling our chests like that one episode in Will and Grace. It was rather odd. Kelly accused me of dirty swinging, apparently I touched her butt during a move which I didn't realize. I sometimes move down too much; got to watch out for that with girls especially if I am not dating them. Kiki was also very excited when we did some of the best aerials ever because she has never gotten so much of elevation. It was a lot of fun!!
            I will be going to Scheel's with some of my physics friends to check some guns out. They want to show me how a gun feels since I have never really seen a gun in real life.. That should be a cultural experience.

[Listening to: Everybody - 12 Rods - Separation Anxieties (4:05)]

Fun at Iowa City!

I still can't believe that I went out to drink with Kevin and his friends from Knox College to Iowa City. I got to know one of his friends called Fay. This bunch of his friends were americanized, especially their mannerisms and diction. We first went to the Summit and then found out that their dance floor was closed. So, we then headed to One-eyed Jake's. That's the first time I have been there. It seems like a lot of people from Coe celebrate their 21st birthday there. We got in and started playing truth or dare while drinking. I had a few drinks including a mixed fruity tasting drink. Unfortunately, I don't remember what was in the drink. We had some pretty amazing dares including kissing some random girl. It's really funny that all the questions for the truth relate to sex, every single one like where was the kinkiest place you have done it to how many times they masturbated. I have been asked to come to Knox with Kevin in June. After a while we left and went to someone's house where they had beer and started playing games. I just wanted to come back and go to bed because I still had work that morning. I actually slept for about 45 minutes at the house and then we got back around 3.30 am. Morning was not fun because I didn't want to get out of bed. I dragged my ass out of bed and got to work by 10. It was a long day after that. I had no energy throughout the day!

[Listening to: Echo - Incubus - Morning View (3:34)]

This is a picture of my family with Doll's. It also has Manu, her brother at the back with me. My brother is next to Doll. 

and on a brighter note

I talked to Doll last night. I love talking to her because it makes me calm and helps me process my thoughts about stuff. She is an old childhood friend who is now studying in the US. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have her to talk to. I use more minutes to call her than to talk to anyone else which is rather interesting. She is also the only person I can think of who I can call without having to think about it twice. I don't have to worry about if it's ok to call her. I have some methods of destressing but talking to Doll happens to work like a charm as well and it's good because it doesn't involve my drive. And I also introduced her blogging last night, she even got her own account and has started blogging. I am helping her spruce her blog up with suggestions. Meanwhile I am still fooling around with my template to get it the way I want it.

[Listening to: Lifeboat - The Elms - Big Surprise (3:52)]

what a waste!

Here comes yet another research day of misfortunes. We did everything right and quicker. All we needed to do was to pack more glass into the canister, there was space but we didn't. One freaking thing we overlooked and all day's efforts are wasted. I talked to Doc and told him about the density results, and I got the expected answer of "do it again." Atleast now, we have a sense of direction for the project. I need to get as much done as possible before I leave for Japan. So I have to redo today's glass tomorrow and make more precipitates.

[Listening to: Hold on - Good Charlotte - the young and the hopeless (4:09)]

A bout of Loopiness

Cerulean2485: sweetie, should i do this response paper or not?
Cerulean2485: i think it might take me a while even though i've read it
Cerulean2485: and i need to study for a german quiz tomorrow
Cerulean2485: maybe i should study for the quiz and then see if i want to write the paper
Cerulean2485: hello?
Cerulean2485: are you there?
Cerulean2485: JOOOOOOYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cerulean2485: ok, well i'm going to study for my quiz and then see how it's going
Cerulean2485: because if i don't study for the quiz first my brain will probably be fried
Cerulean2485: and if my brain is fried when i study tonight, i'll have to get up even earlier tomorrow to study again and then i'll be even more fried
Cerulean2485: are you off with some girl somewhere?!
Cerulean2485: i sure hope not...
Cerulean2485: i don't want to have to check up on you!
Cerulean2485: :-)
Cerulean2485: just kidding
Cerulean2485: but seriously, where are you?
Cerulean2485: it's not like i'm going to call you from the library
Cerulean2485: i mean, i don't even have a phone here
Cerulean2485: if you're not in your room how do you expect me to get a hold of you?!
Cerulean2485: ...not that i want you to live in your room all the time...
Cerulean2485: i sure hope you're not standing at your computer reading this and not even responding!
Cerulean2485: i'll be pretty mad it that's the case
Cerulean2485: maybe i should come hunt you down
Cerulean2485: ...i would if i didn't need to study
Cerulean2485: but see, you're wasting my time... i could be in my room by now but no! i'm talking to you!
Cerulean2485: actually, i'm not talking to you because you're not writing me back!
Cerulean2485: if i find out you're with some other girl cheating on me now, i'll be mad!
Cerulean2485: don't worry, i don't really think you're cheating on me
Cerulean2485: i trust you
Cerulean2485: so i hope you make contact with me soon
Cerulean2485: until then, i'll be studying
Cerulean2485: if you would just stop distracting me now i'd have half the vocab memorized already
Cerulean2485: but noooo! you're eating up all my time!
Cerulean2485: stop being so selfish
Cerulean2485: i don't have time for this
Cerulean2485: now seriously, i'm leaving
Cerulean2485: just give me a sec
Cerulean2485: don't have too much fun with your secret lover!
Cerulean2485: because you know, eventually i'll find out about it
Cerulean2485: but when i'm gone over the summer you can embellish just don't get too excited just yet
Cerulean2485: you still have to hold out a couple more weeks
Cerulean2485: then you'll be free!
Cerulean2485: ...until august
Cerulean2485: well, now i'm really going
Cerulean2485: tchuss!
Cerulean2485: thanks for the advice about the paper/quiz
Cerulean2485: it was really helpful
Cerulean2485 signed off at 9:24:58 PM (April 22 2004).

Me in a BMW Z3! Vrooooom! 

bloopers!

Today was an interesting day at research. Chris and me worked our buts off to make a glass sample and decided to run both density and T_g measurements. It was a relatively safe decision as we thought that we could be more productive during the day. The bad part about these analyses is that the preparations for it take a lot of time and patience in the glove box as mobility is restricted due to the increased pressure due to nitrogen influx and the gloves are big and not for sensitive movements required for the prep. Since this process is taking so much of time, we are going through a tank of nitrogen per glass which is wasteful because they are expensive. Meanwhile people started eating at the Wednesday lunch( its a weekly lunch that the physics dept gets). The smell of hot dogs was making me salivate because I was very hungry. It took me 20 mins to make two freaking DSC pans..argh! And then we found that the glass in the pan overflowed and fused to the lid. It was a huge pain to remove the lid. And then Chris elbowed the machine off, that was really funny! But at the end of the day with all the stuff that went wrong, we got really good results. I also realize very few people will actually understand this entry. I had to write about it anyway.

