Scars to your Beautiful

Posted by Nerdyy

no better you than the you that you are 😁


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Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart

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Sunday mood


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Can't Stop the Feeling - Justin Timberlake

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Saturday sunshine in my pocket


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Cheap Thrills - Sia featuring Sean Paul

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Friday beats

i dont need no money
as long as i can feel the beat


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Despacito - Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Beiber

Posted by Nerdyy

Of course! And the lyrics (the Spanish) - Oh My!


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November in the Tropics

Posted by Nerdyy


Ok

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It Ain't Me - Kygo, Selena Gomez

Posted by Nerdyy

A gorgeous synth-pop, totally danceable to while commuting, which is really the point of the songs for this week!





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Wish I Knew You - The Revivalists

Posted by Nerdyy

two strangers in the bright lights
oh i wish i knew you when i was young



This is What You Came For - Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna

Posted by Nerdyy

Lightning
This is what you came for


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Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran

Posted by Nerdyy

This album - Oh my God! This is song #3 that has found its way here.

Dedicated to my Castle on the Hill.


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Burn - Ellie Goulding

Posted by Nerdyy

we gonna let it burn burn burn burn



P.S.: Given that I'm gone (MIA but with notice) for approx. a week and a couple of days visiting my parents over Thanksgiving, I left a treasure trove of entertaining songs; all of them songs that I have danced to in the car during my commutes, i.e. perfect for dancing while commuting!

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Fight Song - Rachel Platten

Posted by Nerdyy

What is your Fight Song?


like a small boat on the ocean
sending big waves into motion.

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I Hope you Dance - Gladys Knight

Posted by Nerdyy

This song was on The Voice a week or two ago, and its been buzzing in my head since. Original by Lee Ann Womack.

i hope you never lose your sense of wonder



when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
i hope you dance

i hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
never settle for the path of least resistance
living might mean taking chances but they're worth taking.

Calling all Angels - Train

Posted by Nerdyy

It's been exactly one year ... 😱

I need a sign to let me know you're here
All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere
I need to know that things are gonna look up
'Cause I feel us drowning in a sea spilled from a cup


And I'm calling all angels
I'm calling all you angels.

I'm thinking that some of the angels responded yesterday evening in a resounding way. We need you to not forget us :D

Best Friend - Sofi Tucker, Nervo, The Knocks, Alisa Ueno

Posted by Nerdyy

we made a language for us two, we don't need to describe
everytime you call on me, i drop what i do 

:D



Musical Bonds

Posted by Nerdyy

"Music, such music is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music - not too much, or the soul could not sustain it - from time to time."

- Vikram Seth, "An Equal Music".

P.S.: The quote is dedicated to this blog, the inspiration behind it(and also behind this quote), and the countless designs and redesigns of it. This blog at its core is about music, and about a shared bond.

Climb Evry Mountain - Jordan Smith (The Voice)

Posted by Nerdyy

Emotional - Positive (uplifting, confident, inspirational)

The ultimate goal of every Scorpio is to reach the peak of the mountain that they have chosen for themselves, no matter what the obstacles, no matter the time that it takes.

climb every mountain 
search high and low
follow every highway
every path you know

climb every mountain
ford every stream
follow every rainbow
till you find your dream.


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1-800-273-8255 - Logic, Alessia Cara, Khalid

Posted by Nerdyy

Emotional - Negative (Self pity, manic depressive, insecure, angry/hurt, general PITA behavior)

Unfortunately, another very negative(but very real) trait for Scorpios; the deep dark abyss that they sometimes dig themselves into is very difficult to get out of. Fortunately, the yang to this yin would be the soaring heights that Scorpios can fly to with their positive emotional side. And Scorpios usually find a way to extract themselves from their dark holes, and get back on track to climbing the highest mountains (segue to tomorrow's song!).


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Perfect - Ed Sheeran

Posted by Nerdyy

Intensely Passionate/Magnetic/Protective/Forms Deep Connections

... and this is SUCH a beautiful song :D




Sorry, Not Sorry - Demi Lovato

Posted by Nerdyy

Vengeful/Unforgiving (there is always an exception!)

Of course, and another not so positive trait!

payback is magic
and baby i'm the baddest



baby i'm sorry
(HELL NO)
i'm not sorry!

Demetria, are you by any chance a Scorpio?

Shape of You - Ed Sheeran

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Lust on the Mind

(Well we are talking about Scorpios aren't we?)

What better song to listen to than this, after a day of quiet calm and reflection!


Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven

Posted by Nerdyy

Quiet, Calm and Reflective.

Serene Saturday menu.


