sachel

Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:00:00 +0000

A few of us went out for a birthday last night. It had been a while since we had all gotten together. I am sure most people can relate to this feeling. You just have certain people in your life that are a part of you in some way. It can be years since you hung out with them last but the connection is just there. Well last night was another one of those nights we all got together and it felt like we didn't miss a beat. There was about ten or twelve of us but it felt like a well oiled machine that just worked well. We went bowling and then out dancing and the night was loads of fun. For me at least there were some interesting moments... a few instances of reflection. I find myself still just smiling in a way as I think about the night. I am smiling to a certain degree because I often wonder how we all got here and where we are all going to go from here. it seems life has found a way to bring us all together and considering how much fun we have its for good reason. I have been thinking really seriously recently about leaving California and perhaps starting up somewhere else. It's nights like last night that give me pause, as I wonder if I could ever build friendships and connections like the ones I have here. Its definitely not all rosy and pretty. Even within us friends there are so many "thorny" issues some of which we sweep under the rug and others that we often talk about. Still though issues or no issues its that feeling that you are understood, that you belong, that you can and want to listen to others, and that there are people that care to listen to you... Friends are sometimes the most unappreciated assets of our lives. I for one am glad for the friends I have and for the many wonderful memories I have had with them.

Nobel Peace Prize

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:24:00 +0000

President Barack Hussein Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today. Am I surprised and shocked? Definitely. Do I think he is deserving of the prize well that is where the real question arises. In my own opinion he does. In my lifetime I can't remember another person that has been able to affect the spirit of so many people as President Obama has. He is not Mahatma Gandhi who by the way never won the prize and definitely deserved it. I would ask you though for a second to think of another person who has so instantly changed the perception of America worldwide. I would ask you to think of another person that has captured the imagination of the world as the President has. I agree with a lot of the critics that he has not been able to deliver on that promise but we haven't really given him much time. I don't remember us judging any other president with a microscope to such a degree as we have President Obama. Every move he makes is scrutinized and challenged, but yet how many times have we heard him loose his cool, say the wrong thing, give a shoulder massage to a foreign dignitary (thanks President Bush), or seemingly loose sight of his goal. To get someone to have hope in change, to actually have them believe in it is to me a great feat and President Obama has gotten a nation to believe and some may argue even a large segment of the population of the world...

Whats wrong with the left.

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:18:00 +0000

I should be studying... really I should but this was bugging me and yet again I have neglected to post in a while. Why is it that fringe movements like the Washington Tea Party can get so many things done, that Rush Limbaugh, O' Reilly, Fox News, Conservative radio etc... can garner so much support. Recent Census Bureau data revealed that the shape of the economy post Bush is the worst of any president in modern history. The list of atrocities that have taken place in an era of Republican control while a Republican president and a Republican congress is long and somewhat frightening. There are prison abuse stories, a history of torture, secret prisons, lack of due process, etc... Amazingly until the final days Republicans stuck by President Bush, probably not a wise thing but they did.

On the other hand, So many people are already questioning Obama and the current Democratic party congress on why things haven't turned around including many democrats. Just a thought the United States is like a huge Oil Tanker in an ocean that we are expecting to maneuver like a small speed boat. On top of that the previous regime has ensured that we aren't in open waters either. The multiple missteps have ensured that we are actually in a sea of sorts with very few exit points and only careful maneuvering will ensure that we will actually make our way out safely. I am not saying that we should give the administration and Congress a free pass that's what the nation seemed to do with the last president and look where we ended up, but in light of the circumstances under which President Obama took over we may want to be a little patient...

Our voices of support have to be loud and perhaps even slightly uncivil. Yes I know we are the party of the educated, the party that doesn't play dirty, the party that likes to do things the right way... At some point if the war is in the trenches we may have to adjust our methods. If a Congress man is willing to call the President a liar during a speech in the House we know the other party is not willing to abide by the rules.Ok , I concede we may not want to stoop to their level but we should at the least be prepared to write, post, message, spread the word about our dismay at the discourse taking place around us about the current administration. When things like Death Squads, comparisons of Obama to Hitler, other misconceptions about the health care plans are being put forward daily.

