Gathering thoughts…
A world of little thoughts.
I received the death news of a close relative today. For a moment I was speechless as the end of life has been the single most mysterious truth for me. It's the ultimate inevitability that makes life so precious. We acquire all the survival skills in the journey of life to meet death one day. It's also the ultimate…
As much as it hurt a bit when I wrote the title for this piece a month and half ago, I also realise it sometimes takes time to form a thesis or coherent set of thoughts to say I think this is what I was after. I wrote a Substack articles on social apps 2 Septembers ago. I'd thought of these apps for about 1.5 years at…
On a walking tour in Oaxaca, Mexico last year, my local guide said something that struck close to home – “Most homes and businesses in the city aren’t owned by Oaxacans. They’re owned by Americans.” Because of American demand, Oaxacans couldn’t afford to live in the best parts of their own city and were forced to live…
Wife, after sharing second thoughts about starting a new job: "Do you think they're the kind of people who would hire a woman just because she's a woman?" Me: "Wondering whether you're the benefactor of affirmative action feels kind of gross, doesn't it?" Wife: "Ugh" I should note that the Hebrew term for that…
When I was eighteen, I started a journal. I faithfully wrote entries every day for five years. At the time, I didn’t consider it a journal. I was in college. With my tuition paid, my life savings was $1800. This was my spending money. I didn’t qualify for work-study. I planned to make my money last as long as I could.…
I love travelling by the Metro. I know Bangalore's Metro isn't as tentacled as Delhi's or as old as the tube (of London) - but by god, I adore the Metro. And this isn't even due to its ridiculous affordability. Stepping inside, you can almost taste the bustle of people hopping from home to work. When i see men and…
One of the first questions a therapist asks when you start therapy is "Tell me about your childhood." There is a stigma attached to mental health and while the world at large has started to make peace with that now, there's still shame attached to bad parenting. My childhood was spent in survival mode. My parents had…
A few days back I was planning a trip with my family. I had to cast Google maps to my TV so that everyone can view map on big screen. This is when I realized how much Google maps sucks in landscape mode. The image shown above is a screenshot taken on my phone so the map is visible here but when we cast to TV, the…
On a recent trip with my friends, I asked them if they were ok telling me how much they were worth i.e. how much money they had in the bank. During the trip, I had skirted around the question by asking what their "number" was. But that evening, I just asked if they'd be ok telling me. I've been thinking a lot about…
There are times when I look at contact list in my phone and feel like talking to a couple of them without any agenda. But I am afraid today to do so. I could do it easily in my younger days when the only purpose of phone was calling; SMS and listening to music were additional features. I did it for years and it helped…
We're taught to practice with only one colour. We're taught to choose only one niche to excel in life. Jack of all trades is master of none, right!? But, did you know the original version of this quote has another line? It says, "Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." It…
party slut my friend and i were walking on venice beach and two guys came up to us and they were like what do you do and i'm like i'm a piano teacher and they were like holy shit we're musicians too and they showed us their music and it was legit good and i showed them my chopin nocturne op 9 no 1 and they were like…
The past three places I've lived have all been near a busy street. Not too busy, with cars honking and voices shouting. Not too loud like a highway. Instead, just the right amount of busy, at the right times. What do I mean by this? In the morning, when I wake up, I hear the cars and people start to move about,…
A professional is someone who is paid to perform a task. A dentist is paid to care for teeth. A teacher is paid to impart an education. There are clearly defined and agreed upon definitions for professions; organizations are established to accredit individuals and revoke those credentials when ethical norms are…
I started out with a writing goal of everyday and I literally forgot the very next day to write a post :( Nevertheless, I'm convincing myself that writing is a skill to be learnt and it happens slowly. So I'm trying not to be hard on myself. Today I want to write about something which I have struggling with this in…
Do not have a backup plan Try things more radical Drop out or do something that is more extreme You’ll perform better Just trust your ability of your brain You’ll be surprised where that would take you And I think you found it by being an archi coordinator in K You did achieve amazing things by trusting yourself Don’t…