[Listening to: Killing Me Too - Sister Hazel - Chasing Daylight (5:37)]

hehe...what can I say? 

can it get any slower?

As usual, I woke up to Something More by Switchfoot 15 minutes after the music alarm went off. It apparently is now a ritual to hear the alarm go off and then snooze for 15 minutes till I hear the Switchfoot's song. It's pretty weird. I got to work to discover a meeting in progress with Doc. He never told me about the meeting, but I am glad I got there before it finished. He is gone for the rest of the week to Washington. He gave Chris the next few days to study for the final. The problem there is that my method for making glass needs two people because things need to run simultaneously. So all I did all day was clean crucibles and make 2 solutions. Hopefully tomorrow I get more help and get actual glasses done for analysis.
            I actually also got mail today, my japan travel stuff arrived. Now, I am all ready except for the visa for which I will start the application process quick. Time for this trip is dawning upon me pretty soon. God, days sometimes individually pass by slowly sometime but time as a whole seems to be rocketing by. I can't believe that it's almost been a month since school closed! Last weekend just zipped by, makes me wish I had more time with Andi... I am trying to get someone to watch Day After Tomorrow with me..hopefully someone will... I know I will be seeing Harry Potter for sure because there are a lot of people who want to see it.
            As I was watching Summerland's premiere on WB, i noticed it was very similar to the movie Raising Helen. The plotline's the same as in both of them, the parents die and leave the children to the least expected person, a party-career woman. I guess I will follow the series unless it bores me. Might as well, since I have nothing better to do anyway.
            I am also trying to find something on the net which will help keep members of international club together after they leave Coe, especially the international students. So, i am scouting for free services that we can use.. the best one i have found so far is the Yahoo! Groups. Need to talk to Academic Computing and see if they have any suggestions..

[Listening to: Keep It Together - Guster - Keep It Together (3:43)]

Since the last time I have blogged last summer, I have a new circle of friends. One of my closest friends, Britta saw me through many highs and lows. She made time for me when I needed to get out for some air. I am thankful for her wonderful friendship. We have gotten to know each other very well. I make close friends, seldom as close as her though. It's really easy to talk to her. She is rather passionate about some things though, which leads to some pretty interesting discussions. She is someone I can go to if I need a girl's perspective on something apart from Andi or Sonal. At first sight, you may think she is innocent but beware, behind that posterier lies a wild thing..hehe.. May wouldn't have been the same if she wasnt around. It had been a long time since I've talked to someone late into the night when I would otherwise be in bed. Here is a picture of her and me on flunk day. lol.. 

for all the men out there

progress report: i thought i was getting better at understanding the mysterious ways of the opposite sex. boy was I wrong. They still manage to baffle my logical reasoning, and throw me curve balls! I don't know how much further I am in the analysis of the working of a woman's mind even after 5 years of knowing countless girls. But then every girl is different, adaptation is so freaking hard..I now understand all the frustration and confusion in all my male friends when it comes to girls. I feel so sorry for men... most of the time, our drives don't really help either. But i suppose that things are never easy, its all in the challenge and how you come out of it...

My girl

I really miss Andi.. This weekend with her was good. It also helped me gain an insight about me, I am just like any other normal guy. I have vices and needs, and my self control isn't as good I as I thought it was. It's a downer to think that I am no different from any other guy. I should be better than this. And I hate making her feel bad. But these few days with her have been sooo good, for all the time that we spent together walking around in downtown cedar rapids and iowa city. she is a really special girl, and I wouldn't forgive myself if I did anything stupid to mess this relationship up.

Groovin' to JET

I feel so alive after dancing like a looopy loony to " Are you gonna be my girl" by Jet...hehe.. That's a fixer upper for a downer. For some reason, dancing really cheers me up:)!

CONFUSION.....FRUSTRATION.......AAARRGHHHHHH!

Lord giveth and Lord taketh away.

So true...

Thats Andi and me at the International Club Banquet 2004. We are in all Indian gear. 

Hi sweetie!

This is my penultimate day in india... My bags are mostly packed, they seem like they might burst at the seams. I am actually thinking of buying a strolley here before I leave, I can distribute stuff a bit too plus it will be really useful for short trips I take so often at Coe.

Indiana should be fun especially you and your mum will be doing that thing you love. Shopping is fun I�d say until I realize that I might have spent a bit too much of money. I don�t know how I spent all the cash that my parents left with me. Anyhow, I have done some serious shopping, specially in clothing. And then some like music, books and movies. By the way, your saree set is now complete with the petticoat and the blouse ready. The blouse was done so quickly since I estimated your measurements to that of my cousin who just got married. You both have similar builds. We heard from her on her honeymoon to singapore and phuket, things were going fine until her handbag was stolen with her passport and cash and stuff. kinda sad, but they are trying not to get bogged down by this.

My parents are back at home and having a wonderful time there! They just won two round trips to Nairobi and two bottles of wine. This is the first time we have ever won anything which was luck-based! My luck hasn�t improved yet as I seem to have misplaced the film containing all the pictures I had taken at the wedding! Aarrgggghhhhh! Anyway, as a consolation I do have digital pictures that we had taken off my parent�s camera.

I�ll be leaving india with mixed emotions because I don�t know when I�ll be back here. But I feel like getting back to Coe and with you coz its been quite a while. One month here if I am not travelling is a bit excessive. I have been at home doing nothing for atleast a week if not more. I wish I had gone sight seeing here but my parents left pretty quick and my cousins have work or school, and I didn�t want to travel alone because its not fun that way. And I will be getting away from the crazy traffic here, it seriously causes heart palpatations! Cars and bikes miss each other by less than a feet as they swerve about in the traffic over taking left and right. We have 5 lane traffic in a 3 lane road! Jumping lights is a way of life here too. And the noise, horns blaring all the time, people swearing at each other, car stereos at max volume.. and to think I was used to this before I came to the US. US has really softened me up. I know how much you love adventure sports, this is a thrill ride all the way! But I am seriously going to miss being here for the upcoming stuff. There are a few weddings in the pipeline in our family which I don�t think I will be able to make. I am going to miss my friends at home all over again. I am really going to miss the family life here, I have gotten so used to it. The good home cooked meal, the fun sleeping arrangements.. sighhh!

