Miracles Do Happen!

Last Monday I actually witnessed a miracle. I still can't believe it! I needed a certain amount of money urgently (and I had no way of finding that amount too!) and a distant relative visited and gave that exact amount the day before (before I knew I would need it)!

The money I needed was for an angioplasty for my mother so it wasn't just a small amount of money. I'm still shocked about how everything worked out. I'm a believer now! I will never whine about how everything is going wrong for me etc... ever again! There is someone/some power out there which is looking out for us all.

Word of the day - "Perfinicky"

For no particular reason, I woke up today with the words "Perfidy" and "Perfinicky" in mind. Why on earth I would be thinking of these 2 particular words is as confusing to me as to you...

By definition, "Perfidy" is "a form of deception, in which one side promises to act in good faith (e.g. by raising a flag of surrender) with the intention of breaking that promise once the enemy has exposed himself (e.g. by coming out of cover in order to capture the surrendering forces)." - Wikipedia,

Perfinicky on the other hand does not seem to have a readily available definition online. I'm guessing it means "fussy". Perfinicky was the foremost word in my mind today so from today onwards I have decided to use in liberally in my conversations (no matter what it means!). Blogger highlights this word as well when you run spellcheck :(

Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls

After a long long time I decided to start blogging again... All thanks to this wonderful song by the Goo Goo Dolls. I've loved this song for ages but I got the lyrics only this week (yeah, I've been singing rubbish all these years ;) ).

The lyrics are given below and when you first read them you can't figure out what the song is about (at least I couldn't). So I surfed and found out! Answer is given after the lyrics! How many of you can guess the meaning without the answer? :)

Black Balloon – Goo Goo Dolls
Baby's black balloon makes her fly
I almost fell into that hole in your life
And you're not thinking about tomorrow
'Cause you were the same as me
But on your knees

A thousand other boys could never reach you
How could I have been the one
I saw the world spin beneath you
And scatter like ice from the spoon
That was your womb

Comin' down the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
Or are you someone's prayer

You know the lies they always told you
And the love you never knew
What's the things they never showed you
That swallowed the light from the sun
Inside your room

Comin' down the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
Or are you someone's prayer

And there's no time left for losin
'When you stand they fall

Comin' down the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder

All because I'm
Comin' down the years turn over
And angels fall without you there
And I'll go and lead you home and
All because I'm
All because I'm
And I'll become
What you became to me

" "Black Balloon" is the third single to be released from the Dizzy Up the Girl album by the Goo Goo Dolls. The album came out in September 1998, but the song was released as a single early on in the following year. This song ranked sixteenth on the US Top 100.
This song, according to the band's frontman Johnny Rzeznik, is about a woman with a heroin addiction and how her lover is desperately trying to save her. He has also said that is about "seeing someone you love that is so great just screw up so bad." Speculation as to the song's subject has included bassist Robby Takac's ex-wife (who overdosed on heroin).

The video for the song opens with a woman blowing smoke into a soap bubble (a "black balloon"). It then focuses on scenes from a 50's or 60's era swim club."

- Courtesy of Wikipedia-

Companies, Profit & Hard Work

Recently there was a discussion (or rather lecture) in office about working hours and the importance of being flexible with regard to "hard work" since apparently all private companies consider profit and ONLY profit as important...

This got me thinking... Is that true? Or is it just a justification for the suck up workoholic attitude of the person who was jabbering on and on...

I don't think that all private companies work only for profit... Employee loyalty, I believe, is also at least a small consideration of big shots in private companies. After all, if all the employees left, the companies couldn't operate at all, forget about the big big profits!!! Yeah, the company could employ new people, but at what cost? They couldn't possibly replace all the experience that they lost... Even big shots have a conscience (as well as common sense!!!). Surely they can understand that an employee can be considered a hard worker even if he feels that he is entitled to free week-ends and mercentile holidays?!!! I mean, come on!!!

