I Have Never Gotten a Scholarship in my life

Before now, that is. I was so happy to get an email from Julie, the International Admissions Counselor at SCAD. She is a very nice lady, and one of the reasons to go there, would be to meet her in person and thank her for helping me out with the admission process. I still remember when I sent her an email I was supposed to send to a classmate here, and I accidentally typed the wrong email address and pressed send. Realized what mistake I had made at 2:30 am in the night and immediately sent her an email apologizing for the mixup. And she was really nice about it. I was so relieved.

So, When I first read the email from her, I called up Arpan, then Sachin. I was so excited, I wanted to talk to everybody! I called up Natansh and doni, but didn't get to talk to them. I also tried anju mausi... I missed her birthday 4 days ago on 27th march.. (happy bilated birthday mausi) but there was some problem again. I didn't bother to go and paint as I just felt like celebrating! I met Franziska in the learning commons and we decided to go eat something in the cafeteria. It was a nice sunny day.

After that, as I was heading home, I met Sachin, talked to him in person about the scholarship and the rest of the admission process. He asks, "तू खुश है ना?" I just smiled and said, "बहुत.." That is, until I ended up talking to Sujata. I don't say it's her fault. But as she scratched the surface, asking me all these questions, it dawned on me that it's only 11 % of the fees of 2009-2010 Parents would still be paying $24k in tuition. Well, atleast for those one and a half hours, I was truly happy. Even though my parents aren't saying anything about it, (I told dad to tell mom, but she didn't find out until the next morning, at which point, I wasn't available to talk to her on skype.. so I talked to her the day after that.) I emailed SCAD back and asked if there were other opportunities for financial help. And Julie let me know that there was another scholarship I could apply for. I am going to get on it asap.

Today I got the letter from SCAD in mail. I was running late for college so I put it in my bag as I left. After the printmaking class, I went to the learning commons, and met Sachin. Asked him to open it up and read. Their letter head is really sweet. SCAD  written on the top in silver ink. I read that they will get back to me about my artistic honors scholarship in two weeks, and that I was awarded Academic Honors Scholarship for a gpa of above 3.0 I have only ever gotten a D in History of western Art, in fall 2007, which brought my GPA for the term down to 2.85

Another 'fine print' was that I would only get 70% of the scholarship if I was not living on campus housing. I don't know how I feel about that. But I am still happy that I have a shot at artistic honors scholarship also. All my friends are really excited about the news, and we are looking for an opportunity to party. As soon as we are not as busy anymore.

Monsters vs Aliens

Yesterday, I finally told Doni I didn't make it into animation. Probably the last person to find out. This morning, he made a comment, "so, yesterday must have been a really bad day, huh? You finding out you didn't get in!"
I reply, "No, because I found out on Thursday."
He goes, "You didn't know on thursday that you didn't get in!"

That's because of the conversation we had in the cafeteria that afternoon. I explained to him how I didn't make it into Sheridan college animation program twice before. And he was yanking my chain saying, "Dude, you didn't get accepted into Sheridan!" as if it was such a puny thing. Anyways, he was disappointed he won't be able to rent a apartment in Toronto with me for the year if I didn't get in. He'd have to figure out something else to house himself after the residence kicks him out in april.

"Yes, I did, after you were done teasing me about not getting accepted into sheridan, I went to the International center and got my score sheet."
"...now you make me feel bad."

I'm sure you'll get over it; I thought to myself.

I didn't know what Doni had planned to do in Toronto today, I thought he still wanted to go check out apartments. But at Union station, we talked about it and decided, we'd go get lunch, then check out where his job interview is, and then go see 'Monsters vs Aliens'

I had never been to Hooters before. Afternoon wasn't the best time to go there, the place looked quite dead when we were there. Most other people(men) were 40+. I just had a plate of chicken wings and we talked about random things. I didn't want to waste time going to exhibition where Doni's job interview was. So I proposed he go by himself, pick up his friend Dodi, and meet me at Chapters, then we could go to Scotiabank theater.

It had been a long time since I went to a bookstore like Chapters too. I knew I could easily loose myself in books and spend the time it will take Doni to get to Exhibition and come back. Right in the front, they had a display of all the watchmen related books. I have absolutely loved the Watchmen series since I first read it back in pune, this summer. And there are atleast 4 books related to 'Watchmen' Franchise out in the market today. I wanted to browse through them all before deciding which was the one I would want to buy. One was art of the film, one was a 'companion of the film' which explained the backstory of all the characters we see in the film. Anyone who's read the graphic novel would already know all that so I didn't find it very appealing. One was a gorgeous book of just black and white portraits of the characters of the film. Beautiful photography, but not for me. 'Watching the Watchmen' was the book I would go for!