I am really looking forward to seeing you again after so long. I am going to miss you all the way back. The double date should be fun, but when is it? And you will be hearing from me if about 48 hours I�d say or you can call me on my cell. I will be switching it on the moment I get into San Francisco.

Lots of kisses!

Joy

My precious,

Happy new year, gorgeous!

Snowboarding is a lot of fun, I wish I could do it sometime too. I maybe able to do it in spring break, I would have more motivation to do it if you came with me. Tyler wants me to visit colorado with him during spring break. I need to start thinking about that time from now. Did you follow up on your spring break plans? Do you think you can do this with me? And about the double date, its sounds pretty good. By the way, did you go sleighing?

I did call a few days back planning to talk to you and also verifying the budget for the saree..your mum told me $60 and that�s the range I got it in. I think you will like it, I like it, navy blue, pure silk and shiny. Cant wait to see you in it. Should look hot in it either way! I am going to try to get the blouse done here. I need some measurements for it though, if its not made in time, my aunt will mail it to me. I will get a ready made blouse and petticoat though. Another thing that can be done is that I can get a sample of a blouse of my cousin and it can be tailored there. What do you think of this? Email me back asap about this! I don�t know if I wil have time to buy your sister�s saree though, I am here only for another 2 days. I will try my best though. And about the cd to be sent to tina, I found out that its cheaper to send it from US than from india. Sending it by courier is about $50, not worth it for a $3 cd. Did you happen to hear from her? Or Inga?

I was in hyderabad from Dec 31 to Jan 6. My flight got in on time. I wish my new years was a bit more exciting. It was supposed to be but apparently plans fell through. I spent the rest of the evening with bhavya and her sister. Bowling seems to be a huge hanging out pass time here. She took me to her house. Geez, her parents can form quite an interrogating team. They kept asking me questions the 2 hours I was there! It was like I was in an interview. It was good though, I talked about my way of life at school and how it was so tough at start but easier gradually.. I spent jan 1 shopping with bhavya for clothes and music and stuff. I visited my old school on Saturday. Its changed a lot over the past few years. The principal was really happy to see me and so were my teachers. It was nice to be back there and see them all. And then in the evening I met up with my friends from school. Most of the friends werent in the city, I could see only 3 of them. Aditi, sushmita and satish havent changed at all, only gotten thinner. They loved the pictures I had from school! I had a lunch date with bhavya and her parents at their home. I have never been more stuffed in lunch! They forced me to over eat! And then, we basically sat down and talked. Something that the both of us hadnt done in a while because she was busy. My life has changed more than hers apparently in the last 3 months, primary reason being you. I spent the rest of the evening with another bunch of my friends who were the most excited to see me! They seems better than the last time I saw them, they are allowed to dress better too finally! Iwas sick of seeing them in the same styled attire everyday. They were constantly pulling my leg too! Im just too nice to retort back to girls, unfortunately! Lol..jus kidding.. the common theme of the response to my pictures were that I was having too much fun maybe. Plus, they were stunned to hear that I had a girl friend. Remember me telling you how people regarded me always as a big brother. And on the final day, I shopped for your sari for a couple of hours and met up wit my cousin who helped me shop. I also had to pick up a package for the indian girl who I met at the cultural show, remember? Her mom and I talked for a while. The mom doesn�t look like she is old enough to have a 18 year old daugher, ahh..the wonders of facials and face lifts..

And finally the last morning at hyderabad for I don�t know how long. My flight was supposed to depart at 8.25 in the morning, instead it was delayed by about 6 hours due to fog in New Delhi! I got back today tired, I think I gonna sleep for a while since I have been sleeping in hyderabad for just 8 hours while compared to my 12 hour sleep in delhi ever since I have been here! By the way, you can stop rolling your eyes! Lol.

Anyway, sorry about the short phone call, I was using my uncles� phone and it had about 3 mins of talk time left. It was good to hear you even if you were half asleep. I talked to your mom for a while the last time I called and heard she was sick again. I hope she feels better soon. I hope your cold has gone away by now, its been a couple of months already I think.

About me coming into chicago on the 11 Jan, my flight is American Airlines 886, reaching Chicago 8.26 PM. Im sorry its so late in the night.

Lots of kisses and I miss you lots.

joy

hey hot stuff!

Great job on your finals!! Im really happy that you got fantastic grades. I was sure you�d do well, we just don�t have that much of confidence on ourselves. Well, I don�t know my grades yet. I think a copy will be sent to my mailbox at school and one copy to home at nigeria. I really don�t know how I�ve done, I took my finals so quickly it could have gone either way. I expect a treat for the grades when I get back, jus kidding (hmm..maybe not..). Ready to tackle a new semester, eh?

My family left for home last night. It was good that there were no tears at this farewell for 6 months. Mum usually cries at these situations. I think she is getting used to the idea of her kids being away from home. Atleast my brother gone home for a month. He has a 2-month winter break from school. Next semester will be his last, hez a senior in high school. After the wedding, my father and brother have been working non stop to finish applications to american and canadian universities. Hez applied to some pretty good schools. I hope he has enough to get into them with substantial financial aid. Its been really foggy in Delhi ever since I�ve been here. My parent�s flight was delayed by about an hour, they were lucky, flights and trains are being cancelled due to the weather conditions. Im praying for fair weather when I travel.

After my parents left, I accompanied my cousin�s family to a wedding reception. There was a young couple of our age group dancing well, incorporating swing moves into slow rock music. It was fun to watch that. I really missed you when there were couples dancing hand in hand. And I had the first bit of alcohol at india ever last night at the reception, just a glass of red wine. It warmed me up in the cold weather. My cousin has vodka and lime cordial (I think its sort of a juice concentrate). I had a sip of that, its pretty good, sweet. And they had a couple of Russian Belle dancers perform at the reception. That�s extremely progressive for india, mind you.

Apart from that, I am going to my father� brother�s place again tomorrow. I just have to pack tonight. Some stuff in hyderabad has fallen through. Bhavya doesn�t have Jan 2 and 3 off and she can�t take them off too plus her car might not be ready to pick me up from the airport. Although, I have finally established contact with some of my school friends, so I should be seeing them at some point. Everyone here has a cell phone! Which is good for me because I can contact them by text messaging. I will be living with my uncle for the most part. I just heard that his business is doing really well. He just got a new car, office and apartment! I just have to buy something for my cousin brother before I get there.