For me, hard work and commitment is doing a job that's given to you well, and trying to help others out and excel at whatever you do... Working late and on week-ends and holidays is fine as long as it's not an exception to take a week-end (or holiday) off!!!

Employees are people too. They have feelings, personal lives and goals that are not work-related. Any company that totally disregards these aspects of employees and focuses on profit will not be able to succeed in the long term until it changes its priorities. This is applicable to Managers and heads as well.

Some more Harry Potter

I'm currently re-reading the last book of the Harry Potter series and I'm still amazed at how strange the book feels to me. Parts of it are BRILLIANT while parts of it is actually boring!!!

The start of the book was excellent and a real page turner. I loved Dudley's part in it. The part where Harry and Hermione were going from place to place was dragging on and on. Nagini coming out of Bathilda Bagshot's body was just plain wierd. Even Xenophilius's part felt a bit wrong.

Now let me get into the parts of the book I LOVED.

• Dudley's parting words


• Ron and Hermione finally getting together (I wish there were more lovey dovey parts though!)


• Percy finally joining in the fighting


• Snape's story (God, it was so very touching... That chapter was so well written! My heart nearly broke reading it)


• Dobby dying (so sad!!!)


• Kreacher (totally unexpected!)


• The battle at Hogwarts (COOL!)


• Fred, Lupin and Tonks dying

I also finally got down to watching the "Order of the Phoenix" movie. There were some parts of the movie that were totally different to the book and parts which weren't shown at all.

• I can't believe that they made it out that Cho Chang betrayed the DA meetings instead of her friend!


• The valentines day meeting was also not shown...


• Sirius's mother's portrait was also not shown and Kreacher's part in Sirius dying was also missing.


• As I recall, Sirius died due to falling through the veil in the archway and not due to the "Avada Kadavra" killing curse!


• The other items in the Department of Mysteries were also missing (such as the tank full of brains and the bowl of time or whatever.


• Harry destroying Dumbledore's office was also not shown.


• The true version of how Harry finds out about the prophecy is missing

A review of the movie can be found here.

All in all, I'm sad that this great series has to end. I hope that J. K. Rowling comes up with a new series which is just as great as this one.

July : Month of Harry Potter!!!

Oh wow! It's July already! 19 more days until the world finds out what happens in the final book of the massively popular Harry Potter series.

I've started reading all the books and am now at the start of the third book. While reading the second book, I was amazed to find out that the cursed necklace and the magic cabinet that played such a huge part in the 6th book are mentioned quite clearly! J. K. Rowling is such a genius!

The "Order of the Phoenix" film is to be released on 13th July but the initial opening night was on the 01st. Some reviews of the film can be found here.

While reading through all the HP books, I keep coming up with various insane theories. I think the craziest one has to be the idea that Lord Voldemort could actually be related to Harry. Could that be possible? After all, the parents of Lily and James Potter is never discussed in detail. I think it would be less crazy to assume that the relationship could come from James Potter's side. After all, the Dursleys connected to Lord Voldemort!!! That's highly absurd!!! However, that could explain why they hate magic so very much! And another fact that could be explained is why Dumbledore always insists that Harry spends his summer holidays with the Dursleys.

The main reason for my theory about Harry and Voldemort being related is that in Book 2, it's mentioned somewhere that young Tom Riddle looks very much like Harry Potter, with his unruly black hair. Harry is supposed to bear a strong resemblance to his dad, James Potter. So that would mean that James also bore a resemblance to Lord Voldemort! Hmmmm.... Another clue could be Tom Riddle calling Lily Potter's sacrifice a counter curse. Could it be that the counter curse is actually the curse that is between 2 people who are related? Why is it that Lord Voldemort never tries to kill Lily Potter? Did he purposely wait to kill her after killing Harry so that he could enjoy the anguish of Lily when her only baby is killed? Or was there another reason?