No Promises - Cheat Codes featuring Demi Lovato

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Friendship/Caring

(aka song with advice for any friend!)

oh na na na 
just be careful 
na na na 
love ain't simple 
na na na 
promise me no promises


Look What you Made Me Do - Taylor Swift

Posted by Nerdyy

Manipulative

(aka it's not all positive personality traits!)

I
Don't
Like your little games
Don't like your tilted stage
The role you made me play
of the fool
I don't like you!



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Bridge Over Troubled Water - John Legend

Posted by Nerdyy

Friendship/Caring/Loyalty

(aka part of the cavalry)

when you're weary
feeling small
when tears are in your eyes
i'll dry them all
i'm on your side
when times get rough
and friends just can't be found
like a bridge over troubled water
i will lay me down



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What About Us - Pink

Posted by Nerdyy

Intensity

(aka Is there a song with more raw intensity? Perhaps, but none with the interesting overt tones of movement politics, disillusionment with leaders, and disappointment of foot soldiers.)

we are searchlights we can see in the dark
we are rockets pointed up at the stars
we are billions of beautiful hearts
and you sold us down the river too far

What about us?
what about all the times you said you had the answers
what about all the plans that ended in disaster?


we were willing we came when you called
but man you fooled us enough is enough!

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Thunder - Imagine Dragons

Posted by Nerdyy

Determination.

I was dreaming of bigger things
And wanna leave my own life behind
Not a yes sir, not a follower
Fit the box, fit the mold
Have a seat in the foyer, take a number
I was lightning before the thunder.



Kids were laughing in my classes
While I was scheming for the masses
Who do you think you are?
Dreaming 'bout being a big star
You say you're basic, you say you're easy
You're always riding in the back seat
Now I'm smiling from the stage while

You are clapping in the nose bleeds!!

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Zindagi Jab Bhi - Talat Aziz

Posted by Nerdyy

har mulaqaat ka anjaam judaai kyun hai
ab to har waqt yehi baat satati hai hume


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Believer - Imagine Dragons

Posted by Nerdyy

This song has been buzzing in my brain for about a month now, I can't get rid of it. It doesn't help that this is a rocking beat, so it is entirely appropriate for my commutes(dancing while driving has been one of my favorite pastimes!). Initially I thought it was a Beiber fan club song, but obviously not LOL!

I was broken from a young age
taking my soul into the masses
write down my poems for the few
that looked at me
took to me
shook to me
feeling me
singing from the heartache
from the pain
take up my message from the veins
speaking my lesson from the brain
seeing beauty through the
pain


you made me a you made me a 
believer believer
you break me down, you build me up
believer believer

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Bad Moon Rising - Credence Clearwater Revival

Posted by Nerdyy

O_O   😮😮

i hear hurricanes a-blowing
i know the end is coming soon
i fear rivers over flowing
i hear the voice of rage and ruin


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Wildflowers - Tom Petty

Posted by Nerdyy

you belong among the wildflowers
you belong in a boat out at sea
sail away
kill off the hours
you belong somewhere
you feel free


I have seen no other
who compares with you.

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Dil To Bachcha Hai Jee - Ishqiyaa

Posted by Nerdyy

The song that reminds me of ... ME 😉

Umr kab ki baras ke safed ho gayee
kaari badri jawaani ki chatt ti nehin



haye zor kare kitna shor kare
bewaja baaton pe ainwayi gaur kare

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Autumn - Vivaldi

Posted by Nerdyy

The rustle of leaves falling silently to its own rhythm, the smell of the wood burning fireplaces, the cool or sometimes chilly winds, the unique and creative dressed up kids and adults seeking to put the fear of the season in us, walking along the sidewalk, spent leaves crunching under their feet ... OH what the heck am I talking about here - its 94F outside, hot, humid; well hello there Fall in August or should I say August Fall!

Yesterday, the jasmine plant on my deck assured me through subliminal signals (actually not that subliminal, I saw buds), that I would indeed still get to experience her tropical fragrance for at least one more week!

But yes, soon the weather will make a turn for the normal and to celebrate the wonderful season that is upon us, let us experience this:


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Lead Me Home - Jamie Commons

Posted by Nerdyy

A word of caution - yesterday's song posting wasn't meant to imply that I was ready to put on a forlorn face and start walking west to find that elusive light, and today's posting isn't meant to imply that I'm ready to travel to heaven's door. Sometimes a song is just a song that I liked, and me posting lyrics just means that I found them interesting, not in any way implying that the lyrics reflect what I feel :D

Once again the common theme is "The Walking Dead", which makes sense because a couple of weeks ago I was watching some of the episodes as part of a walking dead marathon that was on TV. Hence, some of these songs ...