Thirty years ago, a mob brought down a mosque in a town I thought existed only in stories. I do not recall it's violent aftermath in Bombay. I was only eight, shielded from much that was frightening about our world. But, I remember the news of the bombs going off. Especially the one near the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar.…
This quote is famously attributed to Dom Pérignon, a Monk from the Champagne region of France, who in the 17th century spent a significant part of his life perfecting the drink that we now know as Champagne or Sparkling Wine. On a recent flight, flying 35,000 feet above earth at 600 miles an hour and sipping…
One thing I hope to use this medium for is getting the phone out of my hand so much. Do. Do. Do. That's what I want. To do. But instead, I scroll. Incessantly. For some reason I feel like something miraculous is just around the next flip of the thumb. Sometimes, yes, something interesting does come up, but rarely is…
I spoke with a friend who had recently written off some friends when they were unwilling to engage in debate and acknowledge what he had to say. In one instance, I recall that he had taken the time to write a well constructed and well thought out email concerning a hot button topic. In response, he was dismissed and…
today i cannot keep myself from not publishing something. i have some ideas for a blogpost in my notes app, but they require research and thorough input. so i have decided to write and publish whatever comes to my mind. co-incidently today is also the day i picked up a fresh notebook and wrote my journal entry after a…
Friendly reminder to save your amazing ideas before they disappear into the void. Find a note app you love, or go old school with a note pad. Simple pen and paper. Write your ideas down right when you think of them. Review them daily. Don't forget to take action. Let your ideas live. Don't let them die on the page.…
…the world would set afire, every time you look in my direction. so there could be an embodiment of what you do to my psyche. you walk into the room and suddenly all i know is how to giggle. and everything disappears, and everything I am that i hold so dear disperses. i’m stripped of all my worldly attachments and i…
Digital productivity apps - shiny object buffet of apps with low to high caloric brain-nourishment value One's lived experiences deserves to be housed where the moments will be organized, tended, and loved Home sweet home, especially your digital home. --- My love letter to friends who ask if they should switch apps.…
There's been talk on Twitter lately about the massive funds of the Wikimedia Foundation. I had no idea, and I think others were surprised too. It makes sense, though. I was always surprised at the professionalism of their work compared to the homemade vibe of the volunteer communities that run the wikis. They use…
I recently saw a photo on LinkedIn of someone I met a few years ago. I felt an unexpected resistance to respond, that moment sparked a deeper thought. At any stage of life, you hold a certain view of yourself and often assume that others see you the same way. I call this a self-image snapshot: a frozen perception of…
I'm here to kickstart my digital writing habit. Here's my grand idea: write 30 atomic essays in 30 days. (Of course, the idea is stolen from @dickiebush) But it is not about the idea. It is about building a system. A system is a collection of parts that work together to produce an output when fed with an input. This…
A culture is defined by the norms of its people. As the people of a society change, its culture evolves. Sometimes for the better. Other times, not so much. In my part of the world – Goa, India, the last decade has dealt us a culture shift like never before. It's had its benefits, but we've lost a lot as well. One…
as current AI tools develop and more people use them. i have noticed subtle consistencies that pop up in stable diffusion. finding the consistencies and adapting them will be the difference from the average user to a unique user. one of the more obvious consistency are poses for portrait images. there are only a few…
Jack in Titanic Doesn’t care how rich Rose is Every phase of Jack’s life there is a best version to live the life There’s no point worrying and feeling self abasement for yourself Work towards it & there’s a way to live out of poverty Feeling bad is just the easy way It doesn’t mean you stop being someone caring…
Your life and mine eyes that intertwine. Like rings around a finger and golden sheets of amber. Like a bicycle wheels belonging to childhood. Innocence and romance, Chocolate and laughter. Your life and mine, like the surface of a swimming pool in a fresh morning. Or the side of a river, calm. And pebbles. Your lips…
