Life is easier when you’re not living for recognition.

This post expands on just what the title says: how life is easier when you’re not living for recognition. I’ve come to realise the same in the last few months. I’ve been doing things because I want appreciation. This was never the case with me. I was as awesome-sauce as a saint.
I don’t really have a one-track mind. I like to do a little of everything. Draw, make cards, write, study, play the guitar, and other little things included in everything. Now, this was easy when I didn’t want any appreciation for them. (Of course, I liked it when I did receive it, because even saints are human-beings, much as they’d like to deny it, but the lack of it didn’t bother me much.) However, ever since I’ve entered college, for some reason, I’ve become much more competitive. I’m usually unimpressed by things because in my mind I’m thinking: “So what? I can do much better.” The other day I made a comic for a friend’s birthday (which is in about a week), and my brain has made such a big issue out of whether I should covert the comic into a greeting card or if I should post it on her Facebook wall (more validation from other people). I started a design internship last month. I was satisfied with a month-long experience, and yet I was wondering if I should not-quit just for the sake of “doing an internship” (continuing with it, in this case). If I ever create/do something I’m proud of, I’m always in a dilemma whether to post it on some social media platform (not just to “share” it with people so they can have a good laugh/appreciate the work but so that they think more of me) or not.

Ah, I feel like a bad person.

It is extremely unsatisfactory to be living like this. A creation (comic, written piece, drawing, etc) should only get my attention till it is being created. Once that’s done, where it goes and how it goes shouldn’t bother me! Man, I miss my old cool saintly self. If I ever meet her, I’m going to give her a pat on the back. Rant over. Ciao.

 

I am in love.. with minimalist art.

Okay. So I’ve been trying a little of Photoshop and stuff. Well, just Photoshop. Summer hobby. Like the title says, I love the whole concept of minimalism. It’s just so.. neat. Little hard work, and amazing results.

Of the thousand uses of Photoshop, I’ve been using it for posters. But the thing with minimalist posters is that they still need more to them than just shapes and beautiful text; they need artistic backgrounds. Because posters need to be attractive. And let’s face it, regardless of how clean plain shapes and text look, they do need textures and artsy stuff to be really attractive.
So with my mom’s birthday coming up, I decided to give greeting cards a hand. Aaaaand, I finally made something I’m really proud of. The front cover of one. I love how there’s just one filter I know about, and I keep using it everywhere. It’s just so amazing. It’s subtle, and yet not insignificant. (It’s the Render->Clouds filter, with opacity decreased, if anyone wants to know. Also amazing – different colour and opacity combinations make for amazing looks.) Anyway, here’s the product. 😀

 

 

Happy 24th May, everyone! 😀 Ah, I’m happy tonight.

 

Blame

It’s funny how the desire to stick by one’s own decisions is seen as being stubborn. There’s this rule I really like following: You’re the only one responsible for your actions. But that rule creates several problems:

• I’m not easy to convince.
• Guilt generated within me if I continuously keep saying no.
• Frustration/hurt/anger generated in others because I continuously keep saying no.

It’s just that if I think I’m not supposed to do something, I don’t want to cave in to others’ persuasions, because more often than not I’m going to regret doing that, and then I’m going to blame the other person. I never want to say “You made me do it” or “This is all your fault”.

I guess it stems from the Golden Rule that says Do Unto You As Others Would Have Them Do Unto You.
There’s a fine line between “I did it for you” and “I did it because of you” and I’m the kind of person who’d really loathe being on the receiving end of the latter. Hence, I’d feel really guilty putting someone else on the receiving end of that as well. If the persuasion makes me do something that I don’t regret, they’d receive the happiness of knowing they’re special and can make me do stuff for them, but like I said, more often than not – that does not happen, so why take the risk?

Today, I was finally able to explain this reasoning to a friend. He seemed to understand and agreed to not force me from now on. So that’s it, a suppose. I short justification of why I never want to listen to others. 😛

 

The way I’m feeling.

I’ve been listening to Kawehi’s cover of Micheal Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” since about four hours. Needless to say, it is extraordinary. Brilliant, more like. Today morning I was done with one of the most burdensome thing of the last month (a group project carrying half the marks of a subject). What amazes me is how happy I am right now. I’m not a generally bubbly kind of a person and yet, right now – I can’t sit still. I want to clap along Pharrell Williams. Another great song.

Anyway, It’s a pretty good feeling. And that’s pretty much what this post is about. I’m happy, and I want to tell that to the world. 

 

The Golden Mean

In philosophy, especially that of Aristotle, the golden mean is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.

A little background: Although I am doing a Computer Engineering course, our institute (like many others) gives us the option of selecting a Humanities subject to complete our credits. I have chosen Theory and Practice of Engineering Ethics as mine. It’s more of a meta-ethics course rather than Engineering Ethics. It was in this class that I first came across the philosophy of The Golden Mean.