Neville Longbottom is another of my favourite theories. I'm sure he could play a major role in the story. He's born on the same day as Harry. His parents were driven crazy by Lord Voldemort's magic. Why is it that he is so very forgetful? Always bear in mind that the prophecy was never fully revealed to us! And he was put in to Griffindor after all!!!

I guess I'll just have to wait and see! I hope that the last book is worth all this waiting and anticipating! The plot had better be mindblowing!

Not keeping your word is equivalent to lying, isn't it?

I had the unpleasant experience of being lied to last Friday. In my opinion, not keeping your word is equivalent to lying and breaking a promise.

I have so far led a comfortable life free from lies, deception and broken promises. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) for me, I can't lie. I have never been able to lie and stick to a lie making up so many stories in order to keep up with previously told lies. It's far easier to tell the truth and embrace the consequences.

I guess I'm lucky that for the last 23 years I have never been really lied to (or maybe it would be more realistic to say that I have never found out that I have been lied to!), and by the way, by lying, I mean the HUGE, unforgivable lies that people tell and not the small white ones.

Well anyway, last Friday all that changed. The worst part was that it was the organisation that I worked for, that broke its word to me. The part that really got to me was that this time it was what they had promised some time back after they had broken yet another promise. So, that would make it the 2nd promise that they broke.

It's such an awful feeling, knowing that the place you work for and respect does not reciprocate the same level of respect for its employees. How can people talk bulls*** about processes and procedures while changing them all the time to suit their needs?

It's so unbelievable! I kept thinking, "this can't be happening! Doesn't he remember how he promised us all those things? In front of all those people he told us that we can expect certain things at the end of June, and now everything is changed, again!!! WTF!!!"

I actually cried!!! It's so embarrassing! But it became impossible for me to continue speaking to someone who I realised had broken his promise to me and so many others, and now was skirting the issue and repeating rubbish about a process. What a parrot!

Anyway, I spoke to a few other people who got the issue resolved for me. But I really hate it when we have to go behind people in order to get we are supposed to get anyway! How come, when we're given work, we don't need to have our bosses coming behind us reminding us to get it done, but when we're supposed to get certain things that our contracts promise, we have to go behind everyone?

A few things I believe in...

I got an e-mail today with the attachment given below. It had some of the things that I strongly believed in.

One of them is that you always need to hold on to your values and do what you think is right. No matter how bad the situation is, and you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by selling out, don't do it! Even though you won't gain anything by doing the right thing, the plus point is that you don't have to deal with whatever repurcussions that come along with doing the wrong thing.

Another point is to always be aware that there are others in the world you have WAY bigger problems than us. Whenever I get really down or frustrated or unhappy, sometimes I remind myself of people who are living with AIDS or the little children in Africa who are starving for days. At least I'm not going through all of that! But there are times when nothing seems bigger than my problems!!! :)

The main things in life for me are:

• A house to live in a safe neighbourhood
• Good friends and family
• An interesting job with a reasonable salary

I guess I'm lucky to be blessed with the above, but you can never predict the future. There was a period of time in my life which was sheer hell. One day in Feb 2005 I lost everything I had taken for granted. I had to go through it for around 8-9 months, after which I regained everything I lost. The very first day was unbelievable, I never believed it possible to feel so miserable; cried till I was numb. But as time passed I grew used to it, and it didn't seem so bad. Human nature is such that you can get used to anything given enough time. That first day, I received an e-mail in office with a poem that inspired me so much! It went along the lines of no matter how bad it seems now, to cling on to the belief that it'll get better, and that nothing remains the same. Good times will come, you only need to survive the bad times. I dreamt last night that I was back at that awful time, or that it had happened again. I'm still getting over the nightmare, I guess! :)

Harry Potter Book 7 ending all over the Internet!!!

A hacker has allegedly broken into the computers of the publisher of the Harry Potter series and has obtained a digital copy of the 7th and final book. A summary of the ending can be found all over the Internet.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stop myself and visited the site and had a look. I would like to believe that it's all rubbish because if it is true, I am very disappointed. I expected a better ending. The good thing is that the plot is not given. Only who dies and who kills them.