Are you getting on at AIM at all nowadays? And oh, I definetly have to start working out to lose all the weight I�ve gained here! I think I might start running with you when I get there. It�s a good thing that I have pictures here. I see the photos atleast once in a couple of days, smile while doing that. By the way, my family and cousins think you are postively gorgeous! The cousin who just got married is very jealous apparently, she wants me to send her a dress like that you were wearing at homecoming. I don�t know how everyone here knows because I certainly didn�t tell them. I have been teased incessantly about you. And I just saw the pictures in which my female cousins were wearing the tops I sent them. They are looking fabulous in them! I remember them telling me that they liked them, at that time I thought they were just being nice, I realize now they actually did like them. They wear them at parties.

I can�t wait to get back and see you. I reaaaalllllyyyy miss you!

Tonnes of you know what!

Joy

PS: got another haircut. i look saner. cost: $0.80! lol!

Hi sweetie!

it was good to talk to you on christmas. im sorry i called so early (i can't apologize enough), i didnt want to miss you again like a few days back. it was good to hear that you finished most of your christmas shopping before christmas. its fun shopping with other people especially when you ask them for their input of whatever you are buying. i did go shopping with my cousin but didnt buy much before my parents told me that they would pay for my clothes shopping and thats what i had gone to do. so far, i have bought another one of my graphic tees and mum has bought a couple of short sleeve shirts. I also got a long sleeve shirts from my aunt as a gift. people here buy their nephews and nieces stuff when they go to their homes. just like i had to buy stuff for my cousins.

after i called you, i left immediately for my relative's place. the naming system here is a bit more complicated when it comes to family. people on my mom's and dad's side are called by different names. except me and my brother, no one else in the family is called by their real name. talking about real names, i dont know the real names of some of my cousins! its weird i know. we reached there and spontaeously decided to go watch a movie. we packed 6 people again into a small car to get there! when we reached the theatre, we found out that the movie that we had wanted to see was sold out. so we switched to another movie that we had heard was funny. i have never had a greater urge to leave the movie half way before. the movie was truly pathetic and lame, what a royal waste of time! worst part was that the theatre is the most expensive in the city. unfortunately that was the closest to us. atleast the dinner was good, had subway before the movie for $1! food here is soo cheap, its unbelievable! anyway, we got back home at 3 in the morning and had our proper dinner then.

the next day, woke up at noon as usual and lazed about most of the afternoon. we went handicrafts shopping in the evening and bought some stuff there. i bought a few things that i will be getting back to coe. i havent bought your saree and cds yet but i will be doign that very soon. i will try to get silk but if i dont, i'll get somethign that you will be comfortable in. my cousins told me of a different material that the girls here wear. i might get that. we need to go to a special shop since normal sarees would be too short for you. i told mum that you were a tall girl, a couple of inches taller than my tallest sister. tall by indian standards atleast..

my parents and brother leave for home tomorrow night (sunday). i will be here by myself for a couple of days before i leave for hyderabad. i wil be in hyderabad for about a week. Most of my time there is sorta planned and hope everything there goes well. I havent seen my friends in a long time and there are some friendships I hope I can repair. I don�t care either way though, its been too long to affect me anymore. I don�t know if I told you that I lost my best friend in 10th grade due to dumb petty stuff. Somehow I don�t think I�ll see her though. I will be doing significant shopping there since I have so much of time there. I am spending $250 on airfare instead of $40 on train fare because I couldn�t get a ticket! I should have asked my cousin to book my ticket along with hers, that was a mistake. Instead, she going to reach hyderabad in 30 hours and me in 1.5 hours! Family time there should be good too. Im looking forward to hyderabad if you havent figured that out yet.

Anyway, I think this has been a long enough email for you to read. I hope you had fun doing presents on christmas. I know I would have!

I can�t wait to see you again! Geez, I miss you so much, atleast thinking about you relaxes me.

Lots of flying kisses and real ones plus a tickle,

Joy

My precious,

Sounds like you are having a fabulous time there and thats wonderful! Isnt it uplifting to be around family? Parties are always fun especially if you know everyone in it. Atleast all your finals went off fine. i heard frm komal and she told me that you guys studied together, for humanities i presume.

i wanted to tell you before you left to pick my college mail up..i went to the dad's eldest brother's home with the family for a couple of days. i met my cousin who will be commissioned in the Indian armed forces in 6 months. he has been in a military school for the last 3 years. i heard about the rigors of that school..i wouldnt have survived that! he also told me a few things that he hasnt told his parents. apparently he has started smoking which is really sad and he has a girl friend now. his parents will kill him if they find out about either of the two and he knows it. funny the way things work around here. my cousin at home also had one for about 3 years and had to hide it from his parents becuase his parents wouldnyt approve. the funniest part is that the wedding i attended here, she didnt tell her parents that she had been dating this guy for about 2 years. they dropped a bombshell when they finally told them that they wanted to get engaged! guess what, my brother has a girlfriend too, and he hasnt told my parents yet!

and talking about good food, dont be shocked if you see me a bit plumper. i hope to god to recognize me at the airport (just kdding). i ate so much the last few days that i puked twice in the night because my stomach finally gave out. i have been eatin lesser since then because i dont want to puke again and dont wnat mum screaming at me again. its hard to resist all the home cooked food at home, i do try you know. but you know my fetish for sweet stuff, its as strng as your chocolate fetish, maybe not that strong.

i have also been making plans to go down to my hometown and visit some family and the friends i have back there. i will be flying to hyderabad on dec 31 and spending the evening with bhavya and her friends and possibly my cousin sis too. i stil have to figure out the sleeping arrangement for 31st. my main base should be my uncle's home but he lives quite far away from the main city. so my main plans are to spend a couple of days with bhavya and some friends, who ever has time and my relatives. i have a 15 year old cousin brother and 12 year old cousin sis i havent seen in a year and a half. I should do some part of the shopping there i think, need to start making a dent at the shopping list i have. it will be good since i have a lot of catching up to do there with everyone..

its late now so i need to go home and eat. more later. miss you!

lots of kisses and a poke,

joy

Hi sweetie!

it was really good to hear your voice today. im sorry i called so late, i miscalculated the time, you think i would get that right being a math major and all..(lol). its good to hear that your german went well. was your jury the italian song that you sang for me? try to send me a pic of the flowers that you got coz i havent seen it.. its nice to hear from the other nutty two,got the daddy one and britta message too. how are they doing?

i guess you should be packing for home. i think you will probably see this email at home. im really sorry that i havent mailed so far, things at home have been kinda hectic although it has slowed down now. i dont like the keyboard of the cyber cafe nearby and home's computer internet doesnt work straight.