O Lord in the Darkness
Lead me on my way
Lead me home ...



O Lord, Heaven's waiting
Open up your door
Lead me home.

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The Last Pale Light in the West - Ben Nichols

Posted by Nerdyy

Sometimes called "The Governor's Song" (walking dead reference), this song also mirrors my journey westward two decades+ ago, still searching for that light though.


In my hands, I hold the ashes In my veins, black pitch runs In my chest, a fire catches In my way, a setting sun Dark clouds gather 'round me To the west, my soul is bound And I will go on ahead, free There's a light yet to be found The last pale light in the west The last pale light in the west



And I ask for no redemption In this cold and barren place Still I see the faint reflection And so by it, I got my way.

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You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry and the Pacemakers, Liverpool FC

Posted by Nerdyy

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

In days long gone, I used to be an avid soccer fan (this was pre-92, of course) - and something that I was always intrigued by the singing by fans, especially in European soccer. This is the most famous football anthem originally performed by Gerry and the Pacemakers, made famous primarily by fans of Liverpool FC but other clubs as well.

In life we make many friends, and sometimes flippantly we use the term BFF to describe some, maybe as a platitude, maybe to convince ourselves that there is indeed a "forever friend" when it may not really be true. However, if we are really lucky, sometimes a friend is truly a forever friend. The words of this song encapsulates the forever.
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone.

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Six, Thirteen, Twenty, Twenty Seven ...

Posted by Nerdyy

... OR How to start a friendship, Dystopia Edition.

A long time ago (or in the future, maybe a forgotten (yet not) Tuesday of September)
In a Galaxy Far Far Away (or here in post-apocalyptic earth)

A garbage compacting Wall-E meets a probe droid Eve (with big round blue eyes!), proving that sometimes you make a new friend just because! And even robots can have those memorable first encounters :)


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Soja Zara - Baahubali 2 (2017)

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"my name is in many good songs"


... alas, even long weekends come to an end - sleepy time!

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Homecoming - Josh Ritter

Posted by Nerdyy

This is dedicated to 25 years ago - Aug 25, 1992 was the day I landed in the US!

the nights are getting colder now
and the air is getting crisp
i first tasted the universe on a night like this
a box of wine and i'll abide
in the hunger in her eyes
in a place where the tree of good and evil
still resides.


when the oracle spoke to me 
she was like a roadside song
do unto others
as you would have them do
even if in turn they do you wrong.

this town right here is my everything
though i've been torn away
it has my heart.

p.s. this song is from the season finale of Billions.

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Eclipse - Pink Floyd

Posted by Nerdyy

...
and all you create
and all you destroy
and all that you do 
and all that you say


and all that you slight
and everyone you fight
and all that is now
and all that is gone
and all that's to come

and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

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Bloodstream - Stateless

Posted by Nerdyy

The end song from the season finale of Blacklist


Words can be like knives
They can cut you open
And the silence surrounds you
And hunts you



The spaces in between
The two minds
And all the places they have been
I tried to put my finger on it.

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You Can't Always Get What You Want

Posted by Nerdyy

Watching the TV adaptation of Big Little Lies, I was (as always) struck by how badly visuals are able to keep plot twists a secret (I was easily able to pick out the two more interesting plot twists well before the halfway mark of the series!). While I haven't read the book, I am pretty sure that words are a much better vehicle at keeping a mystery; primarily because it is easy to wrap plot twists and hide them around nuanced words and sentences.

However, the series did have a kick ass soundtrack; and this song that ended the series is a beautifully arranged version of a timeless Stones classic (and a great message for all of us!).


and you can't always get what you want
you can't always get what you want
but if you try sometime
you might find
you get what you need
you get what you need.

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Nadaan Parindey - Rockstar

Posted by Nerdyy

Ranbir: nadaan parindey ghar aaja ghar aaja ghar aaja
Parinda: NEVA *glare*. Ab Mar Ja.
Ranbir: Why?
Parinda: main pareshaaann pareshaaannnn pareshaaannn pareshaaan, main pareshaaan pareshaaan pareshaan.


P.S.: Dedication is obvious, and not explicitly needed!

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Lemons, Lemonade, or ... Aviation?

Posted by Nerdyy

Life has a way of handing us lemons - sometimes very bitter and very tart ones! And we humans have a way of holding onto those memories that bring us back to these lemons. The old saying of course is make lemonade but that is so blase (yes there should be an accent aigu there, but I have no idea how to do it).

So, take the lemon, squeeze out some lemon juice, mix up some gin, creme de violette and maraschino cherry liqueur, add a cherry and a lemon peel to garnish and VOILA you have a stunningly beautiful creation aka Aviation! Enjoy it while soaking up the Summer sunshine :D

Recipe:

2 oz Gin
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Creme de Violette
Cherry (optional)
Lemon Peel Garnish


And what a stunningly beautiful color it is!

