2008 IN NUTSHELL....

It’s time to close down and wrap up the things for 2008. The year has come to an end. I’m sure you all did a lot of thinking to recap what you all were up to in 2008, recalling the good times and bad times. There were good times.. and there were bad times of cause. Even very good things and very bad things, indeed. Yesterday night, while lying on my bed, I was doing the same thing as you all.. recalling all the memories of 2008. Hmmm… let me summarize…

The year began in the most disastrous way for me.. I think you already know why. My best guy friend passed away in January, and I went through a tremendous pain to get over it. Still I couldn’t. That was the worst thing happened to me in year 2008. Then… the best thing about 2008. Well… It was getting to know my punching bag, my current best guy friend. He came to my life in a most unexpected way and he brought the light back to my life. My lady best friend, Konga.. and myself… we had our perfect friendship throughout the year as always… me helping her out in bad times, and she helping me out in my bad times. We went out a few times, had fun.. and I gave her a surprise on her b’day.. so did she..!!

The year was full of trips, outings and other functions. Gosh..!! There were SO many. Most of my friends got married this year, both from school and work. So.. there were so many weddings and celebrations. Of coz there were so many trips too. Another great thing was the formation of vClub… our circle of best friends from the office. The club activities are going on in full steam and all of it is so much fun… and most of all… I found a set of BEST FRIENDS from work.. Some of my very good friends left the country too, which was very sad for me.

Work wise, it was a very busy year. As my friends say, I get only the busiest and the most critical projects to work with. True enough..!! Even these days, I’m having a very busy time with work, since our product will be going live on 4^th of January. Then there were layoffs… The HR firing people…as the US economy crisis started… and most of the good people left the company… Bad things like that also happened. Ok.. it’s WORK…!! I don’t like to talk about it right now. Let’s skip that part..

Entertainment… A good topic to recap..!! I think I watched the most number of movies in my entire life in year 2008. I downloaded a countless number of movies… and it was definitely a movie year. Songs.. music… everything was up-to-date and well-awared. Made sure not to miss any of the good ones. I read quite a good number of good books this year as well.. and I think there are 2 more books to be read…. Part of unfinished business in 2008. I bought my loving Guitar… and was married to it for a while... Lost my phone, lost all my contacts, songs and photos in it and cursed the dude who stole it… in BIG TIME, that is.

Love and marriage.. Ummm.. Some interesting things. Most of the guys who asked me out were younger than me…(sigh..!!) That was early this year. I had a huge crush on Shayne Ward... and the crush is still there, I think. I didn’t want to get married in 2008… so; it’ll happen in 2009 for sure.

Well… 2008 was a good year for me, for sure. For the time being, I’m happy… but donno what will happen in 2009. I’m PRETTY sure that there will be a huge change in my life in 2009. Good or bad, I don’t know. But.. crossing my fingers and waiting till that moment comes. Last, but not the least… let me.. the girl on the move wish you a wonderful 2009, with all your wildest and sweetest dreams coming true, with loads of happiness and cheer throughout the whole year. Cheers..!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE...!!

Wishing you all a very merry christmas..!!

THE vCLUB....!!

This is something that I’m really really thrilled and excited about… Being a proud member of the vClub.. And NO..!! The name is definitely NOT related to the place where we work.. (“We” being most of the vClub members, that is)… It was just a lunch gang at first. I was good friends with Pavi. Then there was the punching bag… and he became my best friend.. Little by little, I became a part of them.

Thiloshi… Buddhini… Pandu.. Pavi…Kalpa.. Anusha and myself, we all work in the same place. Tharaka (Buddini’s hubby), Ravin (Thiloshi’s hubby), Sanju (Pavi’s hubby), Darshi (Anusha’s wife) and Jayamini.. who used to work with us (Kalpa’s wife).. complete our circle of friends. As FOOD is our eternal way of survival, we have a great sense of taste for FOOD. No matter who finds something tasty, we share them among us all. vClub is full of talented cooks..!! (Except me, that is..!)

Back to the story now. We started this monthly meet up a few months back. A pirith in Anusha’s place… Nuwara Eliya trip from our home… Lunch at Kalpa & Jaya’s place… Kaluthara Trip & visit to Thiloshi’s place…. Lunch at Anusha & Darshi’s place… Tea at Buddhini & Tharaka’s place… and finally… pirith at Pavi & Sanju’s place. It took place a few days ago. Now we’re planning the vClub activity for January. It is so much fun to be a part of it. Our friends are in the range of the age 26-29. And me and Pandu being the only singles of them all..!! Trips and events are not the only thing we do. We help each other in every way we can… You name it.. the vClub is there for anything..!!

You don’t meet good friends like them everyday.. or everywhere… specially at work. What we do is so much fun and you always have this great feeling that you are surrounded by such good friends. It’s a great feeling, you know. My parents let me go anywhere with them, cz they know how reliable and good my friends are. I’m proud to be a part of the vClub… and I’m thinking how lucky I am to have them as my best friends. Year 2009 is on the way, and I’m pretty sure… vClub will have so many exciting plans for the coming year. Can’t wait…!!

KICKED OUT...!!

It has started AGAIN…. A couple of months ago, the place where I work, (I’m not gonna refer to it as ‘my company’ ok?)… yeah.. the COMPANY fired a couple of hundred people, as the US economy was having an outbreak. All of a sudden, people were called for a HR meeting, and while they are away, the IT team comes up and remove their PCs from their cubicles. That’s right… The layoff… I called it “The mass massacre” at that time. People were crying.. jobless…. Nowhere to go. I don’t think I have to explain the situation to you.

Things started to quiet down a little. Now it has started again. But this time, it’s happening in a very hush hush way. They give various reasons for why they’re firing you. Some of them are actually silly and stupid reasons. The layoffs are happening all over USA. The place where I work gets a huge impact from the US economy. Our jobs are at a high risk. We don’t know when we’re gonna be fired. It’s a known fact that the IT industry in Sri Lanka is going for a downfall because of this financial crisis in US.

