Going back into Time I

Now as I promised in my last post, let's rewind back to the previous year. Just so you guys know, I'm currently in University of Washington, majoring in Computer Science and Engineering. 

Excerpts from the Diary of Twoccer from September to January

".... After all the 'pre-college' events safely tucked away, it is time for the real deal - the first quarter of my four memorable, kick-ass years in college.
To-do list for now and the year to follow

• Find an apartment (even a dinky little box would do) (why is this so hard??)

• Register for classes (forget math; just way too full)

• Get into my major (or you're gonna burn) ...."

 

".... Something that has still been on my to-do list for so long is a place to live near the university. With a week to go, I am scampering every day to all the common places looking for vacancies. When I ask people if they know about any vacancies in there area, it's like I'm talking Greek...." 

".... Oh yeah, miracles happen! I found an apartment. And when I say apartment, I mean an APARTMENT. Just about when I was starting to lose hope. Couple of weeks into the apartment search, I have found what I have been looking for - a clean, affordable studio with more amenities than I can possibly use. Let's just hope my credit check comes clean and get the thumbs up...."  

".... I officially have an apartment now. As soon as I got done with all the legalities, I have finally moved into my so-called home for the upcoming year ripe with surprises and hurdles. Find an apartment - check...." 

".... Today was the freshmen orientation for college. I was able to register for classes for the first quarter. Now mind you, it is my first quarter. I have gotten a pretty shitty schedule, one which will make no sense no matter what way you look at it...." 

".... The only class that has made me high during this quarter is my CSE introductory class. And the class that is determined to stomp on my flow is my politics class; no offense to all the political majors out there. It's all Socrates this, Hobbes that. Get a life already...." 

 

"....You can't always wish things to go as you want. Sometimes things tend to fiddle around. For instance, my apartment has started sucking the very life out of me as it gets way too lonely. Anyone who's been here, I'd really like to know how to put a cap on that vacuum pipe. Even my craigslist advertisement for a room-mate is drawing a friggin' blank...." 

".... Saw my first UW football game. Wildcats vs. Huskies. Guess who won? Yeah that's right! We kicked ass from here all the way to Japan. P.S. God was it cold! On top of that, I wasn't exactly dressed according to the weather...." 

".... The results are out and the first quarter has come to an end. Time to let the dogs out! To be honest, I was a difficult quarter but the literal figurative noose was loosened by all the parties and football games. Academically these three months haven't topped my list of the greatest months and my GPA doesn't exactly stand up to my expectations. So yeah, all in all, it isn't an unforgettable first quarter of college, however, depressing it may sound. On a cheerier note, there's a party tonight. Nuff said...."

Boredom is a B*tch

I'm livin' the dream!

God it's been a difficult couple of weeks. 

Before I start bitching like a girl about the stagnation that has engulfed my life, I'd just like to wish everyone a belated but very happy 65th Indian Independence Day. It's been an up-and-down journey for our glorious country and it's going to be so for a while. We just have to keep our spirits up as always. 

Now, since my last post, nothing has happened that would make a person on a summer break particularly happy. On the contrary, more harm has come of this damn exile. So please don't get your hopes up. For starters, my Xbox has broken down like 92,000 times and I'm almost considering giving it to good will. A broken down Xbox for good will! How's that for irony? The Xbox customer support staff has itself acknowledged the fact that this is one crazy son of Microsoft. Well as far as my opinion matters, I believe it's because it's an out-of-region console and just can't get the hang of the electric supply in India. Anyway, that's that. Moreover, all my friends have left for college and there's seriously no one here to provide me company. Indian colleges start a bit too early as compared to their American counterparts. So what do I do? I just sit on my ass rear at home all day. Augh. Aren't summer breaks supposed to score kinda high on the fun meter? To be honest, I have watched almost 20+ movies and half a dozen TV shows in the last couple of weeks and my eyes look like red popsicles about to explode. And please don't forget my books which are being read as if they were a two-page article in a local newspaper. Give it another week and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go on a psychotic rampage. You'll read it in the news, don't worry!

The only thing that I've done that classifies for serious work is apply for my departmental scholarship. A scholarship would just be the icing on the cherry cake that is my first year of college. Most of the CSE scholarships are offered in summer, so keep your fingers crossed however clichéd that may sound. I mean aren't clichés out there for a reason? I believe clichés exist because they're classics. They grow on you. Well, let's keep the literature lesson for later. 

This post is gonna be closely followed by another post recapping my previous year as promised to you guys earlier. And you better read all that I gotta say otherwise...... Well I think the psychotic rampage is motivation enough. Haha. And I apologize for the language. I've been frustrated for a while. Unlike me, you guys keep your spirits up. Hope you find the post stress-relieving in the least. For now, arrivederci.

King Uncaged

Yeah, I know it's been a long time. You don't have to go around and keep saying it. Honestly, this post was due a couple of months ago when my summer break started but I just couldn't get around to it. I'd like to be regular with my posts from now on, so this would be the first in a series to come. This would also help me share the past year with you guys at a good pace. When I first started this blog, I just wanted to see what it felt like to have a blog of your own, to share with others that people all around the world stumble upon my posts and give it a brief read or a thorough one, for that matter. Now I just like to make people happy, make 'em laugh, make 'em turn that frown upside down by going crazy with this (at times berserk) compendium of thoughts and emotions. So let's get crackin'!

