Little Monsters

I’ve never been a big kid lover. By that I don’t mean big kids or that I ‘love’ kids. I’m not that kind of a …..I’ve never been much of a person who likes kids a lot. I can tolerate them but in the last couple of years, I dunno, I just can’t seem to stand most kids. Most kids who can talk! Or cry or moan or giggle or throw a tantrum!

I can spend 20 minutes with my sister’s kids before I get bored and want to do something else. My idea of entertaining them would be to switch the tv on to the cartoon channels and then go to my room. I don’t like parents who think their kids have all the rights in the world to do anything their little hearts desire. Like parents who let their kids run around in restaurants (or trains, hospitals and any other public places). Last night, I was having a quite dinner by myself, when this large family descended upon the hotel just to ruin my evening. There were these 3 kids who yelled, laughed at the top of their voices and ran a few times around the next tables.

One kid was swinging his plastic bag in wild circles and twice they just missed toppling my bottle of water! Please kid, could you improve your aim? And I hate cranky kids.

Not all kids are like that, yes I know. There’s this 4 year old little girl in my building, who must be an angel. She is so poilte and sweet and cute and she’s got a cherubic smile that could have turned Saddam into the epitome of ‘grandfatherhood’ (if that is a word). I always have a smile for her.

Ofcourse, babies normally floor me, just like they would anyone. I like tickling their bellies and all that. I like doing ‘the trumpet’ on little kids who start laughing their little heads off at that. Don’t know what ‘the trumpet’ is? It’s blowing on a kid’s belly.

But I don’t think I would want kids of my own.

My Michelle

I’ve always been fond of the name Michelle. Well, from the age of 10 onwards anyway. I’ve known very few Michelles in my life. All have been an integral part of my life and all have have left me with fond memories, except one (that’s for another blog post some other day).

I was reading in someone’s blog (Selma) about her first kiss and the way it made her feel thinking about it now. I must admit it that I haven’t had much luck in the lady department but my first kiss was at the age of 10! ;)

Now hold on, don’t get your pitchforks and your dancing boots on. Don’t start calling me the cradle robber and all that. I didn’t initiate it. I barely even liked girls and except for a couple of my friends who I grew up with, I rarely tolerated them in the first place. I studied in Carmel school, Kuwait at the time and they had a strict policy about the ratio of girls to guys. I remember that it was about 11 of us jokers against 35 or so girls! I was in the 4th grade. I sat next to, what I thought much later to be, two of the most cutest girls I have ever met. On my right sat Asma, who was this sweet but naughty Gujarathi girl. And on my left sat Michelle.

Michelle was Philippino and she was so cute. Thick curly hair, doll like fair skinned face and she had eyes that made you want to cry. Now, I am basing this mostly on the photos I saw of her much later, the ones I found about 10 years ago, long after I last saw her in person. Anyways, Michelle was the quitest girl in the school. She pretty much kept to herself and was so quite that sometimes the teachers forgot that she was even there.

Well, once she was ill and had to stay at home on a day that we were given a big homework to do. I remember that it was in Arts & Crafts (why did they have such a subject in school like that, I will never know). So Michelle didn’t do the work since she wasn’t there when it was assigned. The next day, our teacher was coming to each kid and checking the homework and when it came to Michelle – ofcourse she couldn’t submit it since she hadn’t done it.

Now Michelle was so silent & scared that she couldn’t even tell the teacher that she had been absent the previous day. The teacher scolded her loudly and gave her extra homework to present the next day. I wanted to say something in defense of Michelle but…you know how boys are at that age. So Michelle started crying, very quitely I might add, and it was getting to me. I must have said something like “stop crying or I’m getting drenched over here” or something. But she kept on crying. The bell rang and we all headed back to our buses.

Suddenly I realized that I had forgotten my water bottle and I rushed back to get it from the classroom. There sat Michelle, all alone, crying her little heart out. I was sad to see that and worried that she would miss her bus. So I went to her and pleaded with her to stop crying and get into her bus. She kept on sobbing. So I….picked her up, wiped her tears and told her that I would walk her to her bus if she only would stop bawling away.