Next, I went to the magazine rack and picked up MacLife and MAD. Finished flipping through those and went upstairs. They have really expanded their ART section. I picked up a book about drawing facial expressions for comic artists to browse through, and went over to the film department. Picked up the only copy of 'Art of Monsters vs Aliens', and sat down next to the large window to read through them. Called up Arpan to ask what he was upto and if he could make it for the movie. Lost in my world of the art of Monsters vs Aliens I didn't even realize how time flew by. Doni called me saying he was on his way back to downtown toronto with Dodi. We decided to meet up at eaton center since he wanted to buy some 'clothes' for his Interview.

He knew exactly where to find me at the huge mall - The Apple store. I was checking out Anti-Glare/matte screen covers/protectors for my ipod touch. I remember Natansh talking about it and I was really tempted, but I decided to 'save some money'. LOL. Also, Bose noise cancelling headphones were awesome! Active noise cancelling works much better than passive noise cancellation. Just that they didn't have a mic and play/pause/next/previous/volume controls like my $89 apple in-ear headphones do.

Fast forwarding through next couple of things, Doni bought himself a Jacket, we walked back to the theater, queued up to get into the IMAX hall, and enjoyed the movie with large coke and Nachos Grande.

Got to say, this was the most amazing movie-going experience I've had in a long time! Full animated feature in Imax 3D! Never seen animated characters in such detail, on such  huge screen! Movie was really fun too. I can't deny that the 3D experience added another layer of fun to it. Your milage may vary! Reese Whitherspoon portrays Susan very well. I really felt connected to the characters. Seth Rogen's B.O.B. was my favourite character! (Didn't you already guess that?) And the action really had me at the edge of my seat. I was sweating by the end. Climax was full of very unexpected moves, twists, etc. I can't wait for an awesome part two of this movie! I can definitely see these characters and their antics over and over again!

So...

Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 2:15 AM

1:54 AM aniruddh: kya scene hai ?

 me: hi

  was just talking to monu didi..

1:55 AM aniruddh: ok

  i meant "in the bigger picture" kya scene hai

  ?

1:56 AM happy new year..... or so we hope

 me: hehe

  hey, I don't want to be at sheridan anymore

  I want to get the hell out of canada

1:57 AM aniruddh: kyun re?

  kahan jaata?

 me: it's too fucking cold here!

 aniruddh: and what happened with you radmission dude?

  ohhhhhh

  woh theek hai re

  cold is no biggie...

 me: wanna go someplace warmer.

  how about savannah?

 aniruddh: once u have a car and all its REALLY not a big deal

1:58 AM \and maybe few layers of FAT would help too...

  but lets ask for what we can get

  yeah sure

  but apne time ko value kar re

  fuck the cold

  its one of the wqarmest part of canada

1:59 AM and savannah ka abhi mat soch

  baad me dekheneg uska

  and what if chachaji says fuck it ..... come home

  kar re merelaal thoda slog

2:00 AM me: right about now, I wouldn't mind coming back home...

  oakville is such a bad place to be. more so these 6 months of the year..

2:01 AM aniruddh: theek haina

  toronto reh lena

  tu admission to le

2:02 AM jitna tera sheridan aur savannah ki fees mein difference rahega.... utne me u can live on harbour front drive a car and yet save a lot

2:03 AM me: I was talking to friends and he brought up the idea of a loan. is that a possibility?

 aniruddh: toronto is a BEAUTIFUL place to live in

 me: or scholarship

 aniruddh: loan why?...... scholorship NO !!!!

2:04 AM DUDE..... T.o. is the most multicultural city in the world

  summmer in t.o. is practically paraise

  paradise

 me: i was just trying to figure out/justify getting away from sheridan and another decent institute.

2:05 AM but getting from TO to oakville and college is worse than getting from andheri to churchgate

 aniruddh: i thought its the same chat on orkut and gmail

  turns out not

 me: uh.. whatever

 aniruddh: say here

  i closed the other chat window

  dekh

2:06 AM u wanna go to savannah then savannah

  we dont have to get loan for that

  and they dont give shcolorships

 me: I was saying living in toronto and going to study in oakville is HARD-ER!

 aniruddh: hehe

 me: the transit system is really bad

 aniruddh: drive

2:07 AM me: I only have my G1 right now

 aniruddh: and once you arein the school...there are only 15-18 hours of school time per week'

  hehehe

  yeah well licence u can get.... ADMISSION.... i am not sure

 me: hmm

2:08 AM true

 aniruddh: arre tu kya apna mann badal raha waapis

  tension mat de mujhe

  abhi saala critical time aa gaya aur tu canada nahi rahene ki baat kar raha

 me: tension, aap ko?