If you want to have a look as well, click here. This will link to a news article which contains the link to the spoilers. Let's hope it's all a publicity stunt and not the true ending!

Loses vs. Looses

Here's one of my pet peeves. I can't stand it when people use the word "looses" for "loses". For people who can't figure out the difference:

• Loose - Baggy, slack, unrestricted, flowing, roomy, voluminous, ample
• Lose - misplace, be unable to find, mislay, drop, fail, suffer defeat, shake off, evade, free yourself, be bereaved.

The word "lose" has many many meanings as opposed to "loose" which has only one basic meaning.

People; please be aware of this very very common spelling mistake. I've come across so many instances of this mistake in so many posts!

Sorry, to sound like a real snob, but as I mentioned earlier, it's one of my pet peeves! :)

p.s. I may be wrong, but I don't think the word "looses" exists anyway!

Google vs. Microsoft

Looks like Microsoft is about to be sued again, or more likely protested against. This time it's Google who has opposed the software giant.

Google is claiming that the desktop search which is included in Windows Operating Systems and now Vista, competes with a free program distributed by Google. "So what?" you may ask. What's the big deal? The problem with this is that when Microsoft decides to couple programs such as desktop search programs and Internet Explorer, it greatly reduces the market for other software vendors such as Mozilla or Netscape who create independent programs. When you think about it, if you have Internet Explorer coupled with your operating system, would you really download Mozilla or Netscape? IT savvy people might, but the general public would not.

I remember doing an assignment about Microsoft and whether it was a Monopoly, an Oligopoly or in a free market. During the research, I went through all the law suits that Microsoft has been involved in. After you go through all the details, you end up really disliking Microsoft.

However, there are always 2 sides to a story. After all, this is a very competitive market! So many programs and so many vendors. Microsoft is just doing business and other companies should just deal with it! Recently I saw a news report in which Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, was talking about how they watched in amazement (and I guess disappointment!) Google rake in profits after improving their search engine and web mail. Hey, they aren't complaining, they're trying to improve their products, that's all.

At the end of the day, I can't really decide whether Microsoft is trying to become a monopoly. There are reasons for saying so, as well as reasons for not believing it. The conclusion that I came to during my research was also "I can't decide" (which by the way, my supervisor was not happy with!). At the end of the day, you try to be objective. I don't believe that Microsoft is trying to stamp out the competition by unfair methods. They're just trying to make more profit. But I also believe that they will try to cut other programs and vendors wherever possible. After all, that's competition!

Further details about Google's complaint is given here.

Disappointment

Disappointment can be a shattering thing

We do to ourselves

We set up

To be let down

Expecting from another

Content can not come from outside

It’s beauty is within

Deep, and earned, it is one’s own

Absolute

When the heart lives to give

- Suzie Palmer

Spanking, is it wrong or a necessary evil?

When I was young, I was soundly whacked every time I did something very (not just mildly)wrong. I now believe that those spankings I received as a child have helped me to become the person I am today. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" is an old saying which is now being wildly disregarded. Parents nowadays refuse to spank their kids and try to teach them right from wrong by talking to them. But does it actually work? I was never hit using a cane, (and I will never use a cane on one of my children) but I will certainly spank them. I believe that discipline is absolutely necessary for children. Learning right from wrong is always easier when you have a painful memory of what happens when you choose the wrong path. Also, I believe that pampering your kids and not punishing them when they do a truly wrong deed is equal to spoiling them. This will result in the upbringing of incredibly spoilt and selfish individuals who will be detrimental to society. Don't get me wrong, I'm not endorsing child abuse, I'm just saying that there are times when advising won't get you anywhere. It's always good to advise first, thereafter warn and if the misbehaviour still continues then the whacking should commence!