People are leaving the company everyday. The HR doesn’t ask why they’re leaving, as they used to ask. Instead, all they ask now is “How soon can you go?”. Don’t have any idea what’s going to happen next. Sitting and waiting won’t do either. Hmmm…

HOW TO SPEND A DUSTY WEEKEND....

Weekends are supposed to be fun. Spending an entire weekend at home, relaxing is a lot more fun.. At least.. it’s suppose to be… My last weekend.. which I spent at home-sweet-home… turned out to be HELL…. Our house is on colourwash…!! As the term applies, colour is everywhere.. plus.. DUST… Jeeze..!! I’m too allergic to dust, and I caught colds twice within the past two weeks. Right now, today being a good Tuesday, the cold is still hugging me in big time. As I tell my friends, I feel like there’s this big white silkworm crawling inside my nose. Yuck..!!

I wish the last weekend never happened. You can’t just walk around the house since there’s dust everywhere.. and you can’t do anything at all… I had to stay inside my room the whole two days with my cold and the runny nose. Horror movies was the only thing suited for the dull weekend.. so I watched a couple of them. See No Evil… House… 100 Feet… Dark Floors… The Strangers… and finally Blair witch Project. Typical dull horror movies, they were. The medi I took for the cold made me sleepy and it didn’t let me finish the book I was reading.

Well… I don’t know why I’m writing this on my blog. Maybe because… I want to tell you.. when construction is happening around your house.. and you’re allergic to dust…. Go somewhere else and stay.. Please do that….!! Look what happened to me. I’m so miserable..!! Otherwise.. you’ll end up looking like a pathetic sneeze ball like me.. Hehe..

WHEN RELATIONSHIPS TURN SOUR.....

You meet a charming person. You become very good friends with that person. For how charming he/she is, you end up falling in love with him/her. Days pass… and you realize this particular person is not exactly the person you thought he/she was. Friends? Yes.. The same scenario happens. This is a universal truth we all face. This is the general theory of every relationship. First you don’t see the true self of that person, maybe you don’t want to see that, because you’re so busy admiring how charming he/she is or the other person doesn’t show you his/ her true self. But as the time passes, you slowly realize and see who exactly the other person is. Slowly, the true nature of the other person is revealed by himself/herself too.

This is the point where the true value of a relationship comes. Doesn’t matter if it’s a love affair or a friendship. We just fall for the other person for the charm, and when his/her true identity gets revealed, the things become sour. Each and every individual are not perfect products of heaven. Making mistakes comes with human nature. Fault-free is a big NO for humans. What matters is how capable we are to identify the true self of a person and love and value him/ her for what they really are. That’s the most challenging thing, as well as the turning point of a relationship. It’s hard, but it can be done.

Me and my best friend from school…. We have such a good understanding about each other. We’ve known each other for 16 years. We know that we were never and we will never be the perfect duo. Sometimes we have these little annoying things. But in the end, we know that everything will be OK, since we KNOW each other very well. Sometimes we talk about how good we are, to have such a good understanding about each other. What matters is understanding the other person for exactly who he/she is. It requires a little bit of patience… and it takes some time. But it doesn’t matter at all, because in the end… you truly know the other half… and you’re actually with the other person, for who he/she really is…. And NOT for the false charm. Something to think about….

WHERE HAVE THEY ALL GONE...??

Where have they all gone? And why don’t they make TV shows like they used to be? In another 10 years, a kid will never know what Sesame Street was. Remember how we loved the old puppets when we were small? Big Bird… I loved that dude. And the elephant with long eye lashes? Maybe the children today these things are “too childish”? Hmmm… Maybe that.

You rarely see a 2D cartoon these days. When the movie “Toy Story” first came out, I never liked those 3D figures. Maybe I didn’t feel it as a “real” cartoon… like Thundercats.. He-Man.. She-Ra.. I used to love Thundercats a lot. But that sort of movies are rare to find these days. 3D movies are far too beyond our imagination. But still… I love those old 2D cartoons. Well.. a few movies came out this year as 2D cartoons… Batman – The Gotham Knight, for an example. Sccoby Doo… Gummy Bears… Care Bears.. Smurfs… All of them are goners now. I remember me and my sister running to the TV hen we hear the theme song “ We are E..e…e…e..e…e…e.. Ewoks..”.. Yeah.. The Ewoks theme song….

Oh..! There were so many good TV shows those days. Remember ‘Small Wonder’? The story about a robot girl? This is the oldest one I can remember. I used to love it. Little house on the Prairies…That was another one. I think I just started schooling these days. But in the class too, we used to talk about the weekly episodes of Little House on the Prairies… Knight Rider was another craze those days. That was some unimaginable car those days.. the shape and all.. And there was Robin Hood… Still famous I guess.. I think Knight Rider and Robin Hood were the only 2 TV shows which made it to the 2000s.

I remember me being so crazy over the Robin Hood guy…and being obsessed with Hern. Umm.. We even used to drink water from our bottles in school.. saying “May Hern protect us”… The kids in this era.. they will never know how those shows were like. Remembering it all.. I feel like an oldie, I guess.

The TV show makers… cartoon producers, they want to give things for their audience’s taste.. Kids will think of those TV shows as “Not-so-cool” and “boring”…. I think it’s what has really happened. The times change… So does the taste of the people.. Unavoidable things… We have to deal with it…

THE 20TH DAY...

After working 19 days in a row.. I got a weekend to stay at home.. FINALLY!! Phew..! What a relief it is..!! After all the hard work.. it’s all paid back well… Everything is not going to be bad, always. Something always comes up to make you happy. You were planning a load of work on Saturday morning… and when you’re in the shower as a starter, you get an unexpected call from a friend you didn’t get a chance to hang around with for quite a long time, telling you.. “Hey.. I’m on my way to see you”.. The next thing I knew was…I had a great day at home with my friend. We chatted… had a go in the Facebook… looked at our old photos… searched stuff in the net… ate & ate… The day turned out to be the best Saturday after a long time..