CHEERS :D

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Pareshaan Raat Saari Hai

Posted by Nerdyy

This is dedicated to all those long nights (and we know them very well) when sleep insists that she wants to remain a stranger. Here's to Le Doloure Exquise - the exquisite pain.

pareshaan raat saari hai sitaron tum to so jao
sukoot-e-marg tari hai sitaron tum to so jao

(sukoot = silence, marg = death, tari = happening/prevailing)


humen bhi neend aajayegi hum bhi so hi jayenge
abhi kuch bekarari baaki hai sitaron tum to so jao


There is also a Chitra Singh version that is equally good ...


tumhen kya aaj bhi koi agar milne nehin aaya
yeh baazi hum ne haari hai sitaron tum to so jao.

(To all of us that lost our baazis at some point of time, be it 24 years ago or a time more recent or any other time, here's to us :D)

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Woh Kagaz ki Kashti - Chitra and Jagjit Singh

Posted by Nerdyy

Every once so often I will have this craving for music - while I'm driving. This can turn out to be a somewhat unsafe endeavor, it is not easy to choose a "manpasand" album from among the many CDs I have in my car without causing an accident! Thus, for a while now, I just tend to pull out some album any album and insert it in my player. There is that anticipation between the time I put it in to the time it starts playing - What will it be?

Last week I inserted a CD of Jagjit/Chitra ghazals, and it's been a while since I have listened to these songs. I was completely mesmerized, and here are a few of them (one at a time obviously). The first one, memories of a nicer time in the past!


yeh daulat bhi lelo yeh shohrat bhi lelo
bhale chheen lo mujhse meri jawaani
magar mujhko lauta do bachpan ka saawan
woh kaagaz ki kashti woh baarish ka paani

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The Rhythms of Summer

Posted by Nerdyy

The warm winds have been slowly creeping back and finally it is a joy to sit outside on my deck, sipping a cup of coffee or a glass of chilled beer/wine depending on the time of day. Part of the bliss of summer for me is imbibing the various sounds and smells around, while I lounge out there, as I am doing right now with coffee!

There are the sounds of the neighborhood kids playing, birds chirping and singing songs to each other, the occasional bee venturing near me and buzzing around my ear just to remind me to beware of stepping into their natural domain, the dogs barking at squirrels or each other or sometimes after spotting me on the deck. The ice cream truck bells jingling, the trees swishing around while the winds waft through their leaves, the tomato plants on my deck swaying to these winds, the fragrance of my jasmine that has finally gone crazy, the lilac from the neighbor's garden. The jangling and clanging sounds of the garbage trucks in the alley, and the familiar buzzing sound of grass being mowed and trees and plants being trimmed.

Summer has been, over the last few years, when I've retreated into my solitude after many months of beautiful and never ending conversations that warmed my soul over the dark winters and early springs; yet it would be filled with the glorious anticipation of a forthcoming reconnection, inevitable in the past like the flow of a river through the plains fed by melting snow.

Summer has also been a time for catching up with family, sometimes long and sometimes short road trips, and almost every year a trip to the wonderland of Europe. Summer has always been synonymous with travel, of being away, of exploring new towns and new vistas.

But not every summer has to be exactly the same; and this summer and this year seem very different. This summer, the musical notes are distinctly off-key.

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Happy Long Weekend!

Posted by Nerdyy


Happy 150th Canada, Happy 241st USA!

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"Dust Thou Art ..."

Posted by Nerdyy

One of the most difficult things that I have experienced post moving to the US as a student about 25 years ago is the disconnection with almost all of my family, including parents. This is inevitable just because of the sheer distance, as well as the unavailability of any cheap method of communication especially in the earlier years of my stay in the US. My parents would of course, get to see me the most among my family, with them visiting for three month stretches and my couple of week visits. However, aunts and uncles, favorites and not-so-favorites, would only interact with me for those brief hours that I would spend at their house when I visited my parents.

Given that my parents are the youngest or almost youngest among their families, it was inevitable that aunts and uncles would pass away during those in between times. So, I would end up visiting them while I was there, and then someone would be gone the next time I visited. That was very disconcerting to me since I would never really say final goodbyes during my visits - it was always "see you next time" - well they were gone the next time. So, of late, I have decided to say my goodbyes every time I am there: goodbyes that are final farewells at least from my side; when I leave India I assume that (some among) my aunts or uncle will not be there the next time around. Thus I am left with my happy memories of childhood spent with each of them, as well as some sort of closure with my final farewells.