The other issue I would like to discuss related to spanking is whether it is ok for religious leaders such as buddhist monks and pastors to hit children during Sundays school in order to discipline them. I may be wrong, but I don't think that it's appropriate for monks and pastors to discipline children by hitting them. Giving advice and scolding is more suitable. After all, a monk is not supposed to harm living creatures. Hitting a child would fall into this category, whether it is ultimately for the child's own good or not.

I guess, hitting/spanking/caning is a widely debated issue. In some countries, hitting your own child would bring the child protection services upon you and you could lose your child due to "child abuse".

At the end of the day, I guess it depends on individual parenting styles. There are lots of great people who have been brought up without a single whack! I guess it depends on the child as well. There are some really saintly kids. I guess I did not fall into that category but I am so glad that I was disciplined then! :)


Summary

1. Is it ok to spank your kids in order to discipline them? - I think it's ok as long as you don't seriously hurt the kid.
2. Is it ok to spank kids who are not your own? - Definitely not. It's not up to you to discipline other parents' offspring. If their kids are not well-behaved, don't let your kids associate with them. Never interfere with other parents' parenting styles.
3. Is it ok for religious leaders to spank kids? - I don't think so.
4. What about school teachers? - I guess it's ok, as long as the child is not seriously hurt or scarred. (Personally I was never spanked in school, it was not allowed, thank god!)

2 Songs I'm crazy about!

I have finally found links to 2 of my FAVOURITE songs! Let me know what you think of them.

1. Brokenhearted - Eighteen Visions
2. In the Rough - Anna Nalick

Who's your favourite American Idol?

Out of everyone who made it on American Idol, which one is your favourite? Which one do you hate the most? The winners of AI are:
1. Kelly Clarkson
2. Ruben Studdard
3. Fantasia Barrino
4. Carrie Underwood
5. Taylor Hicks
6. Jordin Sparks

The other contestants who made it big are:
Bo Bice, Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, Katherine McPhee, Elliot Yamin, Kimberly Locke (yep, she's from AI too!)

Some contestants who are still popular but haven't yet made it are:
Blake Lewis, Elliot Yamin, Melinda Doolittle, Lakisha Jones, Stephanie Edwards, Sanjaya Malakkar (popular for other reasons), Kellie Pickler

So, my question to you is:
Who is your favourite and most hated AI contestants?

Some thoughts on the American Idol Finale

The finals of American Idol was a grand affair for which a lot of celebrities attended. On the whole, it was just 'ok' for me.

Good Points

1. I loved the presentation of awards to various contestants who didn't make it. I couldn't believe that the "bush baby" guy and his chubby friend actually attended the function and came up for the award. What great sports!!! Did you notice that Simon gave them a standing ovation for their great sportsmanship. The huge lady in yellow was a bit scary and I felt so bad for Ryan Seacrest for that long long kiss.

2. The beatboxing duet by Blake and Doug E. Fresh was great! I really enjoyed it because it brought some life to a show full of slow, old, relatively not-so-popular songs.

3. Loved Kelly Clarkson's performance! She still rocks!

4. The "African Children's Choir" was very sweet. The performance was quite cool considering the age of the performers.

5. Carrie Underwood's version of "Stand by you" was ok. She looked beautiful as usual but I hated what she was wearing. I wish she sang "Before he cheats" though. :(

Bad Points
1. Most of the songs sung were slow oldies! How boring! Even the fast paced ones weren't that great.

2. I hated Bette Midler's version of "Wing beneath my wings". It's beautiful melody was ruined by Midler's abrupt ending of song lyrics.

3. Taylor Hicks has yet to perform a song I know (maybe it's just 'cos I'm not into his kind of music).


Hmmm... no other points that I really hated about it. Hope that next year they get some good and popular songs for the finals! The songs performed this year were either old, or brand new (unknown) releases. Hope that next year one or two songs that are on the charts will be performed!

Oh by the way, Jordin won... ;) I'm sure she'll come up with a great album. So will Blake!

How many of you out there support the LTTE?

After hearing the news of today's bomb attack (and getting over the initial shock) I started thinking about the 24 year old war that has been raging in our country.