When my friend left, I watched Mamma Mia that night, and it didn’t turn out to what I quite expected. It’s an OK movie. Not-so-special, I should stay. Had a good sleep… and my friend Vish waked me up in the morning with a call.. I couldn’t go to the saloon to trim my hair (wanted to color it a bit too), but I did some shopping with my mom. All my supplies were over… 19 days is a long time for them to last. The evening was good with another movie… a call from a from a good friend in Japan.. loads of rain…calling a few frinds… reading newspapers…and a special dinner…

Marriages are made in heaven, they say.. I say… weekends are made in heaven too..

AUGUST RUSH...

It’s not the perfect time for movies for me these days; I don’t even have a time to look after myself. But 3 weeks ago, I managed to find a free time to watch the perfect movie after a very long time. I downloaded it 2 months ago, but watched it only after my best friend commented how amazingly superb it is. He’s the one who watches the movies first, which I download and tells me which ones are good and which ones are not so good. This one.. of cos, he actually said that he’ll stop watching movies if I don’t fall in love with this one.

One fine Sunday… I watched it… and fell in love with music… all over again. It’s a musical. The best one out there yet, I would say. Music is a religion, they say. Tranquility… Peace… Comfort.. That’s music.. The slow tingling sound of the wind chimes… The breathtaking melody of the guitar.. the birds… the sound of the cool breeze flowing across the corn fields… It’s magical. Just magical!! The release date was Nov 13th, 2007. I wonder why the hell I didn’t come across this one all this time. What an idiot I am!

Freddie Highmore stars as Even Taylor aka August Rush, the orphan boy in search of his parents. He’s desperate that one day he would find his parents through music. His parents fell in love, because of music.. and as two people with different styles of music, they live in this world, searching the existence of the other counterpart. The boy… father .. and mother. What will music do to their lives? Will it change their lives?

I won’t babble about it further. It’s just magical… and so beautiful. I recommend it to ANYBODY… just ANYBODY! Download it.. or buy it. No sooner, you’ll find out that I was not lying..

ME.. THE WORKAHOLIC....

I’m back on my blog. It’s a perfect Sunday. The weather is so gloomy.. rainy & cloudy. You can cuddle up on your bed with a good book, or have a good bath and watch a nice movie. Why? Cz it’s Sunday… What was I doing on Sunday?? Well.. I just returned home from work.. Work?? Yes.. as in WORK WORK.. Yesterday too.. it was just work for me. Next weekend also.. it will be work for me. Every weekend till this year is over.. it will again be work for me.

My last post on my blog was about being departed. Plus to that, my life these days is all about, being a workaholic. Ok.. I didn’t ask for this. I hate it. But it turned out to be that way. It’s cz of this new project with impossible deadlines and tremendous amount of work. I work everday from 9 in the morning till 9.30 at night. That’s more than 12 hours, right? Plus.. weekends too. The QA team is giving a maximum effort to happen this dream-of-a-project a reality. The future still looks cloudy though.

I don’t get to listen to music… watch movies.. read books… surf the net… call my friends… have a good chat with them.. go out in a weekend with friends and have a good time.. I come home around 11 at night, and I don’t even get to talk with the people at home. When my friends buzz me through chat or call me when I’m at work, every time I have to tell them that I’m busy and I can’t talk right now. That’s something I hate doing. I used to have time for my friends no matter how busy I am. But now?? Sigh.. I just HATE doing it. Good thing is, my friends understand. I’m so glad about it.

When it’s Friday.. usually, the feeling you have is ‘Yeppiii.. the weekend is coming’.. But for me… Friday is just one numb feeling. I always know that I have to come to work the next day. I think this is the toughest time in my job history. All I do these days is hoping and living.. thinking that something good will happen in the end… which I don’t see so far. The girl on the move is having a bad time.. and she needs a good life. What’s the use of having a job if you don’t have a LIFE out of it? Getting out to somewhere soon, looking for a good LIFE.. That’s a promise. Friends, it’s important to have a good job. It’s more important to get a good job with a good salary. But the most important thing is, living your life happily… 1st place… the job.. 2^nd place.. Cheers!

DEPARTED....

Having to depart from your loved ones is a painful experience. It’s a known and a common fact for every human being. We KNOW that we can’t be forever with the ones we love, but even though we know that fact, we get the pain of departing, when that moment comes.

When I was schooling, I was getting ready for that moment since I was in year 12. We were having so much fun in school. You meet your friends 5 days a week. You spend 6 hours per day with them, but when the school life is over, you don’t get to see them.. or meet them like the way you used to be. I had a hard time getting over it. Then came the times at the campus. I loved the campus life. It was as floating as a free bird in the air with your fellow bird friends. Tough times were there, but I enjoyed it a lot. Lectures.. having meals together.. lab classes.. tutorials… studying together for exams.. playing cards during the breaks… and many more. It was fun. But even so, I knew that it’ll have to end some day, and we the next step is to find a good job and go ahead with life. I was getting ready for departing from my friends, slowly & slowly. I kind of got used to the idea and I got over with it in a cool way, cz I prepared for it.

I’m a kind of a person who doesn’t want to be left alone. I always want company. Maybe it’s not a very good idea, but I hate to be alone. Most of my friends are married now, and a few of them are still single. I get to go out and have fun with them, still. But I know that once they get married, the fun we have, will be limited in some way. It’ll never be the same again.

Last week, I started to feel this certain feeling of being departed again. I used to work in the Kolpetty branch of my company, where I had loads of friends. But I had to come to the main location of the company, because of a new project allocation. I was so glad cz I have my best friends in the company there. So I was never feeling alone. I missed my friends in Kolpetty branch.. but.. well… I had very good friends in this place, so.. work was fun at this place. 3 weeks passed by, and I was allocated to another project. It’s like a horror movie, cz this 3rd location, is the most isolated location out of all 3, and it’s too far away from the other 2, so that people can’t access it that easily. Worst, I only knew a very few people in this particular place. I had no excuse to stay back. The people in the project were OK, and I got a satisfactory role to play in the project… Soooo… finally… I had to move to the haunted place.