I realize that it is slowly coming to the point where it is my parents that will leave. One day(or night) I will get a call from one of them that the other is gone. And then at some future point I will get another call from someone else that they are gone too. And at this moment I have no clue how I will deal with that. I don't know how much time I have to prepare for this inevitability, but I have to start sometime. The bonds with my country of birth and the place where I spent (upto now) half my life are slowly falling apart.

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Caesar, are you too ambitious?

Posted by Nerdyy

Or at least that was the claim of Brutus, or maybe that was the claim of Shakespeare relayed through Brutus! If you have been following the news these days, you should be able to figure out what brought me to this topic.

However, there is a deeper purpose here; or at least a series of purposes. Readers (or maybe reader?) of my blog will remember (or if you don't I will refresh your memory) that I had alluded a year and a half ago to a restaurant in Rome that had (more than one) historical significance (here is the post: http://musikellishus.blogspot.com/2015/11/pasta-in-roma-yes-of-course.html). The purpose of that post was not just that though, I had intended to write a series of posts about interesting culinary creations and the original restaurants that created them.

So here is Part 2 of that series - the humble (as far as its beginnings) and the now classy Caesar Salad. Cesare (Caesar) Cardini from Lake Maggiore near the Piedmont in Italy emigrated to San Diego in the US in the 1920s and set up a restaurant in Tijuana , Mexico called Caesars. One day short of supplies, he concocted a salad with Romaine, eggs, limes, anchovy and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Thus was born the Caesar Salad!


As always, for the vegetarian palate, the anchovies can be skipped!

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The Mountains We Choose to Climb

Posted by Nerdyy

Anne looked up above her, a foreboding vision of ice and rock loomed beyond. So here it was, the "unclimbable" final ascent, although the word unclimbable referred back to an era in the past. Sure, people had conquered that final climb, but Anne hadn't - yet.

She looked back behind her, and memories of the past flooded back into her mind. It was about two years ago that her world had almost collapsed. An innocuous 50 mile summer bike ride had ended in a heap of twisted metal and a shattered femur. The road back to fitness had been brutally long and hard, but Anne had persevered, having her shattered leg put back together with surgery followed by hours of painful rehab and physical therapy. Two years ago, when she was lying in a crumbled heap in the hospital, her face dissolved in tears, she would not have thought she would be here. But here she was.

She thought wistfully of all the fellow climbers of her group that she had left behind, lower down the slopes. Some unable to keep up with her, others unwilling. She thought of her twin sister Jo, who was aghast that she had even contemplated this. "Why, why are you even doing this?", she asked. Jolie or Jo for short, was 12 minutes younger than Anne, and yet it would be very difficult to comprehend that these two siblings were born of the same womb, so far apart were their personalities. Jo was diffident, racked with self doubt and somewhat unambitious while Anne was the exact opposite. Brave, fearless, a picture of self confidence, and very very ambitious. "I am not doing this for anyone", Anne had replied, "I am doing this for myself, to show me that I can."

A cold gust of wind snapped Anne back from the past that she sometimes had a habit of slipping into. There were a fixed number of daylight hours, and she could not afford to let the minutes slip by. Clenching her jaw, she turned her head back towards the final peak. With her ice axe she dug into the rock, and pulled herself up one step.

She was now a step closer to the summit she had always craved.

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What's Up? - 4 Non Blondes

Posted by Nerdyy

I've been watching this somewhat interesting TV show called Sense8, about a group of 8 "sensates" (sensate = related to or apprehended through the senses) - people that are somehow connected to each other even though they maybe physically far away, and (may)have never met each other in real life.

The premise of the show is interesting because in life we may sometimes feel a hand on our shoulderor a voice in our heads stopping us from pursuing an action or pushing us/nudging us to move a certain way. Many a time in conversations I have used the phrase "I feel you", that is part of the sensory connection that I might feel with another.

Of course, this show goes a whole lot further, with interesting twists and turns. The point of this post though is this song from the mid 90s that keeps spinning in my head.


In the show, Riley(with a strand of blue in her hair) the DJ from Iceland plays this song in a club in London where she is living with Will, a fellow Sense8, a cop from Chicago(!).


And I say Hey Yeah Yeah
Hey Yeah Yeah
And I said Hey, What's going on?

(the words Whats Up never appears in the song!)

0 footnotes:

Finding Emily Jones

Posted by Nerdyy

Last week I was at a conference, and as part of the conference we had a gala reception with a whole lot of alcohol and food to be consumed. The reception was sponsored by textbook and software publishers. Typically these receptions consist of folks chilling and hanging out and yes drinking and eating; thus everyone is in very good spirits(so to speak!). However this particular one had a twist. We were forced to play a game; a game devised by one of the authors (Yes, trust a University professor to throw in some assignment in the middle of happy hour!). As it turns out the game itself was very interesting.