Health Care Reform

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:29:00 +0000

*** Let me preface this by saying these are just my opinions, rants, etc... proceed with caution***

Let's just start with a question what do we think is a more primitive need, basic health care or education? I am not sure we all agree but I think its health care. The constant chatter out of Washington (Mostly Republicans) is that a government option would mean that we wouldn't have a private system. Just in case someone missed it our K-12 education system is a public one and last I checked there were plenty of private schools around. Is the public school system a great one, I would be the first to point out that it isn't, but ponder the alternative for a second is a bad education or a sub par one better then not knowing how to read at all... A public health care system may not deliver excellent care to all its patrons... last I checked our current private system with the highest paid doctors on the planet... doesn't either. The goal of a health care system at least a public one should not be to provide heart transplants, brain surgeries, or other complicate procedures to the masses. Instead the goal should be to provide basic services to everyone in an efficient manner. (No the regional county hospital is not an efficient manner) I am well aware that the goal should be to save everyone and the goal of the public school system is to graduate everyone. Unfortunately the first priority has to be to provide baseline services and then work on improving the system from that point on... I am not a guru by any means and I definitely don't know all the nuances but I think the solution to this problem has to be multi-faceted... Here are some of my suggestions

Increase the number of AMA certified Medical schools ( the number of Caribbean Schools has gone from 3 to something like 30 in the last few years if nothing else those would be dollars spent on our soil ... stimulus anyone) Theoretically an increase in Supply of doctors should decrease salaries
Provide federal loans that could be considered grants if the Physician or health care professional chooses to stay in the primary care fields. Incentivizing Primary Health care would go a long way in keeping better people in the primary fields rather then losing them to Specializations.
Create a government option that is designed to compete with the for profit Insurance companies... such and entity would be required to provide baseline profit returns to its own fund and its reports made public so it could be self sustaining.
Create a separate federal board with state offices to hear about claims that are denied by Insurance carriers. The board would be made up of Industry experts and the decisions of the board would be binding.
Create a national Information system. A system of Medical Records for all citizens housed and run by the government. Access to the system would be fee based as to help defray the cost.
Provide Grants and low interest loans to allow for practices to update software to interface with nationwide system. Prioritize grants and loans based on practices that provide a higher percentage of care to low income families as these practices tend to be less profitable. Grants should also be prioritized based on specialty with primary care practices taking precedence over others.
Create legislation that requires all health Insurance carriers to provide Insurance to the at risk population, each carrier would be required to insure a certain percentage of people that would otherwise be considered uninsurable. The percentage would be fixed providing a measure to spread risk across the whole system and not burden any particular carrier.
New legislation to bring the Health Insurance system under national purview considering it is fragmented and currently run state by state.
A review of the current Reasonable and Necessary and Usual and Customary standards employed by the industry. Health care professionals should be responsible for determining what care they believe is best for their own patients. Doctors would be subject to blind audits at random by a board of their own peers and those that abused the privileges would be reimbursed at a lower percentage. Boards would be set up nationwide and could loose their accreditation as they would also be cross audited by each other.

Those are just some suggestions I have. Just curious to see what if anything happens with the current legislation...

Questions...

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:09:00 +0000

I was talking to a friend today and she told me that one of her close friends had just passed away. In my 28 years I have experienced a lot of difficult things but have managed to experience death of someone close to me only a few times. I had a friend pass away in high school, a teacher who treated me like a son, and my aunt recently. I have to say that I have always felt that I don't deal with it well. I wish there was a pattern or a set rubric of things one is supposed to do to feel like they were doing the right thing. What is the right thing? What is the appropriate etiquette. What is the appropriate amount of grief? Does it matter if someone was sick before they passed away? Does that somehow mean that we will miss them less...perhaps it's just that we are more prepared. I told this friend of mine that I wouldn't tell her that I understand what she is going through, because I don't feel like I really do but I was there for her if she needed anything. I don't if that was the right thing to do, but it just felt right to me. I have a lot of questions but very few answers and the subject of death is a question that I am truly perplexed by... I would think its a question that perplexes many of us...