anyway, the wedding went off really well. i was just disoriented because the sequence of the wedding stuff was inverted since it was fusion of the north indian and bengali wedding. i have a shit load of pictures that i will be getting back. most of them were from my parent's digital camera and i have a roll of my film too. there are a lot of pictures of me and my cousins too. i dont remember if i told you that most of the family cries at the end of the wedding when the bride goes away to her husband's place. all our mums and her dad cried as she went away. i felt sad too coz when i come back here, she wont be at home but somewhere else and i wont be able to see her as much. i hardly saw her this time too..

atleast i saw the rest of my cousins and i had a wonderful time. my cousin's brother is also in the same age group as me, so its interesting to see the college life of youth in India. We talked a lot and i turned into a confidant and secret keeper yet again! all us cousins went to watch intolerable cruelty with catherine zeta jones and george clooney. we travelled 6 packed in a car sized like a geo that can hold 4 people comfortably! and when we got out, it was pouring and we hadnt eaten yet. so we grabbed some food on the way and stopped at a shopping arcade that was closed and ate like homeless people do! it was quite an experience!

anyway, it seems like we will be going to my father's eldest brother's home for a couple of days and i think they have a better internet connection there, i hope to god!

i will go shopping soon and i will search for your 'saree'. i hope i can find a good one. and you still have to send me tina's address for the lagaan cd.

i hope your finals week went on well without much disturbance. I know its weird without the usual people in the room but i hope others kept you company went you needed it.

i think about you a lot and miss your touch. i hope you are having a good time. your emails cheer me up, keep em' coming! I'll try calling too.


Joy

Hi Bhav!

Its been a long time since we last chatted. My internet here in college has been kinda screwy with plenty of viruses and worms. The blaster virus really ticked us all off..and the problem hasnt still be completely rectified. So, my net keeps going up and down all the time. I have never been so cut off from the rest of the world till now. The only people that I had contact with were my parents, through the phone. Anyway, I tried calling you but the call never goes through!

School has started in full blast and this semester seems like it will kick ass. My easiest class is Topics of Scientific Inquiry where I am studying environmental chemistry, to be more specific toxicology of various chemicals in our surroundings. And then I have Calculus 3, where I am doing vector calculus currently..so far so good. Computer Sciennce 1 should be also interesting, learning how to program for the first time in pascal. And then finally the tougher of the physics courses, modern physics. So far, it seems like I should be able to handle this course but I dont know about later. And the course which will truly kick my ass is Mechanical Formulations where we study physics on a truly advanced math level with vector calculus and gradient stuff and matrices! I might actually drop this class but still sit in the classes to learn stuff. I just dont want to be tested on this stuff..Now thats acads..

And then comes everythign else. Now that I am this year's I-Club president, I have to do so much of plannign and stuff for all the events coming up. For example the canoe trip this weekend. Man, logistics is tough business! I hope this one goes without a hitch. And then the bigger one is the Minneapolis trip during Oct 11-13, should be plenty of fun..I am going to do some shopping there..saving up now for that! And so many wonderful people have come in this year. I am getting to know the korean, european and american freshmen really well and I am happy about that..I am not all that bored here anymore like last year and they dont have to go through all that I had to go through. I try to help them out as much as possible to make their stay here nice because the german girls leave in december.

I am still coming to India. I just havent been able to book my ticket yet. If I dont get the free ticket with my father's miles, then we have to pay $1500 atleast for a new ticket! If that happens I'd be so pissed off! And I am seriously considerig coming back to the US quickly if I dont get to see any friends in Hyd..I will come to Hyd surely, just dont know how long I'd want to stay because everyone will be busy even you..I know you will take some time off for me, and I am counting on that, by the way.

Anyway, I plan to get a cell phone sometime really soon to be more accessible to people. You can call me if you want to, I dont know how much it costs thats all. I would love to talk to you on the phone but I never get through.

Where are the rest of your pictures? I should have some brand new ones soon, and I'l put them up on the web when I find time.

I wish we could chat or do something, but I don't know when you will be free enough for that. Email me if you see me online. Atleast we still have this means of communications.

I really miss you and can't wait to see you in December.

Love

joy

A week of school and I am already so busy. There are so many things going on simultaneously, sometimes its maddening. For one, homework and reading from my five classes. and then, organizing stuff for the I-club. and i have made so many new friends. about friends, i seem to lose my really good ones after 6 months of knowing them. this really freaks me out. my first semester friendship that changed was komal, but i made new ones which helped me get over this. and then i got really close to mary and kristin. and now, mary's no longer at coe, and i can't figure out kristin now, i dont know why. she's my best friend here now and i cant seem to get time with her. i do know she is busy but i dun know...

the bunch of international students that came in seem like a interesting group. we have so many students this year, my i-club's full and that makes me happy. it also means new people to know, and i have to remember their names! i have already made some really good friends from this bunch. I got to know Clem and Inga pretty well in the time they have been here. and then there is this korean group that seems like a lot of fun. and then some americans who are interested in the i-club. i hang out with all of them at some point of the day. atleast it keeps my mind off depressing stuff. man, i miss mary a lot. and miho, rieko, namee and aqui. and bhav. havent heard from her in a loooong time. i wish i can resolve my issues with kristin soon, although i dont know what issues they are.

the college network being down, my communication with the rest of the world has been effectively cut off. no chatting, no emailing from my own computer. and i am too lazy to come to the lab everyday. these viruses have really ticked me off! but anyhow, i like being in my room in greene now, its cool and clean now that i set my stuff up. i like living with tyler, its bound to be a eventful year............

I always wonder if there are some things I do or say that drive girls away or turn them off. I kept thinking about Lara and why she hasn't replied to my emails or returned any calls. I can't seem to think of a reason that would have caused this kind of reaction. And then there is Sarah, I wonder if I am paying too much attention to her by asking her if she needs help setting up her floor or whether she wants to watch a movie with me. I thought that offers like this was sign of being friendly. Apparently not I guess. I just wish I am not stifling Kristin. She is the last person I would want to lose. She has been the only one apart from Mary from whom I've heard at least once a week. And I didn't even have to initiate this. I am glad I got to know Kristin because I like being around her. I have had some of the longest and most unique conversations with her. singing at lengths, musicals often. The only precedent to this was my phone chats with Bhavya...

Hi Bhav!

Thought I would write an email since it's tougher for you to get online now. I hope you are holding up to all that travel to reach school. How have you been the past few weeks? Is your mom doing better?

Since we last chatted, I seemed to have full days. Now that the summer is nearing an end, things have become more hectic. Last week itself is an example.

