We decided to go up to San Francisco to celebrate new year's eve. As always with drinking folks, we had a designated driver problem. So, we decided to take the Caltrain. Not everybody was pleased with the idea at first, but it was easily the best decision of the night.
After finishing a couple glasses of Jack+Coke each, we left home at about 9 and boarded the Caltrain at about 9:30. We were itching to get to San Francisco so that we could hop into the bar and get drunk, we were starting to sober up and we knew it would all be gone in an hour long ride. There were a lot of people headed up to the city and almost everybody in our cabin was holding some kind of a drink. Apparently, I was the only one that had taken the trouble of reading Caltrain's website which explicitly stated that open alcohol would not be allowed in the train. My friends were very mad at me for obvious reasons. Turns out everyone does it on new year's eve, and the conductors don't give a rat's ass as to who was holding what in the train. Sometimes it sucks to be new in a town. The atmosphere in the train was already pretty vibrant. Almost everyone was fairly young, it felt like a college crowd. And since everybody was drunk to some level, it was really chatty in there, makig for a vibrant atmosphere. People were shouting "hapy new year" across the cabin, it was just great. At the next stop a bunch of guys boarded our cabin. It seemed to me that they were carrying a big black speaker which actually turned out to be a boom box. As soon as they had a couple of drinks, they asked something to the hispanic family sitting next to them and busted out the music. People were moving in their seats, rocking to the beat of the music. I could see it coming, people wanted to dance, we just needed somebody to start it.
Soon after that, a bunch of black kids boarded our cabin. You guessed it, they were the ones that took the atmosphere to a whole new level. They are entertainers, it must be in their genes. They started to dance as soon as they entered, and everybody followed suit. Our Cabin was rocking pretty hard, probably as good as any night club in SF that night. It was surreal, something that you can only imagine or see happening in a music video or a movie. The conductors were worried, which they should be and were trying to calm people down. A big group of people shaking booty in a cabin of a moving Caltrain, can you imagine a more nightmarish situation for the conductors?
Like every other party that you have ever been to, there had to be someone to start some sort of a trouble. Some stupid kid lit off a smoke and people were smoking in the Caltrain. I couldn't tell what they were smoking, probably pot. I couldn't believe it. The conductors had enough of the nonsense this time and they threatned to call the cops so the guy put it out. No one danced any more, but the music still went on strong till we reached SF.
When we hopped of the train, somebody from our cabin asked the caltrain conductor, "where do you rank this on the list of craziest shifts you have ever worked?" His response, "Only gets better every year"
Haha good to know, sign me up for next year! Definitely the wildest ride of my life.
2008 was a very unique year for me. Transforming from a college student to a professional, and moving from a small college town to the bay area are, I guess, pretty drastic changes. Here are some of my random predictions for 09: 1. Justin.tv is going to be the new facebook: Two words: Life Casting! Yes, just like you I cringed for the first time, I sumbled upon this concept. At the time, I was unable to fathom the idea of broadcasting your life on the web. I myself probably won't do it, but if I have learnt anything in the past 5 years, I won't underestimate the power of Gen Y.
On second thought, this might take a couple of years.
2. I am not going to win my NBA Fantasy League: I have LeBron, but I don't think I will be able to defend my title this year. Too many strong opponents, too many injuries. Not that I am going to give up, just need some freaking break with the injuries.
3. The economy will be better: This is more of a hope than prediction, for the sake of my job.
4. ipods will be a thing of the past: The iphone has completely cannibalized the iPod, way to go Apple. I would love to see their reveues at the end of 09. Yes, they will sell a lot of iPhones, but no one in their right mind will get an iPod like before just because they could. The 2 year commitment plus data plan with the iPhone, however, means that not many will be able to afford it. It will be an interesting year.
5. I will pass the CPA exams: Passed one three more to go. I have one on the 3rd of January. Wish me luck.
Let me not jump to the void like a sage. Or with an artificial imagination. Let me not create distorted magic of variegated colors out of magic less truth. Let me not become a Brahmin to live on dirty water washing away other's sin.
* * *
Let me not reform to expose the world. Let me not patch up the old and tattered things. Let me lit the light of life, Like the simple, beautiful, and unbeautiful light of nature, When dying Let me reach higher up than the sage.
- Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota
One of the greatest Nepali authors of all time. I haven't read a lot of his stuff lately, but found this online. A Gem!
This is an awesome video. The lyrics go well with the theme of my blog:
Typical by Mute Math
Come on, can I dream for one day? There's nothing that can't be done But how long should it take somebody Before they can be someone
Cuz I know there's got to be another level Somewhere closer to the other side And I'm feelin' like it's now or never Can I break the spell of the typical?
Now I've lived through my share of misfortune And I've worked in the blazing sun But how long should it take somebody Before they can be someone
Cuz I know there's got to be another level Somewhere closer to the other side And I'm feelin' like it's now or never Can I break the spell of the typical?
I'm the typical I'm the typical Can I break the spell of the typical?
Because it's draggin' me down Oh, I'd like to know about when When does it all turn around?
Yeah I know there's got to be another level Somewhere closer to the other side And I'm feelin' like it's now or never Can I break the spell of the typical?
