8th july

6th july: The original plan was to leave for Akola tonight and get there on 7th morning. Then plan my birthday party. But I still didn't have my ticket as of 5 pm. I was at pranav's place, and I had started sneezing uncontrollably. My nose got all runny and all of a sudden, it looked like I had a cold. But I kept saying I'll be all better once I'm out of here. I had to leave Lohgaon and get to JM road in time to pick up my ticket, then get home and pack my bags and get back to JM road before 10 pm. I finished the coffee and raced out of Pranav's house.

7th July: On the bus, when I was half asleep, I heard a ringtone that I had heard on Pranav's phone before. Which led me to think for a second that pranav was on the bus. LOL.  Apart from that, the bus ride was terrible. My condition seemed to have worsened in the last 10 hours. My throat was hurting a lot. I tried to put together the pieces.. I didn't have anything cold to drink, I didn't eat any ice cream, I didn't get drenched in the rain.. It didn't make sense.. First thing I had to do after I was home was to ask for some medication. I had to get all better before my birthday party tomorrow. So I went to see my family doctor, Dr. M.B. Gupta.

He said my throat looked really red and I felt warm, so I could have viral fever. He prescribed me medicine for the next 4 days and said, "this is going to take 4-5 days to get cured." Damn! I wanted something that would get me rid of the bad throat in one day! I wanted to totally rock on my birthday! But I had to listen to what the doctor said. So complete rest for me today. Suraj and Divya arrived in the afternoon.

8th July: Well, just before 12 am, Arjun bhaiya called up to wish me. Then Pranav. I felt really nice talking to him because this time, he kept going on and on. we talked about random things, pulling each other's legs, just killing time, which was his intention. He does this thing where he calls up people 15 minutes before their birthday and keeps talking so that nobody else can call and he is the first person to wish happy birthday. But I told him to hang up because I was waiting for someone else's call...

Divya and Suraj were awake as well. They came over to me and gave me a fabulous card. I decided that I wanted to go on a drive tonight. So Suraj and I got ready to go, and divya went to bed. I was determined to make the most of this day even though I wasn't in the best condition. I don't even know where or how far exactly we went, but we did have a lot of fun. I even took some photos. There were two close encounters with the police and I was scared we might be busted because neither of us were license holders. But luck was on my side and we got back home safe.

The next morning, mom wished me when I was barely awake. I fell asleep again and later, dad came and grabbed me by the neck with his cold hand and woke me up. Again, I thought this was pranav messing with me. But then I realized dad had come back from pune. I went back to sleep again. I needed all my energy for the evening.

When I woke up, I was feeling better than before. So I decided to make the most of it. I went out and bought more darts as I had lost the ones I had before. After looking at two shops, I found good quality darts at the third one. And they were pretty cheap too! We set up the dartboard on the terrace and played for a bit. Suraj was really slowly getting the hang of it, but frankly, he sucked! lol.

Well, then abhishek came, we watched movies and 'who's line is it anyway?' for a bit. Then had dinner. The cousins came late, and that's when we cut the cake. After abhishek left, I was feeling pretty tired so I just went to bed.

Oliver's birthday

Oh, lets talk about last night first! Everything went according to plan, and even things that weren't planned went superbly. Met up with Oliver in front of second cup, Taruna showed up with the cake and wrapped present! We decided to cut the cake now, and hold off on the present till later. It wasn't a cheesecake like I was expecting, but it was delicious nevertheless. Got our hands all dirty gobbling up the cake! I tried taking picture with taruna's cellphone, but the light was very insufficient for the small sensor. Its times like these that I wish I had a digital SLR. See? I let my mind run free, and my paragraph meanders through the thoughts in my head. Very unlike the method we were told to follow for 'essays' in our english class.

The dinner was totally amazing! I'd never been to bombay bhel before. They had chats and pani puri on the menu, but we decided we'd have that at my place later. We decided to order chana masala, butter chicken and bhatura. The chicken was sooo tender, and the chana masala was not too hot, not very mild, but just right! It was fun watching oliver eat, he was like a little kid. He still hadn't worked out how to use his fingers to eat. LOL. We had long conversation as I, the slowest eater, tried to finish my food, waaay after everybody else was done. Then we decided to give oliver his present. I think he liked it. He was flipping through it very pensively, taking his own time. Taruna on the other hand was kinda bored I think.. hehe. I even saw that book on the desk in the pit where he was working today, so I think he's really referring to it.

After dinner, we came to my house, pani puri was out of the question as everyone was really stuffed! We sat up in my room, I showed them pictures of my friends, the caricatures I'd done, my books, AND my glow-in-the-dark bedsheet! hehe. Oliver was getting really sleepy, and I knew I should let them go or else he might doze off on the wheel and... Oh well. They left in time, and I went to bed pretty soon too. A full tummy really makes you very sleepy because your digestive system is taking in more blood now and the supply of oxygen to ur brain is reduced. Wow! what a perfectly boring scientific end to a delicious food related entry. haha!