Yesterday was my birthday as many of you may know. I had come back to India for the summer in early July. So I got to enjoy my lucky day with my family and high school friends. We enjoyed dinner at one of the newly opened restaurants in the city which was fun and refreshing. Once again, I'd like to thank all of you out there for your wishes. 

Lots more about the present, the past and the future is gonna pour out of this crazy head of mine in the weeks to follow, so stay tuned. Till then, adios.

BTW don't the image and the title contradict each other at some level? I'll let you deduce the rest.

Hello USA

As the title clearly conveys, you all know where I am. But what you don't know is how much fun I'm having out here. That's the reason I wasn't able to post anything on my blog for the past couple of weeks. My college adventure is on its way even though it's a long way for classes to commence. I've taken part in the Seattle Challenge, Community Barbecue and whatnot. All these activities have helped me meet some amazing people from Germany, Sweden, Armenia, China and other parts of the world.

To state succinctly, it's a home away from home. It feels great to be here.

Excitement At Its Very Best

Okay I'm just gonna say it now. I am frigging excited for the new world that awaits me in less than 3 days :) And as it happens, when there's a big change waiting right round the corner, the seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours and hours into....well you know. Not a minute passes when I don't calculate the countdown. The anxiety has taken an exponential rise to oblivion. LOL

There has been a series of dinners and get-together functions during the past week which summed up together, was exhilarating. A lot of farewells have also gone down the way either in person or through phones. The whole experience has been illuminating 'cause it has never happened before. Well that much goes for the activity outside of my house.

As far as the inside is concerned, it's bustling with activity and drama. Chaos has broken out here. But we have made some progress. Packing is finally done with luggage stashed away in a separate room ready to be tossed into the car when we leave. All my credentials are in one place which I had been thinking to do since like.....forever but was able to accomplish it in a little above two hours when the pressure was on. Due to all this, my book reading has come to a sort of standstill. Even though I do read, it's not the usual pace. Well anything for the big journey. Haha

Before I sign off, I would like to bid farewell (the first formal goodbye from my side :P) to all my comrades (:P) for their friendship and for being with me....I guess 24/7. I am gonna miss you all a lot. For now, that's all I can think of. Lol

College, here I come.

Confusion is an often too subtle sign of paranoia

I know it's just been a week since my last post but I am already trashed under stress because off all the activity that's been going around the house. Mum's been tossing some stuff into the suitcase in one room, dad's been talking about some going-away party for me in the other room and what the hell am I doing? I am sitting in my room trying to get a hold of what's going on which of course I haven't been able to do so far.

But that doesn't mean I'm not trying fellas!

As I don't have much to do while everyone else is busy doing what I ought to do (lol), I am rushing through some of the books that can't be stashed safely into my suitcase. Have read some widely-acclaimed books in the past week such as Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, The Fourth Estate and The Inheritors.

Midst all this topsy-turviness, my laptop crashed somehow (well actually it was the charging adapter). The adapter is refusing to let through the 220 volts needed to charge the damn thing. So I have to spare sometime to get a new one, the thought of which is almost crucifying me. It'd be the third adapter in under four months.

One word. Shit.

Well I totally forgot to mention that I got a new external hard drive.It's a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable Drive 1 TB. The best thing about it is it's USB 3.0 compatible which really helps. Anyone else looking for a kick-ass portable drive, this is it.

I thought of a video but then settled with a snap :)

The lucky dot on the surface. Lol

To remind all of you, ETD for college is 13 days

And to upgrade your general knowledge, the title for this post is a random quotation by Anne Austin.

That's all for now.

Till the next post,

Adios.

A Long String of Events

Hola people. Hope you've been in the best of spirits. It's been a while since my last post and I won't be exaggerating the truth when I say that I had fairly forgotten all about my blog amidst all that's been happening around me. Well at least something is happening as I've been immersed in ennui for a month or so. Let's go through all that has happened in the past fortnight.

If some of my readers are unaware, it was my birthday last week i.e. August 9. That particular day is inscribed into my memory in stone. Why? Well first of all, my three particular friends were with me the whole time. We had loads of fun at home and at the restaurant where we went for dinner in the evening. Acknowledging the fact that everyone would be off to their respective colleges shortly, this was our last get-together which made the day extra special. Also thanks to my ubiquitous family for its wishes and support.

What was next in the long string of events? My mom's birthday which fell on the auspicious occasion of Rakshabandhan i.e. August 13. To be true, I forgot to wish mum until late in the afternoon when I realized that I had to do something to make it appear as if done on purpose. What would be better than a quickly arranged, small birthday party? I got mum a greeting card, a small cake and got together the whole family to wish her 'happy birthday'. It felt very fulfilling. Also as it was Rakshabandhan, I had a whole bunch of rakhis tied to my wrist as my sisters ripped me off of my whole goddamn money. Lol. Just kidding about the latter part!

What comes next? Well it was India’s 65th Independence Day during which I did nothing great except updating my Facebook status. And please don't argue about the fact whether it was the 65th or the 64th. Just google the damn thing (especially the boneheads who argued the whole day, some claiming it to be the 63rd). Once again, a very Happy Independence Day to all proud Indians.

Lastly, the ETD for college is less than 20 days. The anxiety is constantly on the rise.

Here are some of my birthday pics.

Killing time at my place

Went on this ride a lot in the old days

Another of the dozen pics on this ride

Inside the restaurant being formal :P

That’s all for now.

Till my next post, this is Twoccer signing off.

Abschied.