daily dump

I just realized that this blog thing is more rewarding when I'm updating regularly. The idea being that the more I write, the more I will have to say. Even if I don't have anything to say.

Speaking of which (not really, but it was a convenient segue), Google now lets you blog in हिंदी। If the Hindi text does not render properly on your machine, you may need to turn on multilingual support, as described here. For some reason, the default rendering messes up the little ई मात्रा, and does strange things with compound letters. If you cannot read Hindi, then just admire the roundy-ness of the letters.

Speaking of which - and this time we actually have a sequitur - I have this weird recurring nightmare where I find myself having to take a Hindi test the next day (or sometimes a Gujarati test, in a variant of the same dream) and I cannot seem to remember anything other than a few basic words. My life somehow depends on this test, but I can never find the right words for anything. I've actually been having this dream for years now, and is the closest thing I have to a recurring nightmare. And yes, my hindi has probably deteriorated to the point where I have a pretty hard time not reverting to English semi-regularly. For example, I cannot remember the word for "baby". Looks like someone will be joining Satya in her Sunday Hindi school lessons. Gads - then I might actually have to take a Hindi test. Noooooo .....

no cat no cradle

When the last living thing

has died on account of us,

how poetical it would be

if Earth could say,

in a voice floating up

perhaps

from the floor

of the Grand Canyon,

“It is done.”

People did not like it here.

Kurt Vonnegut - you will be missed. Dearly missed.

Flashback

Six months ago I was in Austin, TX. I rented a little red Chevy Aveo, which pretty much screams cheap-o economy rental. I peeled out of the parking lot and drove down the drag, windows rolled down, volume cranked up to 11, with the radio blasting: "You are tuned into Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR".

Stephen Elliott

I read this little piece in last month's Believer and it made me cry. And it made me happy to think that beauty is alive and well.

http://www.believermag.com/issues/200703/?read=article_elliott