Although this concept mainly applied to virtues (for example, courage in excess can transform into recklessness and lack of it can be cowardice), I wonder if we can extend it to humans, in general.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been really troubled by how average I am. I wouldn’t really call it an inferiority complex, because it isn’t that – it’s basically a problem with being average.

Of course, nobody wants to be at the bottom. So I don’t need to elaborate on why being at the bottom is undesirable.

It’s the top that confuses me. We all have dreams, we all want to achieve something huge in life. So do I.
However, in reality, very few achieve that big thing – being at the top of the ladder in some or the other field. And doesn’t that fit with the concept of the golden mean? It isn’t desirable. Being at the top, being too good – it’s harmful. Maybe this is just a way to soothe myself, but maybe it actually is true. It’s supposed to be common knowledge that too much of anything, anything in the whole wide world, is not good. Haven’t we read one too many stories about how success ruined a person?

It’s time to accept it. Perhaps being average is the best for most of us.

And after all, if there weren’t average people, who would appreciate the above average ones?

 

The same old, Nostalgia.

We use the word nostalgia often.
I assume we all know the meaning, but for the benefit for those who don’t: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.

It’s weird how it crops up at the most random times.
It’s been three months since I’ve arrived here (here being this college in another city). I was having a perfectly nice day, none of that missingmypast/missingmyoldfriends/missinghome et cetera. Attended class till 5, played a basketball match till 7 (not that you asked, but we lost. :|), had amazingly inexpensive yet delicious coffee, went for dinner, came back and had an awesome time playing kiddie games. All in all, one of the better days of the past few weeks. After another cup of coffee, I finally came up to my room. Waiting for my phone to charge, I logged in on Facebook and started scrolling aimlessly (as all of us do). Facebook, being the evil hypnotic monster it is, made me stalk random profiles. Okay, not random per se: few of my close friends’. And looking at these photos, I re-re-re-(^a large number I don’t exactly know)-realized how everyone’s settled into their new lives. And it’s not that I miss a friend who I’d been with my 12th grade or something. I mean, it’s been five years since we’ve not been in the same class. So, her “settling into her new life” with respect to me had taken place five years back. But, this is how nostalgia works. It isn’t logical, rational, or reasonable. It’s random. And unpredictable.

I’m not sad though, fortunately. Usually nostalgia leaves me in a slightly gray mood, but not tonight. Tonight I’m ready to take over the world. 😎

I wonder if I should make this post a dedication.

Um, okay. I miss you, Aashna Gandhi.
(I’m not telling you about this post, though. If you never find it, well and good; if you do stumble upon it someday, ah well.)

 

Life without (my) Cell Phone.

So I decided to challenge myself. (Yes, I feel like I’m doing that a lot these days.) I want to see how long I can survive/live/be without my cell phone (brag alert: which, interestingly (or not) is an HTC. ♥ ..My point, you ask? My point is that it’s not just a cell-phone!) with me.

Yes, I'm that obsessed.

We constantly hear statements like “I cannot live without my cell!” or “I’ll die without my cell, seriously” and some also go as far as dramatic ones like “without my cell, I can survive, but not live“. But can’t we, really? Can we really not live without our cell phones? That’s what I want to see.
I got the idea from a friend who did the same a few days back (and he’s one of the most gadget-loving/electronic-loving person I may have come across). He survived without it for ten days. I feel like, if he can do it.. so can I.

So, my aim is ten days, at the least.
It’s 27th of July today.. so I need to live without it till (27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.. yeah.) fifth of August. No, I did not write that tedious day count to increase my word count. It was an emphasis on how important each day is. 😛

If you’re a (normal, typical, stereotyped) teenager/cell-phone addict, you can probably understand how hard this seems. If you’re one of the people who rarely use their phones except for their actual purpose (which is – calling people), then you probably won’t be able to understand what the big deal about this, is.

Although today passed without me thinking much about my cell phone (yes, I’m surprised too. And hopefully nobody will counter my statement by telling me I’m blogging about it, and so I can’t say I didn’t think about it much :|), I doubt it’ll be this way for the next ten days as well. But, a girl’s gotta try, and so she will. 8)

When I told my friends about this.. ‘experiment’ of mine, these were the various (although not varying) reactions I got:

“Ten days?! Why would you even do that? :O”
“:O ..it’s voluntarily? I mean, you’re doing this on your will? :O whoa..”
“You’ll die!”

Yes, that’s basically how today’s “youth” (and excuse me if I sounding like an batty old woman whose aim in life is to criticize ‘today’s world’ and ‘generations-next’) reacts to the prospect of living without their cell phones for some period of time.
Don’t get me wrong. Not each one of us is the kind of teen who’s constantly glued to his phone and has eyes or ears for nothing else; but it’s just this thing.. we’re so used to having it with us, it just seems weird.. and I daresay, we feel incomplete without it.

And to be honest, we are quite justified in loving our cell phones.

When I think about what all I don’t have if I don’t have my cell phone, it actually makes me go.. :O

5. Camera – Even though I’m not that much of a photographer (at least, with a cell), the camera is pretty handy in situations like “Oh! Look at that! Quick! Take a picture!” ..and such.