From a long time ago. New York pt. 1

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:53:00 +0000

I wrote this a long time ago and meant to post it but never did. It's recollections from a trip to New York....

I am on the flight back right now.I have been telling myself for weeks that I would do this, well now is as good of a time as ever. There is still a slight paion in my stomach, a lingering reminder of the past few days. New York, yet again, was all that I thought it would be. A host of us landing at different times at different airports only to end up at the same apartment. Thursday night started in amazing fashion with Katti Rolls from Roomali. I remember commenting on how orange the place really was. A sign on the door bragged of all the acclaim the place had recieved from local newspapers. Some hailed it the best rolls in town. They weren't, with my limited exposure to New York food, lying. The rolls were phenomenal.

Shortly thereafter the drinking began. There were a host of Gin and Tonic's. A shower and a shave later I was ready for the night scene. In hindsight that night should have been a sign of things to come. I was already having a difficult time drinking. I should have known the food was not sitting well with me. The night scene on this particular night was not in our favor. The place we went to Taj's was awesomely decorated and the music there was second to none, but if having ten guys in our group wasn't bad enough we only seemed to find an abundance of more... After clamoring for a while over wether the scene was going to improve we all decided to leave and head over to Mercury Bar. This place was definitely more happening, but truthfully the most memorable part of the night was the pizza. Pasta pizza as we called it or Baked Ziti as referred to by the owner was oustanding. Check item number one, New York pizza off the list. Calling it somewhat of an early night(3am) we decided to get ready for the next few days.

Friday was of course a late start. We decided as a group of "guys" to dedicate the day to "shopping" and headed over towards Madison and 5th. We stopped off at a local deli, Oxford Catering Company, to grab a bite. I had the Chicken Parmigiana Pannini, which was pretty good. First stop was the Sean John Store, liked a few items but definitely out of my price range. Next we headed over to Saks Fifth Avenue. I need to pause here for a brief description. I was wearing jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, and a baseball cap. The person attending to us at the counter was not let's say extremely gracious. Arjun asked the appropriate questions but nothing came of being at Sak's. We ran through some other stores and ended up at H&M. I should have ran, two hundred dollars and almost two hours later, I had two blazers, a couple of short sleeve shirts and another long sleeve shirt that would be making the journey home with me a few days later. Atur and I headed over to Mexx to meet up with the other guys who by now were a little tired of waiting for the two shopping idiots. In our absence they had made it to the Versace store and Arjun had found the money clip that he had been looking for. Anuj, our gracious tour guide was little tired at this point, the throwing up from the night before had left him in a struggling state for the the day, so we headed back to his place...

Wrote this a while back

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:01:00 +0000

I wrote this a while back thought maybe someone would find it interesting...
To look at a blooming rose, one could say
Is to see the world in a different way
Separated from its peers by its hue
The beauty so undefyingly true
The color so vibrant it could bleed
The pains of the blossom you could almost read
The velvety texture so silky so smooth
The petals every single one every pain it could sooth
The need inside to reach out and grab it so…
The thorns below telling you no
To want it so you wonder if it’s just
Or is it merely a product of your worldly lust
You gaze away momentarily to catch your breath
To think of the right words to express
You turn back and see the rose is gone
You notice someone’s blood on the thorn’s
They bled for her but you feel the pain
Longing to have the past few moments again

Thanksgiving...