2:09 AM aniruddh: savannah ke for bhar de

 me: i've been here since 07. completing 3rd year at sheridan

 aniruddh: deadlines miss mat kar

 me: i don't want to be at sheridan saying, this is my 5th year here,

2:10 AM aniruddh: per dude..... u r not getting younger

  i know

  so fill the form and all

  for savannah

  but give it you rlast try

  and a honest one too

2:11 AM being 24-25 and saying that i am not a graduate isnt exactly is good feeling either

  trust me... i was close to that feeling

  ( hehe)

2:12 AM me: hey, i've completed 3 years of college after this, so can I apply for advanced programs?

 aniruddh: I GRADUATED 24 THOUGH

 me: like i can apply for sheridan post graduate computer animation program instead of the 4 year BAA animation

2:13 AM would it be same/similar at other places/

 aniruddh: animation u should know better

  OTHER PROGRAMS.... i can help

  with findig info about other schoold...but that u can do easlily too

2:14 AM me: like generally, would you say I could join graduate programs in colleges rather than undergraduate because I've done 3 years of college

2:15 AM aniruddh: you need 4 years of school for undergraduation

2:16 AM me: and oh, let dad know I need documents for US visa application.. i'm gonna need some help on that

  my interview is on 20th jan

My pencil is the longest

It’s such a great feeling when you realize something for yourself rather than having someone else tell you about it. Don’t you agree?

An old example I can give is, when I was about 6, and I realized I could ride a bike, I went up to my parents and told them I can ride a bicycle. That felt so much better than all those other times someone else was trying to teach me how to ride a bike and probably went, “This is how you do it. There! you can now ride a bicycle!” Right now, all I can think is, “Shut up! You know nothing! I’ll tell you when I can ride a cycle.” Because I feel that’s so true. The time Arjun bhaiya tried to teach me how to ride a cycle in Akola, sure I rode my little cycle without training wheels for a few minutes, maybe an hour or two at the most. But I went back to the training wheels like a day later.

This time, my epiphany occurred when I was working on my portfolio between 12-3 am on 2nd March. I had sweaty palms like I always do when I am under stress. I had to keep a scrap piece of paper under my palm and the paper I was drawing on so I don’t end up wrinkling or smudging it. Even if I had to hold it down with my other hand, I had to make sure to keep my fingers dry or it would end up wetting the paper, sticking my fingers to the paper and all that crap. This wasn’t the least of my problems. At all the places where the paper had gotten wet from my palms, I couldn’t get the lines really dark.

Just when you think you know where this is going.. haha.. Have you ever seen a pencil only one inch long? I have. Maybe even less than 1 inch. In my school, up until 4th grade, before we were allowed to use a fountain pen instead of a pencil, we would run through boxes of them very fast. It was not just due to the writing, dropping, breaking and sharpening but also loosing. Yeah, I was a very careless absent minded little boy. :) The ones that I didn’t loose, I would stop using after they got shorter beyond a particular point. SO short that they didn’t rest on the fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and the forefinger. One, I found that very uncomfortable for extended periods of writing. And two, okay, this is making me laugh, because we would always want to be the one with the longest pencil. (Do you get the subliminal context here? ;) This is an instinct that I think men are born with.)

Wait, I digress. The short pencils that I discarded, would end up in mom’s storage. One by one, She would use these pencils for writing her grocery lists, recipes, etc. sharpening them and still using them till they were really, really tiny! She has always been very resourceful like that. And I sometimes end up feeling bad I am not the same way.

Well, while the other instinct stayed, I stopped caring about long pencils for some reason. Maybe I wasn’t using them enough to notice this. Or I just wasn’t using them in a way that would prompt me to think how short pencils are a big NO-NO. (I remember Pranav telling me about this when I was back in India this summer.) Situation: Sweaty palms, smooth glossy coating on the pencil that just get 10 times more slippery when wet and pencil too short to rest on my fleshy part (anyone know what it is called?) I was down to my last two blue pencils. Both having been sharpened, dropped, and re-sharpened a multitude of times. (Damn why are these col-erase pencils so fucking delicate?)

I decided I couldn’t work like this and I just HAD to get a new pencil, and a pencil holder/extender for times like this when the pencil suddenly got too short to hold comfortably. At about 5 am, I decided to throw in the towel(paper?pencil?) for the night and get some sleep. Wake up when the bookstore re-opens and buy the darn pencil extender. Even if it was going to cost me 6 dollars! I knew I won’t regret it. That night, I used my short pencil to finish my portfolio. I haven’t sharpened it after the last time it broke. I am just wondering if I should leave it like that forever or use it down to one inch?

Male additional check. No alarm

How can I be so fucking sure that I will have to go through 'extra screening' every time I go through an airport? Because of my skin color. Racial profiling is indeed very real and this became apparent to me in phoenix. I had to go through the fucking security check twice. Even though the alarm didn't go off on the metal detector, I was told to stay inside the glass enclosure, for some fucking retard to come take me and my stuff to the side, and waste over 30 minutes of my time.