I spent the weekend on Kit's (my summer roomie) farm. It was my first time on a real farm. And I got to meet his parents and his sister. I like this girl, she's very sweet. Helped me out by cleaning my room with me and driving me around when she was at Coe for a week on a camp. I had some good ol' American food. I took a tour of his farm, equipment and the fields. I helped them move the greenhouse they were making. I drove an ATV four wheeler, that was fun! They also have a pond with a paddle boat and a canoe. Its a nice place there and their parents were very friendly. I really had a good time there.

Sunday ended with a raging storm in Cedar Rapids with tornados, 3 of them. It was crazy here, all of us took shelter in the basement of my dorm, ie our floor. Quite a few big trees got uprooted, and some of them broke a few feet above the ground. I saw the mess when I was getting to work. The funny sight was our college President standing out in the quad looking at his precious broken trees sadly. And we also had a fabulous steak dinner thrown to the research students and faculty. I had a huge steak, it was so big that I simply couldnt finish it. Food flows too freely here, dangit! Doesn't help me with loosing weight..lol..

Tuesday, me and Scott had to go to Iowa State University to run some Raman IR tests on some of the glasses that we had made. These glasses absorb water like hell, so we can't work with these in air. We had to work in a Helium glove box preparing pans for the Raman for 3 freaking hours straight! Anyway, the test took only about an hour for 9 samples. Well, although the results that we saw weren't great, we figured that it was a first step towards improving our samples. And then before coming back, we both spent $25 in a Pizzeria! lol..thats about 4 times the normal amount, although the pizza that we ate was huge and very good and this went on Doc's tab because he told us that he would pay for our lunch there! Food yet again, its a change from microwaveble food and peanut butter- jelly sandwiches atleast. And I did drive about 60 miles on the way back from the University. Scott let me drive his car without a licence on the highway, I was so excited to drive a car for the first time here!

Wednesday was the lunch day and we had Thai and Chinese food since the talk was about Anna and the King of Siam. We learnt some very interesting things about this story. First, most of the stuff in the movie didn't happen the way it was potrayed. Secondly, Anna was a liar. And contrary to popular belief, she was not born in England but in India and was the child of a mixed marriage, Indian woman and a British army man apparently. In the evening, me, Sara, Kit, Darbie and some of her friends went to drive-in movies in a town about 75 mins from school. We saw Legally Blonde 2 and T3 for just $6, it was awesome. Just one minor problem was that it got deadly cold by 11 and the movies went up to 1 in the morning on a school night (ok..work night).

Thursday was not a good day in research. Our nitrogen tanks ran out and we hadn't ordered new ones which made Doc mad because it wasted the entire morning. Well, there was only the morning to work today because we were going to a lake nearby to unwind. We splashed about in the water for a while playing frisbee. And then went for a boat ride and played sand volleyball. Its sad that the only thing I can do is serve, I wish I could do the rest of the stuff. I got back quick because my parents wanted to call me since I haven't got to chat with them a lot because the time difference is a bit annoying. And then one on my closest friends called me and told me that she won't be coming back to Coe. Man, that was so depressing because we hung out a lot along with Kristin. Atleast Kristin's coming back and I talk to her often, so I dont miss them a lot. Thank god for email and free phone calls.

But this weekend has been rather slow, apart from talking to Kristin, I did nothing else. I wish you would have come online but I know you are pretty busy, so I understand.

By the way, if this was too much detail, just tell me. I just wanted you to know how my week went. Tell me whats going on there..

Sending you lots of love

Joy

Now that the summer is nearing an end, things have become more hectic. Last week itself is an example.

I spent the weekend on Kit's (my summer roomie) farm. It was my first time on a real farm. And I got to meet his parents and his sister. I like this girl, she's very sweet. Helped me out by cleaning my room with me and driving me around when she was at Coe for a week on a camp. I had some good ol' American food. I took a tour of his farm, equipment and the fields. I helped them move the greenhouse they were making. I drove an ATV four wheeler, that was fun! They also have a pond with a paddle boat and a canoe. Its a nice place there and their parents were very friendly. I really had a good time there.

Sunday ended with a raging storm in Cedar Rapids with tornados, 3 of them. It was crazy here, all of us took shelter in the basement of my dorm, ie our floor. Quite a few big trees got uprooted, and some of them broke a few feet above the ground. I saw the mess when I was getting to work. The funny sight was our college President standing out in the quad looking at his precious broken trees sadly. And we also had a fabulous steak dinner thrown to the research students and faculty. I had a huge steak, it was so big that I simply couldnt finish it. Food flows too freely here, dangit! Doesn't help me with loosing weight..lol..

Tuesday, me and Scott had to go to Iowa State University to run some Raman IR tests on some of the glasses that we had made. These glasses absorb water like hell, so we can't work with these in air. We had to work in a Helium glove box preparing pans for the Raman for 3 freaking hours straight! Anyway, the test took only about an hour for 9 samples. Well, although the results that we saw weren't great, we figured that it was a first step towards improving our samples. And then before coming back, we both spent $25 in a Pizzeria! lol..thats about 4 times the normal amount, although the pizza that we ate was huge and very good and this went on Doc's tab because he told us that he would pay for our lunch there! Food yet again, its a change from microwaveble food and peanut butter- jelly sandwiches atleast. And I did drive about 60 miles on the way back from the University. Scott let me drive his car without a licence on the highway, I was so excited to drive a car for the first time here!

Wednesday was the lunch day and we had Thai and Chinese food since the talk was about Anna and the King of Siam. We learnt some very interesting things about this story. First, most of the stuff in the movie didn't happen the way it was potrayed. Secondly, Anna was a liar. And contrary to popular belief, she was not born in England but in India and was the child of a mixed marriage, Indian woman and a British army man apparently. In the evening, me, Sara, Kit, Darbie and some of her friends went to drive-in movies in a town about 75 mins from school. We saw Legally Blonde 2 and T3 for just $6, it was awesome. Just one minor problem was that it got deadly cold by 11 and the movies went up to 1 in the morning on a school night (ok..work night).

Thursday was not a good day in research. Our nitrogen tanks ran out and we hadn't ordered new ones which made Doc mad because it wasted the entire morning. Well, there was only the morning to work today because we were going to a lake nearby to unwind. We splashed about in the water for a while playing frisbee. And then went for a boat ride and played sand volleyball. Its sad that the only thing I can do is serve, I wish I could do the rest of the stuff. I got back quick because my parents wanted to call me since I haven't got to chat with them a lot because the time difference is a bit annoying. And then one on my closest friends called me and told me that she won't be coming back to Coe. Man, that was so depressing because we hung out a lot along with Kristin. Atleast Kristin's coming back and I talk to her often, so I dont miss them a lot. Thank god for email and free phone calls. And I think I set a personal record on the phone, 3 hours with Kristin!