It’s hard to work there without a reason to be happy. Work is hectic, and I stay in once place all day cz I don’t have friends to meet up and talk. Sometimes I eat alone… and go down to grab something to eat and I eat it alone. There are a few good friends, I hang around with them.. But it’s never the same. For the moment, I feel so isolated and lost. Maybe this feeling will.. sort of.. go away a little. But it’s kinda very hard for me right now. Keeping my fingers crossed to go back to my ‘home’ with my friends.. I hope the time will fly..so the project will end soon..

LOVIN IT..!!

Photography!! It’s a passion, isn’t it?? An art… a way to express feelings.. beauty.. and tranquility. They say.. pictures can speak. True enough, they do.. don’t they? I can’t remember when I first fell in love with photography. Come to think of it… I loved it even when I was so small. I was so curious about the gadgetry of the camera, who owned by the cameraman who visited our home, to take our b’day pics.

Even when I was having a manual camera, I was always keen to capture all I can, no matter where I go. But the problem was.. I always run out of reels! DUH!! I hated it and hated it. Then came the digital cameras. My sis got hold of a Sony. It was 6MP and 3X, but superb picture quality. But whenever she’s not around, the cam was missing too. So.. I wanted to get myself one. I wanted a good brand… excellent zooming and a good MP quality.

I got what I wanted, got it from Dubai through a good friend of mine… and I’m just loving n loving it. It’s a Canon PowerShot S5 IS. It has what I always wanted..

• 12x optical zoom lens with Ultrasonic Motor (USM) and UD lens
• Optical Image Stabilizer
• 8.0 Megapixel CCD
• DIGIC III with advanced Noise Reduction technology and Face Detection for stills and movies
• Red-Eye Correction in playback
• 2.5” high-resolution vari-angle LCD
• Long-play VGA movies with stereo sound and Photo in Movie
• 22 shooting modes including full manual control and 0cm Super Macro
• High ISO 1600 and Auto ISO Shift
• Compatible with Wide/Tele/Close-up converter lenses and Canon EX Speedlite flashes

It’s a lil bit to the heavier side, though (450g).. and it’s a bulky cam, plus, it eats my batteries. So you have to charge them well. Keep some extra set of batteries with you.. it solves the problem… But I guarantee.. the picture quality is superb. I get good shots from it. My friends love my photos.. and they love my cam too.. With the 4GB memory card, I capture as much as I like. Well.. for an example.. I got 689 shots of our last 3 day trip!! For anybody looking for a camera, I recommend this one. It’s simply superb & amazing… and you’ll love.. love & love it…

THE MONSTER IN YOU....

Talking about monsters! They’re supposed to be mythical creatures that live in fairy tales. What would you picture if I tell you to picture one? You picture a scary looking creature with odd proportions.. Tail… horns.. big eyes… green skin…. MONSTER..!! Well… we don’t like monsters do we?? But what if I tell you that there’s a monster living inside each and every one of you?

It’s not a big deal guys. Sometimes we get mad at each other… Hate.. and you think of wicked things… speak wicked words… and do rude things. That’s the monster in you. He comes out even without you knowing it. Getting pissed and angry is SO not the way you should be. You can’t completely chase your monster away. So.. the only option you have is to control the monster in you. It can do bad things for other people.. to yourself.. and sometimes he will hurt other people’s feelings very badly, if you don’t control him.

I was just thinking about my monster. He’s a weird one. He calms down as the speed he gets angry… and he does and says weird things.(Hmmm..) So… don’t pet your monster… Just let him be. But make sure that you CAN control him…

HUNTING MOVIES IN THE NET...

Being a professional movie hunter on the web, I have developed a certain auto-scanning ability to roam over the net and find the movie I want someway or the other. Free movies in the net!! You don’t have to wait till the DVD comes out.. or even the movie comes to the theatre. Just download the movie for free.. and watch it: simple as that. In this post, I just wanted to give you all some useful tips for professional movie hunting.

Finding a good movie: Look for the top ranking movies of the month. Refer the Weekend US Box Office actuals on Yahoo movies.http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/

Need to find good movies of all time? : This is a good database to look for the movie you want. All the details of your movie are there. You might even find a good movie from this site too. http://www.zml.com/

Watching the trailers: Official websites of the movies are a big help. Other than that, YouTube is the best place to view a trailer. http://www.youtube.com/

Watching the movies online: Here’s a good site to watch your favourite movies online. You can even download them in DivX format or in Flash format. http://joox.net/

Downloading the movies: The BEST way is using the Torrent web sites. uTorrent is my favourite tool to download movies. The torrent site I mostly use is isoHunt. http://isohunt.com/torrents/

But if you go to the following site, you can search for torrents in most famous torrent sites, within this site. It’s very easy and convenient. I think this is the most useful torrent site of all.http://www.torrents.to/

Always look for the originals. Read user comments to make sure that you’re downloading a good copy. As most of the torrent users know, the most famous torrent uploaders with the best quality movies are Axxo and FXG. Don’t waste your money on DVDs. Just download..!!

LOOKING AT THE SUN OVER THE MOUNTAINS...

Location : People's Bank Quarters - Nuwara Eliya

THE GIRL ON THE MOVE IS BACK.... TIRED & BUSY...!!

Hello people! I’ve been away from my blog for too long, I guess..! I’m staying at home on a Sunday after 3 whole weeks, phew!! Life is getting so busy… and at times, I can’t even imagine how many things we do during one week’s time. So many things to do, yet so little time left! I was thinking what I was up to all this time. I was so damn busy with work, weddings, trips and other must-do things; I totally didn’t have a time of my own to do my things.

Last weekend was wholly gone for the Nuwara-Eliya trip. It was a 3 day trip with my friends and family. It was good. Saturday, Sunday, Monday for the trip. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday working late till 9.30 and coming home around 11. Friday, a wedding of a very good friend of mine, in Kandy. Saturday, I was at work all day. Sunday, thank god, I’m home. Wanted to do and buy so many things, but if I want to buy them today, I have to go out. So I postponed it and stayed home. For the 1^st time, I missed the Colombo Book Fair. I absolutely had no time to go. This is a sample of one week in my life these days. It’s damn tiring.