4. Gaming – Not that I’m a hardcore gamer or anything but having an (brag alert) Android obviously makes me waste quite sometime on games and fun. There used be separate PlayStation’s (and etc.) for gaming, if I remember correctly. 😛 

3. Calculator – Having taken Science as my stream, I need a calculator quite often. Everyday, actually. Yes, one would think we would have a separate properly functioning calculator at our home, but turns out we don’t. 😐

2. Music – Oh, My, God. Music. I don’t own an iPod, so yeah, my cell phone’s my only source of music.. apart from my guitar. Since my guitar strings were broken, I had to go and get new ones today, so that I can substitute music in some form.. but then I realized I don’t know how to change guitar strings (yes, it is something I should know, but I don’t). So yes, that’s definitely something I’m going to miss, unless I try digging for my MP4 player somewhere in the depths of my cupboards.

1. Texting – Last but definitely not the least (is that line too clichéd? :P), texting is what I use my phone most for. Even though I’m not a big fan of texting, and prefer calling and talking to people more, texting is definitely convenient for short messages you want to convey.. (which do turn into long conversations quite some times, yes. Guilty as charged.)

Bottom line? I will miss my cell phone. Hopefully not as much to make me give up on this ‘challenge’. 8)

 

‘Planets’: How many words can you make from that?

So my sister was reading The Da Vinci Code yesterday, and all of a sudden she comes to me and says: Did you know 92 different words can be made from the word Planets?
I have read the book myself (of course), and didn’t remember reading any such thing, or paying attention to it. Yes, that does make me feel like schmuck. Somebody says ninety-two words can be made from a single, seven letter word, and I do not pay attention to it? Something must have been awfully wrong. 😐

This time however, I was feeling right, so I immediately took up the challenge.

All I need is an excuse to mention anything related to him.

Or in the words of the wise Barney Stinson, (the) challenge (was) accepted. 😀

I reached to about 80-84 pretty easily with a little help from my sister, but that’s when I got stuck. Because it’s not the first 80 words that are the challenge, it’s the last 10 words that are.

But it’s possible. With a little help from a Thesaurus, and little from Google (of course :P), I/we finally reached to the magic number 92. It took us about two hours, I suppose.
We counted ‘planet’ as a word though.
I have to hand it to Dan Brown though, if he thought of this himself.. we’ve played this game so many times, but never thought the word Planet could give us so many words. It really is an awesome word.

Some of you will probably think I have way too much time on my hands (which, trust me, I do not. It was a mere push-&-challenge-yourself-and-enjoy kind of activity), but many of you might be interested in trying it out yourself.
Some of you might have tried it already. If you’re one of the ones who’ve tried.. did you succeed? How much time did it take you?

Try it out peeps, it’s fun. 8)

 

Amazon, eBooks, and the demise of Borders and bookshop culture (via MaggieCakes)

The books vs. e-books debate, people. (Not exactly a debate, but whatever.)
Lovely post, short and precise. A FreshlyPressed one, so most of you might’ve come across it, but still, check it out if you missed it..

On second thoughts, check out the whole blog if you like reading stuff about Internet and Technology in a normal language.. 😛
It’s awesome. 🙂

The era of the big box bookstore is coming to an end and I, for one, am saddened by this.  Yes, I know they were big, bad corporate giants that came in and destroyed neighborhood bookstores and coffee shops, ending third places and stifling locally-owned businesses in many communities.  All that’s true – and awful. But at this point, the closing of your local Borders isn’t likely to mean that a locally-owned bookstore is going to spring up in its … Read More

via MaggieCakes

 

The end of Harry Potter? Not quite.

The wait ended today morning.
I finally watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

‘Finally’, because being a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I had hoped to watch it on the release day itself, but couldn’t because of a few reasons.. 😦

Anyway, I obviously loved the movie, which I knew I would.. even though they deviated from the story-line quite a bit.
(I mean Neville and Luna.. Seriously? And a Harry-Tom face-fight.. or whatever it was, really? And the ultimate “what the –!?” moment was when Harry broke The Elder Wand.)
But all’s forgiven, because ..well, it’s Harry Potter. Also, I doubt they can ever make a movie which would be flawless for all the HP literature fans. (Many fans I know liked the new version, as they call it, better. So, yeah.)
We can’t complain forever. It’s probably time we like the movie for the movie.. without any comparisons with the book.

It’s the end of an .. era, as they say. And then they say that that it’s not really over. ‘It’ll live in our hearts even after it’s over’ and all such sentimental things the fans say.

Well, we can’t deny what’s in front of us. Technically, it is over. But well, it’s not vanishing anytime soon. What with Pottermore and everything, the Harry Potter craze is not going to die out anytime in this century, at the least.

For me, well, I still have to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter; meet J.K. Rowling and the HP cast, buy a lot of HP merchandise as soon as I start earning my own money; and read the books and watch the movies about a thousand times more.  8) ❤