It's not just wasting my time, it's also wasting the taxpayer money. Since I am not the one paying the taxes, (Dumb americans!) I thought I should have gone back out and come in through the security check again for a third time. I would have loved to see the look on their faces when they went, "Great! A brown guy again! Can't I get a break here?" However, since I was running out of time, I decided I will keep that prank up my sleeve for some other time.

Does anyone know how much those machines that check for chemical explosives etc. cost to buy? The cost of operating them? The wages of the security guards? The cumulative expense of the delays all this is causing? And after all that, they still failed to remove my sharp exacto knife from my pencil bag. I could have used it to take a hostage on the plane and who knows what else. I could have killed someone important on that plane. But I'm the good guy here. I guess I should be the one scared that they let people get on board with little knives. 

A question to the airline companies: Now how stupid do you look giving people soft bendy plastic knives to eat meals on planes? (citing security as the reason)

Answer: More stupid than you think. 

Three Buses and Three Flights final

Okay, I want this part to come to an end already. The flight was a really short one. And there was no food service. There was just a drinks service. There were no television screens. I couldn't wait to get out of it when I reached Chicago.

Chicago was my first footstep in USA. Immediately, I started noticing how people were talking diffrently. I was getting really hungry by now. Walked around the terminal and saw the food court. A nice Jazz themed place. Jazz and Chicago have a history. You can refer to wikipedia for it.

Another thing Chicago is famous for, is their pizzas. I decided to have a pizza from "Reggio's". First time I was spending money in US dollars, in America. Cost me $9.57 with the drink and now I had $10 less to spend on my trip to SF. I knew I wouldn't be able to ake the most of my stay there without more money. But I could always borrow some from Aayush.

After eating, I went around the terminal, taking photos. That you can see in my flickr gallery. Next flight was to Las vegas, Nevada. The city of lights, casinos, Gambling and money. I SO totally wanted to go out to the 'strip' and check things out first hand. I did have a whole night to spend there as the next flight was in the morning. But I talked to Manish bhaiya and he suggested me not to go out there. I thought that was a good decision as I didn't have too much money on me anyways. So I just wandered around the airport like a ghost.

I barely caught a few hours of sleep and was on my way to SFO. Another really short flight. San Francisco airport is connected very well to the rest of the city. I had to take an air train from the terminal to where the BART station is. And from the BART station to downtown where Aayush was supposed to pick me up.

Three buses and three flights part 2

I couldn't figure out which bus I needed to take for the airport. So I thought I'd give a call to Doni. He generally knows about such stuff. Last time I was here, on Boxing day, he was the one who had figured out the whole thing. (We didn't end up taking the GO bus that day.) But just as I dialed his number, I asked someone which bus I needed to take. He was taking the same bus, and he said, 'Just run with me.' And I was on the phone, teling Doni "The bus is just about to leave." while running as fast as I could with the suitcase in my hand and backpack on my back. Doni replies back, "what are you doing talking then? Run!"

Once I was finally in the bus, I hung up. The ride was pretty short and I got to the airport earlier than I expected. I picked up my ticket from a kiosk. It was really nifty. I wish I could have taken a video of it. I just scan my passport in it, (since I was asked to submit my passport number when I booked my ticket) and the machine asked a series of questions, and printed my ticket. I just took that to the attendant for checking in my bag and getting my boarding pass. "15 dollars for checking in a bag." I was like, WTF! I hardly have any cash, I maxed out my credit card when I booked the ticket, And they didn't take any debit card. So I had to use up all my canadian money. And I still had to get some American money. So I went to a currency exchange place and got a bare minimum of 50 USD.

All this while, I was tweeting out. I tweeted what if I said "I have a bomb" on twitter right now? would someone reading that call up the airport security and get me arrested? Hah.. that didn't happen. What did happen, was that I got selected for 'Random extra screening' Now anyone who's ever seen enough movies involving airport security checks, knows this is the most dreaded thing ever! Not only for the people who are actually hiding something but also for the innocent people. The security guy's name was Basim. He took my boarding pass with him. After going through the metal detector, He called me aside and put on his gloves. He asked if I had any sore or sensitive areas on my body. I shrugged.

I was really scared for one thing. I didn't want to be cavity checked. That would have been the most embarassing and painful thing ever! But it didn't go there. He just patted my arms and body to check for any items I might be hiding in my clothing. They then went through my bag. I had to tell him to be careful when removing the towel from my bag because it had my other lens wrapped in it. Next was my camera bag. they rubbed a piece of cloth on the camera and then scanned it in a machine for chemicals.

As expected, nothing showed up, and I was free to go. This was going to be the 6th plane I step into. I think I really want to keep a count. And in the next few days, the count is going to go up really high, really fast. I will land in Chicago and take another plane to San Francisco.