(This was meant for posting on the 10th of July. Somehow I never got around to posting it till today)

Sitting at the windows seat of an aeroplane after years has been a fun experience since I normally choose the aisle seat or fly in the dark when not much is visible outside.

But flying in daytime, sitting at the window has been a gorgeous treat. A literal visual feast for the eyes.

White clouds all around me, patches of blue sky above and the sun making occasional appearances through the cloud had me constantly wishing for my camera. Not that it would make any difference since it is literally impossible to take half a decent pic from a commercial aeroplane.

Anyway, that got me thinking – perhaps go in an open aircraft/glider (do they even exist? Is it even possible?) and get some photography done. But it would probably be shit expensive. Ah well one can dream can he not.

Anyway, I digress. So watching the clouds fly by made me want to see how they behave when they get near the plane’s turbines and when the exit (probably the geek in me thinking) and I thought it would be so cool to have two aircrafts flying at slightly different altitudes and photograph the effect of the turbines of the lower craft (you know, you can’t really make out the effect from inside the aeroplane because there is no point of reference) and of course photograph the scenery as is, flying on a floor of clouds, walled by clouds under a cloudy roof.. BEAutiful..

All these musings made my childhood dream of flying planes resurface making me feel so terribly underachieving in life. Ah, I digress again so I’ll stop here.

(written on my phone a few thousand feet above the ground while blasting through empty space (thank god for that. Wouldn’t want the space to be non-empty ) in a pressurised metal tube)

I was reading this excellent essay by Roger Ebert and found it a very good read.

I really connected to the following words from that essay:

It is not important to be “right” or “wrong.” It is important to know why you hold an opinion, understand how it emerged from the universe of all your opinions, and help others to form their own opinions. There is no correct answer. There is simply the correct process. “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

This has always been very important for me. To have my opinions independent of others influence. Not always easy but I try to ensure that I keep my opinions uninfluenced until I have had a time to examine them and come to some sort of a conclusion. While this sometimes lead to being judgmental it serves me well as I can look at issues and ideas with my own perception and perhaps provide a different perspective.

Ps. Yes, sometimes I’m too strongly opinionated to the point of stubborness

Today is April Fools day (like you didn’t already know!). In the recent years this day of the year is usually when a lot of lame April Fools pranks are played out across the Internet and blogs. This is getting so old and lame that its irritating, let alone humorous.

This sentiment is shared by others who are tired of the crap being passed off as April Fools day pranks. We need something really good and funny. Not the same prank rehashed year after year. Come on. It’s the Internet which has so many talented funny people creating loads of good stuff. Let them get more coverage than those listed above!

Update: Another one from Gmail

Well the MacBook Air has been released by Apple. I think it is a beautiful machine but the specifications of the system sucks. And it’s freaking expensive. I know I wont be getting it anytime

However, I came across an awesome pic which does a feature comparison of the MacBook Air to one of the most popular computers in the history of computing. No surprises that the Air comes out on top. I will let you decide for yourself though

Original here

However, to be fair, this article on The Fishbowl gives a better insight into Apple and it’s success. Very nicely written article.

Ps. For the uninitiated, the Commodore 64 was the best selling and at its time the market leader in computers. It is also one of the most revered systems in the history of computing.

This I HAVE to watch!

Yes, this is a parody

This guy (Ziad Fazah) can speak, read and understand 58 languages. Fifty freaking Eight languages. I can speak 2 and break up on the third!

A name you should not keep for your restaurant.

– via Wanderlust

I’ve just started reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It’s a book about the incorrect usage of punctuation in the written language today and the misinterpretation the incorrect punctuation might cause. I’ve only completed it partly but it seems quite interesting except for the failing attempts of the author at humor. It gets grating at times.

Why am I writing about this? Well as a warning. More than a couple of my friends refer to me as a “Grammar Nazi” and well let this be a warning that I am arming myself further to interrupt and correct you when you make a punctuation error

A bunch of really funny answers in tests given by students..

Check it out at http://beast-666.livejournal.com/96965.html

I’ve been trying to improve my Hindi to an extent where I can go through an entire conversation without using a word of English. I’ve mostly failed miserably at it because I don’t know such pure Hindi. But I want to learn. Problem is, there isn’t anyone who I can converse with to practice and no material from where to learn and practice on my own.

And only in this attempt have I realized how bad my Hindi is and how difficult articulating myself in it is. And people think I’m nuts if I try to talk purely in Hindi. A colleague has even called me crazy for trying to use pure Hindi because according to her, it’s to medieval

Some times I think I really AM nuts