We all had to choose a number between 1 and 100. The person that got the number closest to 2/3 rd of the value of the average of all the numbers chosen would win the game and get a prize. OK so this just got a hell of a lot complicated, especially after having already imbibed a Manhattan (there is a picture of that somewhere!). So the first action in order to correctly find the winning number here was ... get a glass of wine! Great so now lets gather our thoughts into some logical sequence - usually in a population we can expect these type of thinkers:


  1. Level 0 thinkers - Lets just choose a number randomly between 0 and 100 and see what happens.
  2. Level 1 thinkers - Given that the mean of all random numbers between 0 and 100 should be approximately 50, lets choose a number approximately closest to 2/3 rd of 50 = 33.
  3. Level 2 thinkers - Assume the presence of Level 1 thinkers who would choose on average 33, so choose 2/3 rd of that = 22.
  4. Level 3 thinkers - You get the point .. 2/3rd of 22 = 15.
  5. Since this was a conference full of economists, you should expect the presence of at least some game theorists who would take this sequence of thinker levels to a logical conclusion and end up at 0 or 1.
Well - we have already fallen into a trap because unlike a home work problem, no one asked us to find an equilibrium which would indeed be 0 or 1. We had to estimate or forecast what the actual average would be and calculate 2/3 rd of that. Thus we had to somehow figure out the approximate number of each level of thinker. We would also have to think of potentially irrational answers.

(As an aside, this question was once asked as a contest in Financial Times with a cash prize, and the results showed that quite a few of the responses were 100. Was that a completely irrational response from a non trivial set of individuals - as it turns out it wasn't. Apparently a game theory professor at a British University had formed a coalition of respondents whom he convinced to submit as a a response the number 100 - no doubt with a promise of sharing the prize. Why 100 - well because this particular professor wanted to distinguish himself from what he believed would be mostly answers of 0 or 1; thus he sent in a response of 7 along with his coalition that sent in responses of 100, thus after the computations the correct answer would be somewhat removed from 0 or 1 i.e. closer to his 7. So yes - he manipulated the contest! Thus we have to be aware of potential manipulations or gamifications as well.)

At this point comes the question Who is Emily Jones (that is not her real name, just an assumed name that she used to play the game - a nom de guerre as the fancy term goes!)? As you might have guessed that was the winner of our game, with a guess of 26 which happened to be a fraction off of the correct answer. The winner could be the winner one of two ways - a random guess or a well thought out process of guessing the distribution of thinker levels in the population. Given the level of people at this conference, we can easily rule out the first. Why is it important that we find her? Well for any level of statistical analysis to succeed and be considered legitimate, it has to be the case that the researchers forecast the correct distribution of the population. Without that all you have are incomplete or incorrect estimates.

And as a conclusion - what was my guess? It was 15, so I overestimated the number of higher level thinkers or underestimated the amount of drunkenness that was prevailing in the population or more likely both!

0 footnotes:

Farm Fresh

Posted by Nerdyy

... just means fresh from the farm on your deck!

0 footnotes:

An Old Love, Revisited

Posted by Nerdyy

Rahul races across the bridge. Bag slung over shoulder, jacket buttons open.
"Anjali", "Anjali" he screams.
Rahul comes to the end of the bridge.
He looks toward the tent. He sees two Anjalis - his daughter, for whom he was racing across the bridge, and the OTHER Anjali - yes that one, the source of the name for his daughter.

Well No - I wasn't quite going for that type of old love in this return to posting, rather a more constant companion of old, that I had somehow forsaken for other pleasures. As a kid growing up, my first love right from the time I learned to put alphabet letters together to form words was always reading. Fantasy tales, tales about animals, tales about schools and young kids, tales about young kids solving mysteries etc. etc. would fire up my imagination until I was lazily lying down with a picnic basket full of ham sandwiches, stretched out in a meadow full of daffodils. I would conjure up travel tales for myself, and pursuit of dragon tales for myself, and flying on witches broomsticks for myself. Growing up as an only child, with very strict parents with strict rules meant that reading was my only source of escape into a fantasy world, that I always yearned to escape to in real life, except they didn't exist in any reality! As I grew into my pre-teen years I somehow convinced my mother that I would achieve a lot more productivity with my schoolwork if I could shut my door and make it more quiet in my room. Once that convincing was accomplished, I would wait every day breathlessly until I could shut my door and then secretly delve into my books during homework time. Of course the homework would be done in record time in between the pleasurable reading times! And I had to invent my own subterfuges to get around the very keen eyes of my mother; who would keep a close watch over my book reading. You see, if she saw me with 1/3rd of the book read in the afternoon, and then in the evening notice that I was 2/3rd of the way through my book, she would get naturally suspicious that I had been reading the book during my homework time! SO I ended up reading portions of the book twice to ward off any suspicions.