The mailboxes are piling up… I lost track of time to call my friends…. Rarely see the people at home.. No time to watch a movie… No time to cuddle up and read a book… I miss reading all the weekly newspapers.. No facebook.. I’m developing dark circles under my eyes.. And work is so damn tiring these days. I wonder why our lives have to be so busy. We don’t even have a time to look after ourselves. It’s bad, you know. I wonder when this circle will be over… For most of you out there, I know that the story of your life is almost identical to mine… All we do is, keeping our hopes up and facing the next busy day. Hmmm…..

IN TO THE WILD....

It's Hurulu Wewa and Ritigala Kanda... I captured this on our way to my mom's hometown... It really was a journey to the wild. 3 complete days.. lost in the jungle...

HMMM.... THE NEXT IN LINE.....

It was a long week for me. We returned yesterday after spending 3days in my mom’s village, for my cousin sis’s wedding. Now that she’s married, the queue of unmarried girls in my mom’s side is finally over… Well.. that’s what I thought at least, till my relatives came up with another topic. ME!! I was hearing the same thing over an over again and suddenly I realized that I’m (yes.. the poor me) is the next in line to be married. Oh no!!! All this time, all my relatives had their eyes on my cousin sis, who just got married. She married a bit late, at 30 (late??) according to my relatives. She had to go through more than 100 proposals to meet her soul mate, by the way.

Well… they had many questions for me, you see. ‘How old are you now?’ was the 1^st question. And when I answered ‘27’, they get shocked. ‘Oh no… You’re already too late. When are you going to marry??’ will be the next question. First, it was somewhat annoying. Then I turned it into a word game. Just for all you yet-to-be married girls, regardless of having boyfriends or not, here are a few things you can tell all the curious people out there to get away from the situation.

‘Oh… I’m already married. Didn’t you know?’ ‘Well… I ran away.. my parents kept it as a secret.’ ‘I’m married, you know. This is my 5 year old son’ and show a kid running around you. And if there’s no kid running around you, tell them ‘Sure thing. I’m getting married next year’. But the next question will be ‘Who’s the lucky guy?’ Then you answer ‘He’s getting the divorce from his wife these days’. For the ‘When can we have a piece of cake from you?’ question.. you say ‘Tomorrow maybe? I’ll buy you a good one from the Sponge’… And here’s a rude one.. ‘When will you invite us for you’re wedding?’ question… you say ‘You won’t be. The list was too big, so I had to cut your name from the list’.. WICKED…!!

Well… being a bit serious, I guess we all have to face this situation when we become 24+. Just because we have reached that age, I don’t think there should be a rush for the marriage. Your parents… relatives… neighbors… family friends… they start to worry about you. It’s good, you know. But some people are just being nosy. I have noted that. I guess the time will solve all things perfectly. I was thinking about my cousin sis. She found the most perfect and the most loving husband for her, in the end.

When I see my old school friends in FB, I tend to wonder about marriage too. Most of them are now married. Some are even having kids. Everyday, I see the relationship statuses changing from ‘Single’ to ‘In a Relationship’ to ‘Married’. Most of my friends are married now, I see. Loads of wedding in these few months and yet some more to come in the future!

Hmmm.. I’ve never thought of something like ‘I should be married by now’ or ‘OMG! I should marry soon too’. Instead, I just have this little feeling… that I’m definitely gonna marry…. When… that I don’t know. I know this much… he’s exactly the man in my dreams…

KITES.... THEY FLEW....

It’s the weekend… a boring one, rather. Spent the whole weekend at home, watching some movies… cleaning out here & there a bit…. reading and most of all.. missing my friends. I wish this weekend was one like the last one.. I call it Kite Saturday. That Saturday was full of laughs… kites… smiles and loads of air… The weekend I flew kites with my best friend!

Still in love (and will be forever) with kites since I was a kid, I love all the things about kites… Yeah.. I mean ALL the things.. from making them to watching them fly so high… So… last Saturday… we made giant kites, decorated them… and flew them, having loads of fun. They floated in the air like beautiful giant butterflies… They swayed with the air waves, dancing in the sky.. They conquered the sky for the few hours they were roaming in the sky….Shhh.. Know this?? When the kite is dancing in the sky, close your ear to the string of your high-flying kite (I call it the link between earth and the sky).. You can actually hear the sound of the high winds in the farthest skies… Trust me!!

Kites are a very different subject, my friends. Everyone can’t make them properly. You have to know the precise technique to build up the structure. Once you’re done with it, the way you decorate it with papers should give it a proper balance as well. Your creativity matters when you decorate it. The other most important task is handling the kite cleverly, or else, it will break free. Ok.. Those are some serious stuff you should remember.

Kites are so fascinating things. I simply love them all. And you know… my best friend is really good at making them. I’m proud of you my buddy. Why? Cz they were not just kites. They were GIANT kites. And Konga… I missed you so much that day men. Jj, good thing you were not around with your heartless-metalic aircraft of yours, cz our majestic kite-of-a-fairy will simply scare your metallic monster away. Hehe!! Well.. lets see if you can kill that one you KITE KILLER!!

Thank you so much my buddy.. for making my day and making that day happen. You’re the bestest kite maker ever… and of coz.. the best kite runner around. See.. I was able to make one of my wild dreams come true… and I’m so very happy about it (thanks to you my best friend!) Life is full of good things if you look around. There are so many things you miss in your lives.. Just don’t wait… Enjoy while you can. Then only you can feel that this life is not as cruel as most people think it is.

See this picture? Wow!! Isn’t it?? Well, people… this one belongs to me and my best friend!!

AUGUST... THE MONTH OF THE KITES.....

Noted the first kite of the season in the August sky yesterday morning... Couldn't stand it; so captured it from my camera.. Wow!! It's already August!! The month of the kites!! Can't wait to fly one this season.. Oooo... it's finally happening this weekend.. I can't wait..!!

LONGING FOR THE NORTHERN LIGHTS....