Panicking is one of my bad habits

I am definitely screwed. Royally. I had been putting off painting the self portraits for the whole week, the whole break, and now, I can't get into the college, and I don't have access to my materials and I can't paint. I checked both the A wing doors and B wing door. The AA building is accessible, but it doesn't lead into any other building. I don't know what the heck I'm gonna do! I even want to move some of my stuff from this house to the new place! Its just too much! I'm loosing it! Help!

That was the scenario around 12 p.m.. Since then, a lot has changed. I've finished my first self portrait, and because its just really shitty, I am not gonna be showing it to you guys. I will get around to starting the second one sometime soon and will definitely let you see it if it turns out better. As of now, I'm friggin hungry. The flashback on what really happened earlier, right after these messages from the sponsor...

And we're back! Almost as if I never left. See, these kind of breaks are so less annoying than the ones on television. And we're getting back to the topic even quicker. Just a few seconds after I got all negative and gloomy about me not being able to do my assignment, I got a call from Vironica, and she said she would come to the college to pick me up! I explained my dilemma to her, and as soon as she arrived, like a wo(man) on a mission, she barged towards the doors of the buildings convincing me 'We are gonna get in!' And after going halfway around the whole campus, we found that the right hand side of the main entrance door was open! wow! I could finally get in, get my painting stuff out and go home. The day is saved, thanks to the powerpuff girls! Oh sorry, I kinda drifted away there, thanks vironica. 

Now if only I had calmed down and looked around a little more, a little better, I wouldn't have almost had a heart attack. So I really need to learn to not panic. But I guess it'll take some time. After all, old habits die hard. 

And yeah, its dad's birthday on 2nd june. And its already 2nd june there in India. Happy birthday dad!

Happy birthday Richa

Yahoo! Another fun holiday!(not really,) I had to take care of some business. I left for college at around 12.pm, I stored the newsprint pads and my technical pen, illustration board etc in college, went to the bookstore, but it was closed. I went to the library, checked my mail, chatted with Abhishek for a few minutes and decided to walk to Gino's for lunch. I ordered a slice of pizza, and then I remembered, its Richa's Birthday! It was already 12:30 am on the 24th june in India, so I was kinda worried that she had slept, but she picked up the phone as soon as it rang! She was really excited(after the initial confused phase) But believe me, I was more excited than her.

It had been really long since we last chatted or even sent an email to each other, and I didn't know what she knew about me, but I had been getting updates on what she's upto from her little sister Dristi. So I was prepared to tell her all about the things I have been doing here in Canada. Turns out, she has been reading my blogs (unlike some of my other friends) and knows more than I thought. Regardless, we talked for about twenty minutes about my pottery experience, my classmates, all the times I've gone out with them and the activities that we did together. She said she really admired me for going to another country despite being a cancerian and I feel really happy for that. I don't think I could thank her enough for that compliment. I believe she really know what I'm going through. Well, my pizza was getting cold here and her little sister and parents were probably starting to get pissed and wishing she'd go to bed already, LOL, so I hung up.

Then I figured I should give a call to vironica and confirm that I would be staying in that room, and that I want her to hold the room for me. So she said I could give her a couple hundred if not the complete rent to hold the room for me. Now I had to go to the bank and get cash the 250 dollar refund check that I got from the college residence. I took the 24 bus from college, and guess what! I didn't have to pay, it was free! Hmm, is it free every Saturday? I would totally roam around he city every Saturday if it is! Anyways, I quickly got back and as I was walking to Veronica's house, I realized I didn't know the house number. I called her up, but she wasn't home so I walked back home.

At home I got a call which I recieved, but couldn't hear anything. I guess it was vironica, because a little while later, she called again, and asked where I was. She even gave me her house number (Oh crap! I forgot it again! I just remember that it was in the 2000 series). But when I told her I was already back home and was kinda tired now, she offered to come pick me up/or just the money?.. I was not very comfortable with this option, for some reason I don't know, I didn't want her to see the current house I'm living at. Plus, it would be awkward for herself too, to come to my house, meet with me and probably my landlord too, and just take the money and leave. So I asked if I could come to her house tomorrow, but she said she was going to the Niagra falls. Oh that ought to be fun! She said she'll leave at 12 pm so I should come to her house before that if I want to come on sunday or I could go on monday. Whatever, I'll think about it tomorrow now.

And yeah, I want to announce that I got a flickr pro account, and I would like you guys to go check out my collections and sets. Go to http://flickr.com/photos/yashrg