Updates

I have moved to a different web address. New Beginnings I guess :)

Look me in the eye

Look me in the eye!
I am afraid of what I won't become
Why are you afraid of what you can become?

Look me in the eye!
I am afraid of what we won't become
Why are you afraid of what we might become?

I know it takes time, I am afraid too,

Just look me in the eye.

(Thank you MJ)

The Wildest Train Ride Ever!

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.

Predictions 2009

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.

Make me a sheeep, O God!

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!

Typical

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?

Recollections of my trip back home

"Man, this looks like Mustang" my friend muttered our plane landed at TIA (don't remember what it's called now!) around 9:40 pm in Kathmandu. Not that either of us had ever been to Mustang, but I immediately got what he was trying to say. As we landed we could hardly see any lights (probably because of the load shedding), and the area alongside the landing strip looked very dry and gray. With nothing green anywhere in sight, anybody would feel that it was mustang. Having been away for four years, I was nervous and not quite sure what to expect. Throughout the flight I had wondered, if at all, my country had changed or if I had changed. I was soon about to find out.

BCS, What a Joke!

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."

BCS! what a joke!