Do all Tamils support the LTTE? I remember jokingly asking a tamil friend in my degree class whether she supported Prabhakaran or Karuna and she quite seriously replied that they all supported Prabhakaran and that Karuna was just trying to create a dent in the LTTE. Needless to say I was shocked. It was then that I started thinking about the Tamil people's perspective of this whole war.

Hearing about a bomb attack or air strike in Colombo, we all get upset and go on and on about it. But it's quite normal in the North. What about the people there? Do they curse the Sri Lankan Forces or just focus on finding shelter and trying to survive? Do they actively support the LTTE and their cause?

What about the Tamils in Colombo? Do all of them believe in the LTTE and their cause? Should Sri Lanka be divided? If it comes to that in the end, would all of them be happy to go to their "country" leaving Colombo? I think not!

I have no hatred towards anyone (ok, maybe after a massive bombing like the Central Bank one, I got REALLY angry with Prabhakaran and wanted to personally go and .... - let's not get into that). I have a few Tamil friends and I went to a school which had a good mix of girls from all kinds of races. They're just like you and me and really wonderful people. But what is their perspective of this? If they do believe in the LTTE, they must be finding it really difficult to be around us after a bombing has taken place and listening to us blasting the LTTE and terrorists.

Finally, the questions I guess I'm asking are:
1) The LTTE and Prabhakaran - Freedom fighters or terrorists?
2) Do you support them, and if so, why? Explain the reasons, whatever they may be.

Thanx! :)

Reproducing without the involvement of a male

Before all you guys start biting my head off, I'm not writing this to insult anyone from the male gender (after all, I'm in love with a wonderful man :*)...

It's just that more and more animals are now reproducing without the help of the male species. Birds and Bees can do it and the latest animal to be added to this list is the Shark. A female hammerhead shark has just given birth to a baby shark without the help of a male. No paternal DNA has been found in the baby shark. Click here to read the full article.

Could a female dominant society actually exist in the future? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?!!!

p.s. Apologies to anyone who might be offended by this post...

Fairytales

All this hype about Shrek 3 and the fairytale characters that appear in it got me thinking about the fairytales i used to love to read when I was small. What I used to love about these stories were the princesses. Some of them are given below:

Sleeping Beauty

This is my all time favourite fairytale. It's so romantic and has so many different scenes in it.

Eg.

• * The christening and the gifts bestowed upon the baby Aurora by the fairies
  * The time spent away from the castle
• * The pricking of the finger on the spindle
• * Enter the prince and the fight to get to Sleeping Beauty
• * The Kiss (ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!) and the awakening.

Snow White

Loved the 7 dwarfs.

1. Doc

2. Happy

3. Sleepy
4. Bashful
5. Dopey
6. Sneezy

7. Grumpy (My favourite!)

Cinderella

Not one of my favourites (too much housework involved!!!) ;)

The Little Mermaid

This one is tooooooooooooo sad for me. I don't like it much because the prince chooses another girl over Ariel. Plus it has a lot of pain in it if I recall correctly (doesn't her feet hurt after she turns into a human?)

Aladdin

Beauty & the Beast

As usual, my thoughts are greatly influenced by various articles of Shrek 3. Click here to find out which article made me write this post. ;)

Let me know which characters and stories are your favourites!

Anonymous

"Anonymous Coward" is a term applied within some online communities to describe users who post without a screen name; it is a dummy name attributed to anonymous posts used by some weblogs that allow posting by people without registering for accounts. - Wikipedia

Growing up, it was always drilled into me that signing a letter as Anonymous is an act of cowardice and any letter which is anonymous should not be taken any notice of because the author of it doesn't have the guts to sign his/her name on it. However, bloggers frequently use the identity of Anonymous. I know it's normal, but I would respect it more if comments came with a name. Criticism is fine as long as it's constructive. Opinions are always welcome. But please, if i am to take any opinions or criticism seriously, don't put your name down as Anonymous. Thanks! :)