The night sky is most of the times dark. You see all these tiny stars blinking all over the sky. The moon only chooses to appear for a day or two. Time by time, a shooting start passes by. It’ll just appear and vanish as a blink of an eye; you don’t even have time to make a wish upon it. When I look at the night sky, sometimes I can’t help wondering that our lives are as same as the night sky. You see stars… moon at times… and time by time, a lil surprise like a shooting star. But won’t this ever change???

Have you heard of Northern Lights?? (Aurora in particular).. It’s a natural display of colored lights happening in the night sky… Wow!!! Sounds dreamy, isn’t it?? It is!! It’s called the Dance of the Spirits in North, and happens in the Northern Hemisphere, to be particular. The name ‘Aurora’, was given after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora. Perfect name to choose, isn’t it? Now, let me tell you one famous legend bound with these wonderful Northern Lights.

“The ends of the land and sea are bounded by an immense abyss, over which a narrow and dangerous pathway leads to the heavenly regions. The sky is a great dome of hard material arched over the Earth. There is a hole in it through which the spirits pass to the true heavens. Only the spirits of those who have died a voluntary or violent death, and the Raven, have been over this pathway. The spirits who live there light torches to guide the feet of new arrivals. This is the light of the aurora. They can be seen there feasting and playing football with a walrus skull. The whistling crackling noise which sometimes accompanies the aurora is the voices of these spirits trying to communicate with the people of the Earth. They should always be answered in a whispering voice. Youths dance to the aurora. The heavenly spirits are called selamiut, "sky-dwellers," those who live in the sky.”

The sky is dark and empty. Suddenly, the dark sky is filled with the colours of the dancing light… Spirits are dancing in the night sky…It takes your breath away… It’s the most wonderful sight you’ve ever seen. Just like that… we all wait for the wonderful Northern Light to appear in our own dark sky. We long for that miracle to appear and lighten up our sky… chasing the shadows of the darkness away.. and brightening up our lives…When the light appears in our sky.. the brightness it will bring is far more than the stars… the moon.. or the shooting stars.. We long.. and wait for that moment to happen in our lives… whatever way. Living your life… hoping for the best to come your way someday… That’s what Northern Lights in your sky are all about.

I'M SO OVER IT....

There are certain things in your life, you have to let go. At a certain point, you always have to let go. Knowing certain things are not worth holding on to, you have to let go. And when you realize that someday, you have to let go, you let go. This song touched my heart so deeply. It’s all about letting go. The video is superb. The last part of the video brought back a certain memory to my mind. Hmmm…. Couldn’t help it. So.. it’s all about letting go. Realize.. let go… and you move on.

Katherine McPhee -"Over It"

I'm over your lies, and I'm over your games.
I'm over you asking me, when you know I'm not okay.
You call me at night, and I pick up the phone.
And though you've been telling me, I know you're not alone. oh..

That's why (your eyes)
I'm over it (your smile)
I'm over it (realize)
I'm over it, I'm over it , I'm over..

CHORUS
Wanting you to be wanting me.
No that ain't no way to be.
How I feel, read my lips, because I'm so over..
Moving on, it's my time, you never were a friend of mine.
Hurt at first, a little bit, but now I'm so over, I'm so over it..

I'm over your hands, and I'm over your mouth.
Trying to drag me down, and fill me with self-doubt. oh..

That's why, (your words)
I'm over it (so sure)
I'm over it (I'm not your girl)
I'm over it, I'm over it, I'm over...

CHORUS

Don't call, don't come by, ain't no use,
Don't ask me why, you'll never change,
There'll be no more crying in the rain.

CHORUS

I'm so over it.... I'm over it....

CHORUS

Check out the video too..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMb9Gok2C2Y

13 GHOSTS...

“This house is not a house. It is a machine. It is a complete and faithful recreation of Basilisks’ design. According to this, (the book) there should be 12 earthbound spirits trapped inside. See these? They represent the black zodiac. They represent the ghosts Cyrus needed to catch. The first born son.. The Torserer.. The bound woman… The withered lover… The torn prince…The angry princess…The pilgrimist… The great child and the dying mother…The hammer…. And here, the sign of hell’s winter; The Jackal…and the Juggernaut… According to Basilisk, the machine requires the energy of these specific spirits in order to bring it to life. Once it engages the spirits are released one by one. The house then draws them to its centre, each one adding its energy to the machine, powering it up”. (Powering it up for what?) To open the eye of hell in front of them”

This is my favourite part of the movie, where the ghost hunter (played by Shannon Elizabeth) explains the mystery of the house to the family.

It’s not particularly a horror movie (it is… but..). I’d rather name it as a ‘ghost story’. I liked the movie. So.. here’s something short and sweet FYI. A very rich collector (Cyrus) of unique things dies and he leaves it all to his nephew and his family. All including his house, his fortune, and his malicious collection of GHOSTS! Released in 2001, the cast includes Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Rah Digga, JR Bourne, Alec Roberts, F. Murray Abraham. This is actually the remake of the movie “House on Haunted Hills”.

Dennis : There are ghosts in the basement!
Maggie: This basement?
Dennis : Of course this basement! What is it with you people? If it was the basement next door I wouldn't give a s**t, would I?

Tag Line: There are ghosts around us all the time. Most of them don't want to hurt us. But, there are exceptions...

SSC ULTIMATE AERO BEATS BUGGATI..!! YEI YEI....!!!!

FINALLY!!! It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for… A car to beat the so-called high and mighty Buggati!! The SSC Ultimate Aero beats Buggati.. Yei yei!!! For all those Buggati loving guys who hated my obsession with Lambos.. take this an an answer. Oooh! I’m so happy.. Hehe… Ok.. Being serious, it is currently the fastest production car in the world, with a fastest recorded speed of 413 km/h (257 mph). This super car is a production of Shelby Super Cars (SSC). Check out the website. http://www.shelbysupercars.com/

I think this one is even far more cooler looking than the Buggati. The first test run took over on 13^th of September 2007. It was a Guinness World Record run, actually. Check this out on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EInoZcQFdlQ

Guys.. check out the specification.

Body Style - Coupe
Engine Location - Mid
Drive Type - Rear
Wheel Body / ChassisCarbon Fibre
Weight2750 lbs | 1247.4 kg
Combined MPG0.00
0-60 mph - 2.78 seconds.
Top Speed256 mph | 411.9 km/h

And this is about the engine.

Engine Builder - Chevrolet
Engine Configuration - V
Cylinders - 8
Aspiration/Induction - Twin-turbocharged Sequential, multi-port fuel injection, Twin Turbo Chargers. Dual-Water to Air Intercoolers.
Displacement - 6345.00 cc | 387.2 cu in. | 6.3 L.
Horsepower - 1180.00 BHP (868.5 KW) @ 6950.00 RPM
Torque - 1094.00 NM (806.6 Ft-Lbs) @ 6600.00 RPM
HP to Weight Ratio - 2.3 LB / HP
HP / Liter187.3 BHP / Liter Redline7200
Compression Ratio - 8.97:1
Fuel Type Gasoline - Petrol
Fuel Feed - Fuel Injected

Now.. you tell me guys. Which one is the greatest? I’m in love with this one right now.

THE X - FILES : THE 2ND MOVIE... OUT NOW.!!

The much awaited 2^nd X-Files movie is finally out!! The date was 25^th of July. It’s quite a long time after the 1^st movie, don’t you think? Well.. 10 years is a long time I guess. However, Mulder and Scully are back in business. I was so desperate, couldn’t hold up, so I couldn’t help searching for the plot and reading about it. But I won’t ruin it for you all. Just a hint ok? It is said that unlike the first film, the plot does not focus on the series' ongoing "mytharc" and instead works as a standalone thriller/horror story, similar to many of the "Monster-of-The-Week" episodes that were frequently seen in the TV series.

The man behind the scene is Chris Carter himself, being the director. So, you can expect the same ‘nature’ of the tele series from the movie as well. Production was done by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. Music by Mark Snow, as usual. The cast remains the same too; main characters being David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (Scully with long hair this time). Also starring: Mitch Pilleggi, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner (Yep.. the man from ‘Pimp my Ride’) and Callum Keith Rennie.

Oooo.. I can’t wait to see this one. Hope all of you X-Files lovers are crossing your fingers and waiting too!!

Check this out too : http://www.xfiles.com/

THE PRETTY BLUE LOTUS FROM THE GARDEN......

TAKE ME AWAY - AVRIL LAVIGNE...

When life was hard.. rude and pathetic, she was the one who got me through. I love her singing. This is one such. She's helping me out a lot these days.

"Take Me Away - Avril Lavigne"

I cannot find a way to describe it - It's there inside; all I do is hide

I wish that it would just go away

What would you do, you do, if you knew - What would you do

[Chorus:]

All the pain I thought I knew -All the thoughts lead back to you

Back to what was never said -Back and forth inside my head

I can't handle this confusion - I'm unable; come and take me away

I feel like I am all alone - All by myself I need to get around this

My words are cold, I don't want them to hurt you - If I show you,

I don't think you'd understand - Cause no one understands

[Chorus]

I'm going nowhere (on and on and) - I'm getting nowhere (on and on and on)

Take me away

I'm going nowhere (on and off and off and on) (and off and on)

[Chorus]

Take me away
Break me away

Take me away

LITTLE ROUND STONES AND SEA SHELLS FROM THE SEA....

The sea.. beach.. sun and the sand??? Sounds dreamy?? Then this little story about sea shells and round stones is just for you. I am a sea creature.. as long as I could remember…. Maybe since birth I guess. Whenever I see the sea, I go completely crazy and well…. I want to jump to the beach and dip myself in ocean waves… Sea crazy, you call it huh?? I guess so…

I love sea shells… Specially the long spiral ones.. and little round stones too… I remember this little story about little round stones; let me tell you. The small pieces of stones, they are born as an offspring of big stones. They face many many difficulties in the sea.. washed away and swept away by waves… hitting themselves in bigger stones, but yet they reach the shore… so smooth and gentle. They say that these little round stones represent the circle of life. The big stones they are born from are our elders. The rough obstacles they face in the sea are challenges we face in our lives… They face theses obstacles bravely, learn lessons and get experienced about how to live life…and then they get used live life, the way it really is.. They stay calm and smooth… just like the smooth surface of the little round stones. In the end, they reach the shore.. peacefully… That’s their story…

Sea shells… they have many many stories to tell you. They say the princesses of the sea are born from sea shells.. And when you listen intently, when you listen really well, you could hear the sound of the ocean waves from the sea shells… Hey.. It’s true.. If you let your imagination fly and fly.. you can even feel the sand in your feet.. and the salty ocean waves caressing your body all over.. It’s just a matter of letting your imagination loose. Ever been to Narnia or Therabithia in your dreams?? Ever sailed the Arctic to see the polar bears?? Ever saw the Northern Lights over the Alaska in your dreams?? No?? Well.. start from the sea shells… It’s really dreamy..

I’m a girl of loads n loads of imagination.. Sea shells are a treasure to me.. I always loved to hear the stories of the sea… sea shells.. stones.. mermaids… underwater kingdoms… sea princesses… Fascinating things… Once I got two hand made necklaces out of sea shells... from my best friend for my birthday… They’re so beautiful.. and I keep them as a treasure with me.. And for how much I love the sea.. I’m even being called as ‘sea shell’.. I just love love & love that name…

Let your imagination run wild sometimes… The sea is the best place to start, I tell you. It’s no harm.. but I assure you this… You will feel magical.. trust me…

FIELDS OF GOLD........

Songs… They touch our souls in the most beautiful way.. Listening to a slow tune in the silence of the night.. it’s just too perfect. Sometimes… some songs leave behind stories in our lives. I’m going to tell you about a song.. which left me with an unforgettable memory.. A very special song in my life… This special song is Sting’s ‘Fields of Gold’..

It was a day in July…. 2 years back.. I was going through a very difficult time in my life… I needed a big break in my life to get away from all the worries… My best friend… he called me all of a sudden.. told me to put on something… and run out… and he came to pick me up… There was a big silence… he didn’t tell me anything… A moment later… we were in front of the Parliament grounds… the place I like most in the city of Colombo… It was a perfect evening…. The sun was slowly sinking… The breeze was slow and smooth… I found myself smiling…

Just then.. he took out his guitar and played this lovely song for me… I listened and listened…. And slowly… my worries faded away… Some time after .. my best friend left this world.. leaving behind eternal memories for me.. last for a lifetime.. And this song… is one out of those unforgettable memories… Listen to the words…. Feel what it says..

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold

So she took her love
For to gaze awhile
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold

I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold

I do remember him that way… And it always brings tears to my eyes.. The way my friend sang it, really touched my heart so deeply. Yesterday, I wanted to find out the deeper meaning of this song.. and I searched the net to find an answer.. After reading a lot of criticisms and comments.. this was the final outcome….

This is about feeling joyous… but knowing that the joy is going to end someday… Sad.. isn’t it??? It’s about commitment too… This man who sings this.. is a man who broke promises in the past.. but he’s determined to make this present relationship last…

A major criticism goes like this… “The story is chronological. It is about courtship, marriage, and eventual death. The two people in the song meet, court, fall in love (at this point, he reveals that he has never really made such a strong promise/commitment to someone) but feels he is ready to now. "See the children run," their offspring and the "jealous sky" refer to the Heavens. Even Heaven is jealous of their love/relationship. The esteemed sun is jealous. Eventually, he dies and tells his love that they will always remember their love specifically, when she thinks of him, he wants to be personified as such... walking in fields of gold (barley).”

But what I found in most of the comments was…” This is about feeling joyous… but knowing that the joy is going to end someday”… It’s true isn’t it?? My best friend sang that song t me.. but I never thought I’d have to remember this part of the song ever…

“You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley.”

Today you’re happy with something very special in your life… and you definitely know that someway or the other.. some day.. this happiness will end… Knowing that.. you live your life… Sometimes when you look far and see that truth… it’s sad.. very very sad… This song is very special to me… One day.. when I gaze upon the starry sky and listen to the song.. I will have many things to remember…. Many stories to remember…

I FOUND MYSELF IN WIKIPEDIA...!! LOL!!

Just for curiosity, I searched my name in Wikipedia today, to see what the search result is. Here’s what I got!!! According to Wikipedia I’m a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family. Check this out.

Hemigrammocapoeta kemali is a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family. It is found only in Turkey. Its natural habitats are swamps and freshwater lakes. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Moreover, the ray-finned fishes are so called because they possess "fin rays", their fins being webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines ("rays"). This specie is even included in 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Rare and valuable. That’s me in Wikipedia. Interesting!!

JUNE... THE MONTH OF THE BRIDES... MARRIAGES AND RELATIONSHIPS....

It’s June.. the month of the brides. I guess it’s the luckiest month of the year .. with the maximum number of wedding and to add up.. a month very lucky people were born too.. (Ahem..!! Like me that is!!) Throughout the month, you see loads and loads of weddings.. wedding cars here and there… studios filled with photo shoots… the full schedules of reception halls.. hotels.. busy wedding planners… a large number of wedding cake orders…No wonder it’s a busy month. Maybe you also got invited to a lot of weddings too.. I was too. Weddings are so glamorous and majestic.. but the part I hate is where you have to dress up well & go… Oooo I hate dressing up for weddings..

Anyway… lets get back to the topic again. In my blog, I talk a lot about love and relationships. It’s always a good topic to talk about. This time, I’ll just talk a bit about what fate has to do with relationships and marriages. There was this very pretty girl, who was a friend of mine, having a long term relationship with a medical student. We both studied in the same class for a degree in English. After a while, she stopped the class, and we lost contacts sometime after. Yesterday, after 3 years, a friend of mine told me that she got married. I was like “That medical student guy is very lucky. She’s a very good girl”. Then she said, “No.. she didn’t marry him. It’s a businessman”.. It was like a bit of a shock to me. They were having their affair for nearly 10 years. Hmmm… Strange? No I guess.. People can move on with their lives no matter what…

Perhaps you all have noticed this too.. Take the love affairs in campuses.. Out of them, how many of the relationships still exist?? As I know.. only a very few. There were so many couples in our batch, who were going steady. Most of them have drifted apart, after they left the campus, due to many reasons. This guy.. started an affair with a very good friend of mine. That was the girl’s 1^st love. 2 months later, the guy realized that his parents won’t allow his affair. So.. simply, he broke up with her. It was so hard for her since it was her 1^st affair. Till the final year ended, she had to bear seeing him around, and since they were in the same gang, she had to stick with them too. Now.. she has made up her mind.. ready to move on and accepting proposals for marriage with a whole new heart..

In another case, this couple..they had their affair for the whole time they were in the campus. The poor girl was doing all the work for the guy too. He passed the exams well, just because of the girl. After the graduation day, the guy simply dumped her, saying his parents don’t like her. This guy has even talked to the girl’s parents about marrying her. I got to know that they broke up, through face book. A few days ago, she has changed her relationship status in face book as “in a relationship”. That’s when I asked what happened. Now she’s completely in love with a guy whom she met through a proposal… and she’s very happy. They’re going to marry next year. Fate gives you wonderful things.. see?

When I see most of my friends, they’ve met their future wives/ husbands in most miraculous ways. This couple… they were sworn enemies. Recently… when I got to know that they got married.. I was like “him and her??? OMG!!”.. Now, they’re living happily ever after with small kid too.. Sweet!! That’s fate doing wonders..

They meet… they love each other.. perhaps for years.. then they break up… and there comes heartbreaks… But sometimes later… they’re happily married to someone else and living a wonderful life. This is how the circle of life goes… I sit back and watch all these changes in peoples’ lives… In the end… things are sorted out in some way. I guess this is a universal truth for all… Love happens.. Hearts break… but still… life goes on…