Olha. Ainda estou internada. E assim, não sai da minha cabeça o funk puta rica, puta mexicana. Eu não consigo parar de cantar isso e já está me irritando, apesar de engraçado. Não é uma música que eu ouço, mas tava no Twitter e apareceu um cara cujo nome é Xurrasquinho (daí você vê kkkkk) dançando ela. Desde então,…
Comecei uma nova série. New girl estava na minha lista ha anos. Eu conheço a atriz que interpreta Jess como cantora. Então, está sendo legal ver ela nesse papel de comédia também. Olhos grandes e azuis. Claro, a série tem uma vibe meio pick me girl. Meio "nossa como eu sou estranha e preciso da aprovação desses…
There’s no need to feel anxious about things, especially now I know that these aren’t like hard things to do yknow. Knowing about cafes, food and bars, you don’t have to “STUDY IT” per se, like really put all your efforts into it You’re stronger now. You used to be waking up feeling anxious about what you feared you…
In my personal experience, (and according to some self-help gurus) the blank canvas is very intimidating. It happens when you start on anything new- every letter you type, every stroke of the brush seems to violently destroy the beauty of the blankness, the nothingness. To be worthy of taking up space, the very first…
The internet has given rise to a new genre of humorous content and I personally love it! The ones I find particularly amusing are around wine and comparing it to life. ''Yoga Class? I thought you said Pour a Glass''. You get the drift. When did wine become such an ubiquitous part of corporate lore? I for one of course…
Today, when even the worst SM content format ever created (Reels/Shorts) tries to be "informative", its clear that we are living in the age of huge information excess. It is made worse by the "good intention" of continuously learning. So, we have access to limitless information and we consume a lot of it because of…
Estou há tanto tempo viajando que perdi um pouco da noção do tempo. Mas hoje é domingo, tá um sol lindo aqui e eu vou aproveitar pra ir na Lagoa da Pampulha. Quero dar uma voltinha de bicicleta e depois ir pra uma caminhada que eu até me inscrevi pra fazer. Depois, mais um filminho, já que eu estou na maratona do…
Who am I? Well I'm just a kid, clueless about life and where I'm going to end up in this chaotic world. You can call me Sreeram, I sure go by many nicknames which let's not get into. What am I doing here? I don't know honestly. I guess I have a lot to say which may come in my later posts. You could say I'm more…
I recently started playing Dungeons & Dragons again after about 25 years. I used to play it as a kid, but now that I’ve picked it up again as adult, I’m with the idea that you can sit around and talk, yet this structured, elaborate immersive experience unfolds. Now we have a regular tuesday game online, and a one or…
Today we had some memorable encounters with animals we met along the way - one of them was with a herd of highland cows. As we played classical music, they approached us, each displaying unique behaviors - some bold and curious, others hesitant and cautious. Each animal, like us, has a life filled with feelings and…
I took down my website. It was bullshit. Just like the many bullshit ideas that cross my mind, and all the other bullshit projects that I embark on. I started that site as another "creative outlet". A place where I could improve my writing. The latter, AKA "the goal", remains genuine. The former, AKA "the idea", AKA…
It occurred to me then that Kiwi is the Annabel to Kippy’s Lolita. And truly I don’t think I ever recovered from her death. This whole meme is getting out of hand, this cometragedy of beloved animal soulmates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V0rGf9PjzI wow when i play this piece it does not sound so interesting wtf how i guess he's just super into it when i play there are parts that i find boring and i don't try to make them interesting lol THAT'S WHY HE GETS PAID FOR THIS AND I DON'T (that plus technique hahahahaha) i'm…
My life has been rough lately. I am stressed, sleep-deprived, and unable to function well. This year is my second attempt at applying to grad school programs, and the journey has been anything but easy. I have to keep retaking the GRE, write multiple essays (even just for one school!), and conduct original…
To honor your mother and father is not to obey what they say, to honor your mother and father is to respect them.
Where I'm from, asking your waiter about the ingredients in a dish usually prompts one of two responses: 1) "You can't have this, this, or this. But this and this are safe to eat." 2) "Uh, I'll ask the kitchen and get back to you." While visiting London, I was really surprised that the near universal response was…
I struggled with mental health issues for many, many years. They have been compounded by a stubborn insistence on "figuring it out myself." Over the last few years, I have finally started making progress, and I'm mostly healthy, happy, and more understanding. Over the last few months, I've been diving back into…