Another night in Dad's office scanning photos and also wondering as to the method of transfering the pictures from this computer to anything else. To give you a picture of the computer I am using, its a PII machine with 128 MB RAM. All this has is a floppy drive which is practically useless in this case because I have to do about 80 MB of transfer atleast. I then decided that the internet was my best option. So I tried Yahoo!'s Briefcase but it seems too slow and it won't accept most of the filenames because they are too long. So, that venture was a failure. And then experimented by sending these pictures two at a time using my father's office mail which was fortunately open. So, far its working. *crossing fingers and praying*.

Right now, I am sitting in my father's office scanning photos of my childhood. I plan to get some of these printed and most of them will be going online in my photo album too.

*The damn firewall in the office blocks all messengers! Even at home, it blocks AIM while it lets the rest of them to work, I dont know what's up with that. I thought I'd chat as well and scan. Doesnt seem like it now. I simply can't figure out why it doesnt work even with the proxy input. I give up!*

This time the trip home has certainly not been a cakewalk. Got to the airport and then found out that Air France and Delta had different baggage policies. I had to pay 110 bucks to carry the cycle along with me, I was soo pissed. They are both members of the Skyteam, some team members. I really dont feel like flying Air France anymore, I have seriously had enough, over priced tickets and sub par services. Anyway, flight to Paris was 8 and a half hours long because the plane had to circle and land in the airport from the other side due to cross winds. That ate 30 minutes of my 2 hour transit here. And then after landing it took the bus 45 minutes to pick us up. ie 15 minutes left for me to get to board which included taking a bus and passing security checks. I barely made it to the flight only to find out that the flight would be 1.5 hours late due to a cargo door part malfunction. What luck! But I was glad that I got to Lagos at last and with all my baggage! Thank God that Papa also arrived the same evening, thats the only reason that I was picked up too, because they had me slated in to come tomorrow. Got to the guesthouse and set out for home at 5.30 in the morning. great! to top off the armed robberies,we now have a fuel strike. This country is going to the dogs, wait, its already gone to the dogs...

Today was a good day. Although, all we did were
four solutions, rest of the things in the day were good.  I finally got the
much awaited camera that was a royal pain in the ass
to order. Took a short break from work to fetch it from the mailroom after I saw
that it had arrived using the tracking number. Its a wonderful camera, half my
palm.. its a teeny tiny camera perfect for mom! I am going to try it out before
I take it home for sure, maybe take some pictures in Peterson.

Now, the part that brightened my day was that Bhav
finally sent me some of the pictures that I had been bugging her for the last
8 months!! Pictures from her childhood, ie baby size and then probably 5
year old pictures. And then there were some more recent photos, from school and
junior college.. some with friends and some without. The picture I liked the
best was the one with the lovely smile during her 17th
birthday, youthful exuberance in her grin... Where did those days go :-(?
days I would talk to her everyday, talk to someone I had met just once or twice
but yet best friends....

I talked to Kristin and chatted with Mary for quite sometime. It feels good to talk to good friends, it brightened the rest of my evening for sure. I introduced Kristin to the new messenger and we had loads of fun exploring the options. We went all out on emoticons, finding new and strange emoticons was awesome. She is being kept busy, but going a bit insane with 13-14 year old kids. She needs a few days off.

This week zipped by! I am at Peterson for 8 hours and sometime more..Work feels good but sometimes there is nothign for me to do, well, maybe there is but paper reading is boring.. Now that we are making hygroscopic glasses, this needs work in the nitrogen environment glove box. Its a pain to use and only one person can work on it at a time. I have been reading books there as well. I finished one complete book in 3 days, just imagine the time I don't do anything there. But there was a welcome distraction during this week. Kit's sister came to a cross country camp at Coe. It was fun having her around most of the time. And she cooks very well, before she left, she made a cake for me! Noone's ever done that. And this girl knows how to flirt, perpetual i'd say. Even Xae noticed it. The flirting was a load of fun, she flirting with me and me flirting back, whole lot of harmless fun. She was also my DD for most of the trips, like to the Driver's License office, shopping..It was a fun week even in the evenings. I have been invited to their house, I should be going there sometime.. Anyway, I also want to talk to sunshine sometime, it's been a while since we actually talked, IM sometimes doesnt feel complete. I wil be calling Kristin sometime today as well, and try to get hold of Lara for the umpteenth time. Maybe I should simply give up on her, its been 3 months since I've last talked to her. Part of the reason I dont want to give up because she is the only friend I have made outside Coe, my only other friend apart from the ones at Coe.

For the first time, online shopping was a pain in the ass. Shopping for the camera turned out to be a bigger challenge than what I thought would be. I hope I get it quick. Plus, i need to get a laptop for dad's office, i hope I can buy it before I leave, there is only one left at Bestbuy and I need to get to that before anyone else does. Plus, I hope I can travel back home because I was told I didnt need a French transit visa but now Im not that sure. KEeping my fingers crossed for all of this.

Its been a while since I've blogged, but then it probably is because nothing exciting has happened this past week. I have been in Peterson from 9 to 5 everyday. But that doesnt mean that I have been doing much because I have been reading up on this method more than actually doing something. I know there is no use being restless about this because Doc knows what he is doing, but I don't know how he woudl gauge if I am ready if I am not doing much. Until he thinks I am ready, I won't be paid! Its been 40 hours of free work already, and I would really like to start earning money that I can spend during the summer here. While doing research, I am getting to know a lot of people working there as well. Scott (Im his gopher) told me a bit about himself, he has a totally different life than me for sure, he has a daughter.. I am also getting to know Sara and Beth much better now. And the evenings after research have been passing really quickly. and days have been ending rather quickly around 11.30 because Kit needs absolute silence while sleeping, so no chatting once he gets into the bed. But it is fine I think, I get more rest this way. This weekend was fine. Kit left for home after research and I went to a party in the evening. It was a good release for the week. Six pack of Smirnoff was enough to get me a little buzz, and I talked to some people here (this was a sit-drink-talk-play party, not the dance involved ones I normally go to). During this, me and Sara went out for some fresh air, she told me a bit more about herself and I opened up more (probably due to the buzzing) talking about past experiences at Coe. She is a great girl, Marty's real lucky I'd say, intelligent, perky and ambitious..I also met Katie, one of the Upper Bound counselors from UNI, it nice to meet new people from outside Coe. I know just one person outside Coe and I have been trying to talk to her forever, I don't know what the deal is. And after the party when I got back to my room, I was real happy I could get on my loft to sleep, helluva lot better than sleeping on the floor..