Break the spell (of the typical) Break the spell (of the typical) Can I break the spell of the typical?
The BCS is a joke. I thought that people in places here in the US are smart. It seems I was wrong. They do not have any common sense whatsoever. The whole BCS debacle clearly shows that college football is in a mess right now. There is too much politics and average fans don't get what they deserve. The voters are delusional and the people who support the BCS are idiots.
I made a smart decision when I stopped making picks on LSU_tiger's thread a couple of months back. I know I am never going to turn away from college football ever. But I desperately needed to vent my angst somewhere. It seemed like this would be a good place.
Ohio State is on the verge of having a blowout loss second year in a row to another good SEC team in the national championship game. May be the big 10 will actually start thinking straight after a three touchdown OSU loss and not schedule any more out of conference pansies in the future.
I am angry that my team didn't make it to a BCS bowl this year. I know we blew it, but what about those poor Missouri tigers. What did they do to deserve this? Kansas, the team that they beat handily and with a SOS in the 100s jumps them for a BCS birth! Give me a break. I hope they come to their senses to move to a playoff system pretty soon. Something I read in one of the message boards yesterday: "What does Ohio State and Appalachian State have in common? Both those teams Marquee win this season was Michigan."
Holiday season has rolled around, and I realized today that I haven't consistently blogged since last spring. I just don't seem to have the passion for blogging which I did last year. I know it's sad but there are just too many distractions. Too many things happening around me that blogging isn't a priority anymore. It would be so cool if I could capture everything that happened in the past six months, be it with my horrific writing, but I doubt I ever will. I will try but I won't make any promises.
Thanksgiving, or any other American holiday for that matter, sucks for me because is hardly any work to do at work. Well, I shouldn't say "sucks" because I don't have to do anything, it's just so freaking hard to pass the time. I guess nobody wants to knock the door of Treasury services during these festive times but I am getting sick of the same songs that play on Nexus radio over and over and over again. Here is a sample of how these stations mix their songs. Believe me these are all good songs but it's too much to take when they play each song 10 times in a 4 hour span.
-Crank That (Soulja Boy) -Good Life (Kanye West) -Hate That I Love You (Rihanna Featuring Ne-Yo) -Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie) -Ayo Technology (50 Cent Featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland) -Crank That (Soulja Boy) -Stronger (Kanye West) - Shawty (T pain) -Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie) -Good Life (Kanye West) -Crank That (Soulja Boy) -Ayo Technology (50 Cent Featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland) -Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie)
You get the idea.
I should probably be thankful right now because only reason why I am even on this blogger page is because there is no work. Thank you everyone for leaving so that I don't have anything to do. I should also be thankful to the donors who make my school so rich that they can dump their money in this latitude D 620 which I use more for my personal junk than for my work. Finally, thank you [insert your name] for reading this junk. You must either be bored out of your mind or you must be a sore loser who has nothing better to do ;p
I worship the sports guy. This isn't even an oerstatement. He wrote on a column published on August 2nd that FNL "is the greatest sports show since The White Shadow", and for some reason this got stuck on my mind. I discovered Tuesday night that NBC has the entire season online for FREE. By the way, I love NBC because of this. Last semester I watched the whole apprentice season online as well. Anyway, after finishing the entire , season (22 episodes, 40-45 minutes each) in a 36 hour span, I am disoriented and have a slight headache. But I can definitely say that it was worth it. The last TV show that had this kind of an impact on me was "The Wonder years" way back when. Believe me, the show is that good.
In my opinion FNL has been able to find the right mix of emotions and can touch everyone that watches it. Although football is what got me interested in this show, I don't think you need to love football to love this show. You will find that several aspects of this show are not very realistic (keep in mind that this is a TV series) but the wide variety of characters will keep you interested. As you can imagine there are several jaw-dropping sub plots for all the characters and by the middle of the third or the fourth episode you will start to think that Dillon is the most messed up town in America. But don't give up on it, Keep an open mind and you will love it.
FYI: I have been in California for the past couple of months for my internship. I had to completely ignore the blog because either I was busy running after greener pastures (which was 80% of the time) or was busy enjoying myself. Seriously, there is so much to do here! I am heading back to school next week. Hopefully I will write about my California adventures in the coming weeks. I apologize, if anyone read my stuff regularly.
I usually don't know how to judge things. When people say that they loved a movie or they just read a fabulous book, I often wonder what criteria they used for the judging process. I think that reaction comes straight from the heart for most people and they really don't have to think about it. I wish I could be in their position. I am a rational fool and it sucks. I tend to go into the details too much. For example, after watching a movie I tend to analyze the plot, the script, the acting and countless other things before actually forming an opinion on it. Why can't I be subtle, spontaneous and just let out how I FEEL?
I finished reading "The Catcher in The Rye" late last night. After I got done, I felt exactly the same way I felt after watching Spiderman 3. I had no problem getting through either of the two. I felt time passed really fast and I was genuinely interested on each of them throughout their progress. This must mean that I loved the movie and the book.
Wait! I just realized that I am being more rational. Did I just try to figure out what subtleness and spontaneity is using my rational brain? The whole purpose of this post is defeated. Somebody shoot me!