Adolescence passed into the teen years, in the meantime music entered my list of loves. But reading was still very important - now I had graduated into the words of Alfred, the Williams, Jane, Charles, Emily, Arthur and of course a plethora of less literary mystery and spy stories. My fantasies still raged - one day I was at war leading an armada into battle and the next I was an Interpol agent racing through multiple train stations in Europe just to make my connections in pursuit of an old Nazi, and the next day I was seducing the most beautiful woman in my imagination who just happened to be betrothed to my cousin, the Prince.

And then one day in mid August of '92 I got on a plane and flew across the globe to this brand new place - Dallas! And my fantasies had come alive. I could see daffodils in March, I could race through airports, I could visit new and exciting cities - you get the point. And reading became a lot less important. And over the years as I became busier and busier with life, it slipped completely off of my radar. But I always wondered if there would be a day that I would gravitate towards it again, and maybe rekindle the old connection we shared. Maybe all I needed was a nudge and a push towards it. And in the end, after all these years that's all it took - many nudges and pushes, some overt but mostly covert and well hidden encouragements thrown my way.

Now that I had decided that I was going to reconnect with books, the question was what should I read. I was given a book that seemed a tad to heavy and depressing, about disease and mortality, so I set it aside (and will come back to later) and took up a lighter offering. And I was hooked instantly - maybe because it kept reminding me of experiences from the very near past. And I gleefully downloaded eBooks, and ordered books from the library. So now I have this pile of books waiting to be devoured, overt and covert meanings waiting to be deciphered, romances straight and illicit waiting to be explored, and travel stories waiting to be experienced.

So I can say that my old love has ensnared me again, and I am happily reading the words of the beloved authors and poets, and delving into the fruit of knowledge offered up by this garden of eden.


A Final Moment, Frozen in Time

Posted by Nerdyy


March - Sometimes cold, sometimes warm, sometimes hot; but always mysterious, captivating, and forever gorgeous. 

0 footnotes:

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751

Posted by Nerdyy


or,


0 footnotes:

31,000 Feet above the Earth

Posted by Nerdyy


The Moon reflecting the splendor of the Sun
The pair of stars, light years away from us, with their own fiery incandescent spirit.

P.S. This picture taken 20 minutes prior to descent into Phoenix, a gorgeous night above the clouds. Pardon the picture quality, cellphones don't necessarily provide a great capture!

2 footnotes:

Channa Mereya

Posted by Nerdyy

Hahahaha - the movie with so many one-liners that appealed to me, some funny some totally cheesy and one of them totally ME!

"saree pehenani aat i hai - nehin, utaarni aati hai - *big face*"
"rishton ki geeli zameen par log aksar hi phisal jaate hai"

and of course (somewhere on the pages of this blog many moons ago I made somewhat of a similar observation without the God bit!)

"mera koi god bhagwan to nehin, bachpan se ek hi bhagwan r d burman"

and so many 80s and earlier songs!!

But really, the song which has stuck to me and refuses to leave is this one - some of the words are just SO damn personal!

andhera tera maine le liya
mera ujlaa sitaara tere naam kiya
channa mereya mereya channa mereya mereya
channa mereya mereya beliya o piya


kisse humare nazdeekiyon ke kum to nehin
kitni dafah subah ko meri 
tere angan main baithe shaam kar diya

Qisse humaare nazdeeqiyon ke
Kam toh nahi hai
Kam toh nahi hai
Kitni dafaa, subah ko meri
Tere aangan me baithe
Maine shaam kiya


Read more: http://www.lyricsmint.com/2016/09/channa-mereya-ae-dil-hai-mushkil.html

4 footnotes:

Chicago - Carl Sandburg

Posted by Nerdyy

Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,
and under his ribs the heart of the people,

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

0 footnotes:

Green!

Posted by Nerdyy

Another inflexion, right at the cusp of Winter and Spring, and thus a more hopeful one; but by God you are early!!



"The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"
                - Shelley, Ode to the West Wind.

0 footnotes:

Sunset, Revisited

Posted by Nerdyy

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, February 2017
In each sail that skims the horizon,
In each landward blowing breeze,
I behold that stately galley,
Hear those mournful melodies; 

Till my soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me.