Sunday, me and Ben went for a ride around the city first to search for a place to eat and then garage sale hopping, it was definitely fun. And then we ended up watching another movie in the night. The night before I watched 3 movies including one with Jenna. I wish we had more time to hang out but oh well.. So overall, a good weekend I'd say..

I also talked to Mary in the night. It been a week since I have seen her. The last 2 months were spent mostly with them. I got to know them well, and they didnt mind having me around. I spent some nights getting to know Mary better before she left because there was a distinct possibility that she wouldn't be coming back. She is truly one of a kind, I met her in the beginning of the year at a church and tried to get talking but she simply wouldn't. I guessed she was introverted and I guessed right. This guess was further consolidated when Kristin did talk to me and Becky when we were there and I tried my best trying to engage Mary in any sustained conversation. Thats the first and last time that I saw them together for about 6 months. I saw Mary again in another 2 months when she moved down to Calc 1 from 2. I thought she was familiar when I saw her in the class but couldn't place her. It took me a day to realize that she was the same girl I had met couple of months back at the makeshift church. I tried yet again to engage her in conversation but failed yet again. I didnt know if it was me or she just didnt want to talk, I simply couldnt figure it out. I didnt approach her anymore during the rest of the semester. The next time I saw her and Kristin was during 24/7 when I actually talked to her and got some laughs out of them. Slowly but surely she became more free around me, took about a month. And since then, she has been a wonderful friends, someone who I liked being around and she liked being around me. Henceforth my 2nd home in Murray. I spent most of my free time there. I think I was there later than I was at any one else's room ever, apart from the times that I had to take care of a puking buddy. And she is the only one I call sunshine, among all my friends. Also, she is probably the only person I know who is thinking of transfering because she is unhappy here. I really do wish she comes back here, life would certainly be different without her here. I also think she has a very refreshing style of dressing, something I haven't seen a long time. A great friend once she becomes comfortable around someone, a ray of sunshine.. I hope she is having fun dancing!!

I also talked to my parents, something that is going on everyday now. They are in sync with everythign that is going on here. I am so happy that there is nothing I hide from them, they know about my friends, my inclination towards wine and other expensive drinks which keeps me away from drinking, my plans for the summer, my grades, my plans for the winter.... We are buying a digital camera and they are deciding on one to buy and I am helping in the process in means of suggestion. We have been researching for a camera for mom that she can carry around and still be a good digital camera for home. We should be making the decision soon I think. I also have to send in the application for Nigerian Visa. I have to spend 200 freaking dollars on a stupid and digusting third world country's visa! Although the job dad has there is paying for my education. I don't even like to call it home there, all that I go for are my parents. I don't even have friends there. Many facilites but no one to share it with, play with, talk with...I wish some of my friends would come home with me one break, I'll show them the beauty of the campus and I'll realize the fun I can have if I have close friends around. My bro is always there.... Thats the only relief, Robi is someone I talk to sometimes, watch movies with, play with... I really do miss him, I think about things he is doing with his new friends in Woodstock, if he is happy there and playing everything safe. I will be seeing my parents and brother in a month if all goes well. My ticket is booked just my visa needs to be done. I have to get a passport size photo and a $200 DD to accompany the application.

The only things that were out of ordinary in the last two days were the chats (internet and phone) I had.

My day started out with Bhavya finally coming online after 3 painfully long weeks. I would wait every weekend in the morning to get her online but it never happened. Then I realized she must have been nursing her mom once she got out of the hospital. She is one of the most responsible people I know. There have been many friends I thought were responsible and "good". Well, I'll never see them in the same light anymore, I still like them exactly as before, maybe a bit more but I will see them as normal people with temptations and the inability to conquer it, no more super women. With every chat, I get to know her better. I just wish I could hear her voice with all the inflections and nuances in the tone to catch her train of thought. eChat simply is not enough, even though I have audio-video chat capabilites, she doesnt. Its just not the same.

*I still remember when I talked to her after almost a year when I was in Toronto, Canada during Spring Break. The 30 minutes of talk time was enough to quench my thirst that had been building up all this while. She has a lot on her mind, I want to be there for her all the time and I think she knows that she has one friend here who loves her the way she is. She changed my life since I've met her, I see things differently. I think one of the saddest days in my life was when we met for the last time before I left for Nigeria. The lunch at Pizza Hut (our first lunch date), the shopping at Lifestyle for my watch (I spent a major chunk of my pocket money on this, my parents were really pissed about it, oops), she then bought me a book (Abduction by Robin Cook) and I ended the shopping by buying a shirt for her. She didnt want me to, but I told her that I wanted to buy her something before I left, because I wouldn't see her for a long time. I took her home to meet my parents because they hadn't met her for the 3 years I'd known her. For that, I had seen her only thrice in all the time I knew her. For the first time with a bunch of my friends around. Adu got her, and we saw each other for the first time then. Adu was a sweetie and still is if I can get to talk to her. Bhavya and me were very shy around each other even though we had talked on the phone for the last year. I guess it was strange to meet your a voice you hear on the phone in real life, in person.*

Oh my! I went off on a tangent there. Coming back to the topic of me talking to her yesterday. She wasn't home for three weeks, she was at her grampa's. No wonder she couldn't come online. Even yesterday, she made a point to get out and get me online. Thats so sweet of her, that meant a lot to me even if she didn't notice. She did something like this last year as well. She woke up at 2 AM just to talk to me. My, this would something I would normally do. I wake up early for my parents all the time especially when they call me because thats one time they can actually get a hold of for sure. Anyway, she was telling me how she had to be with her mom most of the time to massage her to prevent DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) because the hip implant was replaced. She really needs to take some time off and relax for a few days, let her sis and dad handle it for a few hours so that she can go out for a breath. I am really worried about her health too. I also discovered one thing about her that she "forgot" to mention in all our chats before, she beat the shit out of a girl in her grade 11 residential hall. Oh my! She is a firecracker! I didn't think she had such a short fuse! The story was action packed! I wish I was there to see this catfight as she put it. But whats a cat fight with pulling each other's hair or scratching faces! We talked for a loooong time. It felt so good. Brought a smile to my rather damp week, a ray of sunshine, something that wasnt there for a long time. The only other people who bring sunshine to my life are Mary and Kristin....