CASTLE

Is anybody else watching Castle, the new Nathan Fillion starring mystery show on ABC at 10pm/9pm central?

I am so in love with Nathan, thus naturally I had to watch. I have to say the show is hilarious!!! Its one of the few shows my husband and I watch together and really enjoy!!! He endures Gossip Girl the hour before and truly I mean endure, he is not a fan, lol. But he is game for Castle. We get so into it, that we even begin to try to solve the mystery before the characters on the tv show do.

You know I never thought I would enjoy another show with my beloved Mr. Fillion after Firefly, but Castle is getting up there! It is a nice mix of humor, romance and of course mystery! The whole premise, in case you were wondering, is that Nathan Fillion plays this best-selling author, Richard Castle, who decides to shadow an NYPD cop, Kate Beckett, for one of his new books. He is a single dad, with this wacky mom and down-to-earth daughter. Kate Beckett is all business but her fellow cops are with a sense of humor, so they play off each other. Its a bit like the old tv show, Moonlighting. I'm glad ABC has picked Castle up!

Night Owl

This weekend I was in Los Angeles, with the in-laws. It was fine, though mostly for my husband than for me. One thing I did notice is how much I adore the night (the sister-in-law has a great view of the valley).

I am a self-confessed night owl. If you know me at all, you will not find this surprising in the least. I do wonder why this is?? Is there something in our genetic make-up that predisposes us to staying up late or getting up early?? I can stay awake till 2 or 3am in the morning with ease. I love that time of night after 11pm; when it seems the world has gone to sleep and you are awake. Its so tranquil, so calm. Its my favorite time of the day. Is that unusual? Well, I don't care!

How can I describe what I feel in those hours? I suppose what I enjoy most is that it is my time, everyone else is asleep. I can do what I want, as a child I could escape through books and today through a combination of books and the Internet. Even in Denmark, night was my favorite time, I would sometimes open the window and just lean out and stare at the canal down the street, relishing in the fact that it was midnight and I was living in beautiful Copenhagen.

Heck part of the appeal for me working at the amphitheater in my Virginia hometown every summer is that we always get out after 11:30pm and I love driving through Manassas at night, its one of my favorite trips to make (from the amphitheater to mom and dad's house). Everything seems so nice, in place, with no problems.

Night for me is when the clear waters come upon my soul and give me time to rest from the worries of the world, to relish in being alive.

In fact if I was Emily from the play, Our Town and given one opportunity to visit something from my past, it would be that night in Delhi, when my uncles and my aunts, my mum and my grandparents (both Nana and Nani), were alive, sitting one level below me (in my grandparents house) out on the veranda, laughing and talking. It was late at night. All of us kids were on the upstairs rooms/veranda, supposedly sleeping (but of course as a night owl, I wasn't). My cousins and sister were fast asleep and I could hear the laughter and conversation belowstairs clearly. Down the street, someone was playing music from a Bollywood film, one of my favorites. The sky was so clear, a few stars. I felt so contented.

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh


ps - and yes, I am NOT a morning person, a later post to come on how I hate the morning!

Virginia Elections

Turns out November 3, 2009, not a good day for Democrats in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We lost and we lost big.

I am ok with the losses (still so happy about the BIG win from last November, a certain President, name starts with an "O") but what I can't deal with is all the Republican gloating! I am just befuddled, because they are calling it a referendum on President Obama, which it so isn't! I liked Creigh Deeds but he didn't run a great campaign (vs. his opponent) and historically, Virginian's don't like the Governor of the state to be of the same party as the President of the USA. Finally Virginians tend to only have one party in the Governor's house for a maximum of 8 years. Virginia just had eight years of Democrats, before that eight years of Republicans, it was time for a change.

It is frustrating because I do feel like we Dem's dropped the ball in this race, admittedly we relaxed on our haunches after the all out dog eat dog race for President, but we shouldn't have! I just don't understand how Republicans took state delegate slots in Northern Virginia, which is a bastian of liberalism....really I think it was an all out assault by the right wing and we Progressives were not paying attention until it was to late.

Now is the time to be civil, be quiet and get ready for a massive rally for next year, Republicans be ready!

My Blog Friends

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

Josh Groban/ You Raise Me Up Lyrics

To my friends, both virtual and in person, you guys are the best - that's all I can say - thank you.

Looking for a Job

Thank you to everyone for their kind words and thoughts about the passing of my grandfather. He once told me that time heals all wounds but in this case, I'm not sure it will ever really heal as much as fade to a scar.

I wanted to post a quick note, man I'm trying to find a job out here in Arizona and it sucks!! Today I went to a job fair, there were 20 employers and nearly 20,000 job seekers!! Egads!!! To top that off, nothing to make one feel worse about oneself when job searching than to google your old flame (the guy from South Africa, remember) and find he is a Vice President of this big firm and has a featured page on the company's website (you know how they do for senior management and stuff). Geez, what a loser I am!

Nana's Passing

"All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances" - (Act II, Scene VII, As You Like It).

My grandfather passed on Friday, the holiest of days for Muslims. Alas, while I did fly out on Friday, I did not make it in time to see him and maybe that was a good thing. Because as he was dying, I probably would have cried all over him and that could not have helped him. My mother and my aunt were there and they said it was very peaceful. For that, I am glad.

I and everyone from the family, made it out to Florida (where he was staying in those last dying months, with my aunt and her family) for the funeral and burial which was on Saturday (in Islam burial must be done almost immediately after death, like within three days). It really helped to have the entire family there. We all cried and leaned on each other, it was also nice that everyone came! I am sure Nana would have liked that.

I am sad about my grandfather passing. I knew he was going, but still nothing ever really prepares you for this. Amazingly it helps that I'm out here in Arizona, where there is no real concrete memories of him...I don't know what I'm going to do when I go back to my parent's home though. I don't think I'll be able to walk into his room.

I miss him so much, last night before I left Florida, I wanted to go to his burial site and lay there, I worry he is lonely or afraid or scared. I have continuously been praying for Allah to protect him, keep him safe, forgive him his sins and accept him into Heaven.

I am not good with death, it is just so hard for me to think he is no longer there, no one will pick up when I ring "Nana's cell," No one coming with his tattered old car with the Obama sticker on it, no one making me laugh at silly Indian functions with his wicked sense of humor. Sigh, I must just take it day by day. I pray he is in a better place now.

MBA Class

Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement, it definitely helps me, if I don't say that.

Lately I've been thinking of this class I took while in Denmark - I can't even remember the name of the class, just that it was taught by this visiting Harvard professor, which intimidated the heck out of me and in the end it turned out to be my favorite class while in Denmark. I believe the title was something about "Creative Economics" or something, either way, the premise was about how to think outside of the box, how to be a new global manager, to understand the direction of the free market and to properly predict the next product.

I'm in a funk and I feel like I need this thinking for my life - to get outside of the self-proscribed lines. Does that make any sense?? Am I rambling?? I just know that now that I'm married, I don't want this to be the end defining moment of my life. I want to be somebody, do something with my life and I don't care that I'm 32, I am not died and I'm not giving up on my dreams! I want to live in London, I want to be a top businesswoman, I want to move in elite circles with writers and philosphers - is that out of the realm of possibility for me now??

Is this just all crazy???

One of the things that the professor of this class did was to establish a wiki page, where each of us students was to submit thoughts, ideas, pictures, videos, song, anything that got us thinking...in that spirit, I submit this pic...it gets my creative juices flowing!