- The Secret of the Sea, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

0 footnotes:

Life, Letters and (many) Special Rishtas

Posted by Nerdyy

I will preface this by stating that typically I am unconvinced by any argument that encourages me to watch a particular Hindi movie, especially the modern ones. I feel they (modern Hindi movies) are best left to view and fall asleep to on a plane on one of those innumerable long journeys that I keep taking. The last hindi movie I remember watching in its entirety was Baby, an Akshay Kumar thriller, in March 2015, that my mom convinced me I should watch since the entire family was going for it.
So I was a bit surprised to see myself heeding a recommendation from a friend. Usually I end up either skimming through or not seeing the movies she recommends, not from any feeling or knowledge that her recommendations are not of value, but just from a sense of laziness or a lack of time where it becomes too much to actually devote such a long time to a hindi movie. Somehow this time, it played out differently and I have no idea why. Perhaps some psychic sense persuaded me to actually spend the time to watch it, and I would just like to take the time to thank that sense. It was "laughter and tears for me", she had promised but tears are almost impossible to come by for me, except for this unexplained and uncontrollable sobbing fit I had a couple of weeks ago in a moment of complete panic and desperation, for completely uncorrelated reasons.
In this case though with the movie, the tears never really came for me - the laughter did. But in lieu of tears I felt a massive sense of empathy, sadness, and joy all rolled into one for the protagonist. She was shown careening from one short lived and utterly predictable disaster to the next. In the latter stages of the movie, we find the hidden sadness in her that propels her to her short spells of joy. The deep feelings of complete abandonment that the protagonist went through as a child and her transformation at age 6 into something colder, yet still craving for love, touched a deep empathetic strain in me (although no tears!) that took me back a few years to a letter that someone had shared with me, and the twisted path of life for this person that followed the events described in that letter.
Apart from the protagonist, the movie also delved somewhat shallowly into the other main character, an individual the protagonist meets and then seeks out along the way, who in his own way mostly talks but also sometimes listens to heal the wounds of the protagonist and point her to a better path in life, leaving her to actually tread on this path and overcome her deep rooted anger and pain, which she does on her own.
The movie was good, worth watching, although it did have some puerile moments. But it also provided an apt lesson that in life we meet people who we are sometimes destined to part ways with, and our interactions leave us with memories that torment us when we are lonely - Yes, of course, I would end with an old hindi song!

jeevan ke safar mein rahi milte hai bichhar jaane ko
aur de jaati hai yaadein tanhai mein tarpane ko.

1 footnotes:

The Day The Music Died

Posted by Nerdyy


I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died





Jan 20 2017

We feel we are at an inflexion point - just dont know what things will be in the future. But I am at peace with my decision - I've thought about it for a while and now it's time - The last 8 years have been great and I am definitely NOT looking forward to the next 4. For now I am exhausted and need a break - I doubt if I'm ever coming back to this forum but stranger things have happened. In the words of the late Ted Kennedy "the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

3 footnotes:

Vignettes of my Dazzling Ex-Flames

Posted by Nerdyy

Travel - One of the true passions of my life - I love the concept of visiting and spending time at destinations and then moving on to another destinations (Some might argue that this also reflects the way I view people - they wouldn't be completely incorrect) - variety after all is THE spice of life :D

In this brief post I present glimpses of hot dazzling women from a long time ago - from the country of my birth.

We start with the sexiest of them all (indeed this lady is arguably the moistest or wettest of all ladies in India, creating fertile surfaces wherever she travels).


Lady Ganga - as she descends from the mountains and starts her long journey to meet the Saagar of her dreams.


Next up, we move to Lady Mumtaz - truly a dazzling spectacle. No picture ever has done her justice or ever will - you actually have to be there to truly comprehend the scope of her beauty.


The picture is a little off center but you get the idea.

And we move on to Lady Victoria - although I did find out that the lady has changed genders in the interim 35 years since I last visited her - she now goes by the name Chatrapati Shivaji.


This is the erstwhile Victoria Terminus Station in Bombay - I do not believe there is a grander train station anywhere in the world.

Next up - one of the grand dames of Bollywood - opened in 1933 this art deco construction has hosted red carpet premieres of many a Bollywood hit. This is Regal.


And finally, not a flame but a landmark that reminds me of myself ( I will briefly explain)


This is Humayun's Tomb - right in the heart of Delhi - an absolutely gorgeous monument with lush grounds and a variety of other ancillary structures - truly a beautiful spectacle - attracting maybe one- hundredth of the crowds that other major monuments in the area attract - and even more remarkably, mostly bypassed by the local population. In short forgotten, taken for granted and unappreciated - hence it reminded me of myself - always the story of my life :D

2 footnotes: