Im getting kind of used to the winter way of life. It is not as bad as I thought it to be. Although there is awefull lot of the same is left. Five months of snowy winter ahead!
We already had one snowfall and expecting next one soon. Im using bus instead of bike in the chill. We did our last biking tour on Thanksgiving Thursday. It was fun. Three of us on 23 mile ride. And the bagels with egg. Yumm!

[Updated profile]

Thanksging

Arguably second most celebrated festival in US of A. It's about giving thanks to everybody. So here I go. Thank you Mom and Dad. Thank you God. Thank you all my lovely friends.

We have 2 days in semester holiday (which is scarce in this country) and don't have nothing much to do with them. Although I would have liked to go out somewhere but I didn't. Partly because of the big exams Monday and rest of the week and partly because I don't know how to drive. :)

It is a funny world. You don't know where it is headed but still you have one of your own. I too have a world of my own.

I dont wanna publish this but I will. Just for the fun of it.

In praise of idleness

In the shaky economic conditions around the world, with occupy movements everywhere and wars for power in many nations, it would be nice to reflect on this essay by Bertrand Russell. I read it today. One can only wonder how wonderfully has he argued in favour of idleness. The starting first few paras seem to be on lighter note and take you into hilarious state. And then he starts talking about how, although funny, these things about leisure and work make sense to compare. And just when you are enchanted by the flow of sequentially convincing arguments he will sneakingly pass a statement somewhere that modern machinery after industrial revolution have made it possible for us to do less work, which was something I could not buy. But as he explains his case well to justify the statement if you are flexible on your definition of 'work'. His example of manufacture of pins is presented very well. Although it doesn't work that simple. And the reason is that we haven't let it
The last para concludes that if we learn from idleness then how wars can be prevented because then all of us will have plenty besides the face that lazy people will not be willing to fight :D. He talks about war more than once in the whole essay which is understandable considering the timing of the article; it was published between the two World Wars. All I want to say that it is a very nice read and his discussion of work vs. leisure fits very well in today's society where the 'work' is virtue-ed too much and 'leisure' is considered to be bad for ones life. I can make the above statement with authority because I have worked in corporate for a year and most of my friends are still there. I will quote few lines from the text and hope it serves as a motivation to read the full text. Even if you get bored and dont read full text read the first few pages because they serve as humour and the last few pages because you need it.

'I enjoy manual work because it makes me feel that I am fulfilling man's noblest task, and because I like to think how much man can transform his planet. It is true that my body demands periods of rest, which I have to fill in as best I may, but I am never so happy as when the morning comes and I can return to the toil from which my contentment springs.'

First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.

The notion that the desirable activities are those that bring a profit has made everything topsy-turvy.

Broadly speaking, it is held that getting money is good and spending money is bad. Seeing that they are two sides of one transaction, this is absurd; one might as well maintain that keys are good, but keyholes are bad.

[Find full text: pdf version, html version]

It has been close to a year since I started this whole writing-on-me business. The post in retrospection looks so apt. I how I feel some stuff when I think of what I felt at a later time. Does that happen to most of us? May be if I'm not a unique, endangered human species, which in all probability I am not.

Cometh the winter

The big exams are around the corner and I seem to have dropped back in the preparations it seems. Anyways I have a weekend. Hopefully I can use saturday and then go biking on Sunday. Probably the last biking tour of season before Minnesota gets buried in 'the white'. The wind outside has started to kill. Winter chill is setting in. Forecasts say that 11 Nov will be the first snow. Oh how I hate the winter but now there is no choice. Biking on the snow can be killer. Waiting on bus stops is so damn bad. The bright side is there will be ice for skiing. May be Sunday will change from cycling day to skiing day in the coming months :). Welcome to the infamous Minnesota winter.

On Thursday (was): A birthday treat from a friend and Malaysian cuisine! \m/