35. Quote

I was reading a chess site (Ponomariov's) and the following quote took me by surprise.

"Probably, an accomplishment of a dream is the most cunning way to destroy ourselves. "

Here's the story: Back when Ruslan was just a little kid, this coach showed up and started working with the kid who showed promise. Then, in Jan 2002, Ruslan became the FIDE world champ. In August, the coach, having accomplished his life mission, simply passed away!

34. Boundless Philanthropy


I was on the CTA train to downtown, to get some Passport issues taken care of. In my train, there was one old lady asking for alms. Most of us turned away. Then this lady reached a black girl who must have been in her late teens or early twenties. This girl was reading something. She looked up and saw the lady with her outstrected arm. Without hesitation, the girl reached into her pant pocket. I was sitting close enough across the aisle that I could hear the loose change rattling. The girl grabbed a huge handful, and without counting or even glancing at it, she gave the lady everything.

I am always overly impressed with those who share (or give away) what they have without even pausing to check themselves.

My first javascript Quiz type thing...

Q:What is the collective noun for a group of photographers?

List Alert

Indian Bloggers Ring


Indian Blogs that I have found here and there on the 'net

Indian Ladies' Blogs
Gowgow
Mamta's The Invisible Blog

Beware of the Blog Erudite, and not as pretencious. GeorgeMason

Chandra's Blog

33. What gets you?

You know how when we want to get to know someone, we ask them: So what do you like?
Well, of late, I have been thinking that we should be asking the exact opposite. So, what don't you like? What do you hate? What irritates you?

Most days and most times I try to wear my peace cloak. Let me alone, let me be, and I will be no trouble whatsoever.And yet, from time to time, something or someone will manage to tear that cloak, get through and cause havoc. Why? Why does this happen. More importantly, when does this happen?

Pretension: Knowing something and acting as if one doesn't.
Uselessness: If you have stopped being useful to society, you should be added to the list right away.
Unwarranted sense of entitlement: People who have a perpetual I want this, I deserve this.
Demanding folks: Why is it that that which is good enough for the rest of the us is not good enough for you?

Recognizing the things that produce bile is arguably more important than analysing it.

Black bile spewing Solo.

32. Getting back on track

Somehow, after every break, it seems to become more difficult to get back on track. They say that writers should never ever stop writing, even for a single day.

Winnipeg
Went there for a couple of days. Left Thursday afternoon and returned Saturday night. Nice mellow place.
The Royal Canadian mint was a highlight. As was running into the Otesha Project gang.

List Alert :: Alphabetized List of Favorites

{Africa}{AI} {Aimee Bender}{Airline Operations}{Alaska}{Australia}
{Balconies}{BananaChips}{Billy Collins}{BlitzChess}{Booksales}{Breyer's Ice Cream Flavors}
{Cable Modems}{Claude Monet}{Chess.FM}{Coffee}{Compliments}{Conceptual Art} {Correspondence Chess}
{Cryptic Crosswords}{Curd Rice with Pickles}
{Debugging}{Design}{Dictionaries}{Display Fonts}{DVD Movie Special Features}{EasterIsland}{Excellence}
{Falafel & Hummos} {Foreign Films}{Free Internet}{Friday Nights}{FriedBatterGoodies}
{MoorishTileDesigns} {Journals}
{Girls who laugh} {Google}{Grandmothers}{Grilled Veggies} {Gypsy Songs}
{Hawaii}{IATOS}{Illayaraja}{Incentive Schemes}{IQTests}
{James Michner} {Jay Leno} {Jazz}
{Libraries} {List Keeping} {Lonely Planet Guides}{Long Weekends}
{MacadamiaNuts}{Mangoes}{Math Formulations}{Memorablia} {Metaphors}{MJ}{MichaelMoschen}{MIG on Chess}{Mongolia}{Movies}
{MP3}{Net-chess.com}{NewZealand} {Nobel Prizes} {Nostalgia} {Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan}
{ObjectiveFunctions}{Old Film Songs}{OperationsResearch}{Oscars}
{PatternRecognition}{Paul Theroux}{Peace}{Peace Corps Writers}{Pink Floyd}{Pizza}{PowerPoint}{Publication}
{Quotations}
{Ram Prasad}{Recognition}{Retirement}
{Saturdays}{SelfImprovement}{SelfReference}{Short Films}{Soccer}{Solitude}{Solving}{Slide Lectures}{Spanish Language}{Sundays}
{Tea after Dinner}{TeachersWithPassion}{Tofu}{Train Journeys}{Travelogues}{TWIC}
{UsedBooks}
{Vacation}{Vegans}{VegetarianRestaurants}{Visualization}{Vishy Anand}{Volcanoes}{Volleyball}
{Weblogs} {World Wide Web}{Writing}

31
Quote:: At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face
- Albert Camus

Dilemma:: Is reading good poetry better than creating mediocre ones?
in re chess: is it better to play over a Grandmaster game than to play a game on the 'net yourself?

30

Twilight Walk

One lousy firefly
in the shimmering twilight sky
got me started

I was taking a rare walk
when I saw that firefly
it flamed right beside a fire hydrant
that had an out-of-service
cardboard sign slung around its neck

I was wondering if one could get away
by parking next to that broken hydrant

but walked on
and the next time it wasn't a firefly
it was a man in a vest
who'd just stepped outside
taking a drag on his cigarette

and the only shimmering I saw behind him
was the unwatched TV in his living room

and that was when I decided that
I better stop reading the poetry book
and I walked on

29 if you don't have it...

Remember, if you don't have anything to blog, don't blog it here.
Also, keep in mind that if the content ain't great, no amount of slicking with fonts and black backgroun can make the prose shine.

28: Imagery!

Today, I figured out how to add pictures to the blog. And I have been doing this for ages! Duh. Sometimes we don't put 2 and 2 twogether.
Oh well.

lots of interesting possibilites open up now. I could store these pics somewhere and then point to them. We'll see.

27

Word of the Day: Mimosa

WordWeb defines it as: A mixed drink containing champagne and orange juice, though I believe the drink is named after a tropical flower of the same color. My boss sent all his direct reports an invite, asking that we join his family for the 4th of July parade, and that he’d provide some mimosa and lunch following that.

Chess
It is getting close to a point where I might have to resign my first game. Even if it is correspondence, I screwed up. No hiding that.