That stopped her and she said ‘ok’ and off we went. We go onto our respective buses and went home. The next day, she smiled at me and gave me a small toy (I can’t remember what it was). And when no one was around, she said ‘I love you’ and kissed me! On the lips. One big smack! And I said ‘ok’!

I sat next to her for another two months and then it was summer vacations. The next school year, I had to move to another school (since boys were only allowed till the 4th grade in carmel school) and I never saw Michelle again. But she is a part of my childhood no matter whatelse I will ever do in my life

:) Sigh. Childhood love!

Evening Breeze In My Hair

I took these past two days to rest & relax. Doesn’t everyone need days like these? No agenda in store, just have many cups of coffee and watch your fav tv series and try to add  a movie or two. Listen to music and watch Youtube videos. Lie in bed and not do nothing anything more taxing than watching Friends episodes and laugh yourself silly at Chandler’s jokes and attempt at giving advice.

I hadn’t taken a shower since Tuesday morning; that’s what I normally do when I feel ill. And my stubble is quite nicely growing. A shower seemed to be just what I needed to take away the blues and so at 4 pm I finally picked myself up and went to the bathroom and let the cool water wash all over me. I oiled and shampooed my hair and it felt so good when I finally turned the shower tap off and stood dripping on the white tiles. A rub down using my soft & thick white towel, some deo and power and a fresh shirt & lungi and voila! I felt like a new man.

I watched some football discussion on ESPN while I had my first cup of coffee for the evening and munched on banana chips. The clouds have formed a beautiful display along with the setting sun and it looked so gorgeous outside. As I stood in the kitchen while waiting for the water to boil for my coffee, a cool evening breeze ruffled my hair and fondled my face and it felt lovely. Evenings like these are to die for, eh? Makes you feel glad to be alive.

She Dreams In Color, She Dreams In Red

Probably their strongest album after their debut, Vitalogy gave us some memorable Pearl Jam songs. I still find it hard to decide which is my fav song in the entire cd but this one comes close. Once dedicated to Hillary Clinton (you’ll laugh at the lyrics if you think of her), Better Man is a concert favourite among most fans.

At this live concert (I dunno where it’s performed at) Eddie starts to sing when the crowd takes over. With just him strumming the chords on his guitar, it’s an emotional & magical moment with the whole crowd singing the first verse and the chorus. I guess that’s what most musicians live for. Watch it!

Notes For 3rd Sep

    the family that preys movie

  • Not feeling so good – some dust brought on an asthma attack and I wheezed my way through the better half of the morning. So I called in sick and watched 2 downloaded episodes of Star Trek : Voyager from my bed.
  • Breakfast was dry toast and coffee. I need some coffee now.
  • I also saw parts of Deportivo la Coruna’s 2-1 victory over Real Madrid shown as rerun. I also watched the first 20 minutes of World Trade Center but then sleep beckoned.
  • I started reading Stephen King’s Needful Things yesterday and by now I have just crossed 20 pages. I certainly read at a much slower pace than I used to because of the internet.
  • I also came to know that Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov has finally signed on with Manchester United from Tottenham.
  • And in NHL news the Toronto Maple Leafs trades defender Bryan McCabe and a fourth-round draft pick in 2010 in exchange for 29-year-old defenseman Mike Van Ryn.

Trish Was In Kochi?

This is news to me! And I want to cry!

Former WWE Diva Trish Stratus was in Kochi, in my hometown, and I missed her! I didn’t get to see her and get a stratusfaction from her.

download legionnaire Apparently she was in town earlier this year for work. She hosta a new TV series Stratusphere and where Stratus gets to travel the world and actually see the world. And the first episode, Stratus is in Kochi, India, where she learns the ancient martial art of kalarippayat, progressing from fighting with sticks to fighting with metal swords.

It debuted yesterday across Canada on the Travel & Escape network, so hopefully they will show it on channels like Travel & Living over here.

Watching her on tv travelling in my hometown is going to be hard to swallow. Next time Trish….call me!

The Beer Army About To Attack

Kokanee Beer bottles line up like army soldiers or a pieces on a chess board.