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:23:00 +0000

It's the night before Thanksgiving. I haven't really allowed myself much time to reflect lately and figured now is as good of a time as any. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I took a trip to the east coast and partied it up for about ten days. A couple of weeks prior to that my girlfriend and I had broken up. After telling her a year ago that I wanted us to start thinking about marriage, I noticed that she just took my sincerity for granted. She made no effort to make any of the things I wanted in life a reality and continued to focus on what she wanted. I know it sounds bad but really what gets me is that I understand why she is doing what she is doing; but I don't understand how she can expect to sit around and just take it. Albeit I was a free man so it was time to let loose and enjoy my east coast trip. I can't lie I really tried to enjoy my new found freedom. I also have to say that it just didn't feel right. I was partying and running around like the old school college days. Night after night we went out in Philly, New York, attended weddings and partied like rock stars. I had a blast but something inside of me just didn't feel right. I did enjoy myself though and in some ways it was the perfect medicine...

It is the night before Thanksgiving, as I mentioned before, and I should be thinking of things to be thankful about, but in some ways all I feel is sad and mad. I was so close, and somehow I am so far. The truth of the matter is that I am thankful. I am thankful to her for at least trying to understand me. I am thankful for my friends who have figured out the perfect balance of how to be there for me without overwhelming me with the traditional "are you ok" speech. I am thankful for much more then that, the food I eat, the job I have, the people I have met, the air I breathe, for a wonderful family, the list goes on and on...

I am not sure if this Thanksgiving is going to be like the others, since I am rolling into it with so much baggage, but I can always hope...

Long Lost Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:42:00 +0000

I haven't written in a while so I apologize if I am a bit rusty. It seems as though as I get older I am losing friends. There are many reasons for this of course as many of you may well know. Whatever the reasons may be it is still a tough pill to swallow. It's tough not having that person to count on to go to workout with. That buddy that was always willing to go play basketball no matter how far we had to drive. That perfect wingman wait I take that back I am the perfect wingman. The person who was ready to go to any party no matter how dumb it sounded. The guy who always covered for you no matter what. The guy to watch football games with on Sundays. The list goes on and on but I am sure you get the point. Suffice it to say it is hard to loose such a friend. In my case I have lost two: One to the Chapman MBA program and the other to the Sonal Marriage program.

You are both sorely missed... =)

Sonal, can Atur please come out to play. =)

Confusion

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 08:59:00 +0000

I haven't written in a while, and to be honest I hope no one reads this. I just need to rant. This is a matter of public record so I should be careful but I don't even know if I care. All I know is that I could go on and on.... Wether its my personal life, local issues, state issues or world issues I feel as I get older that I realize as a race as a species we have not come far. Darfur is a reality before us and its not even the worst of what is happening in the world. I often feel helpless to create change and am bewildered about how to create change. Should one attempt to become as succesful as a Bill Gates(no I don't expect to be Bill Gates) and then better the world that way or did Mother Teresa have it right. Would she have been able to do anything without funding, would Bill Gates be able to do anything without people like her to do the work. Who is the better person... I think society has clearly answered that it is Mother Teresa, but I have to be honest I am not sure. I think that is the jist of the argument, I am not sure. I am not sure that the stance the US takes on most issues is right and in all honesty when the full picture is taken into account I am not sure the stance they take is wrong. For some reason Dick Cheney comes to mind when discussing right and wrong but I think that is best left for a later time. All I know is that I am confused...

Just some interesting quotes

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 21:25:00 +0000

I don't even know if anybody reads this thing anymore , but if anyone does I thought they might enjoy this. As a part of my work I have been visiting elementary school lounges for the past few years and have always thought it would be a good idea to just jot down some of the things people say. I recently started forced myself to do it. Here is an installment of a few things I heard and some observations i made. My Observations are in italics.

- Procrastinating is an inherent human quality
- The most succesful people seem to be less stressed in the same situations
- Wisdom is simply saying the right thing at the right time
- Teachers are no different then lawyers, work time is hard and play time is fun.
- We have a training on "cognitive thinking," I wonder what it's going to be about.
- "Mulitplication" one day they remember the next they don't
- "Screw Education" is Santa Ana's new city motto
- My father moved in with his girlfriend after he had a stroke. I asked him when he was going to get married. He responded "When the weather breaks." He lived in Chicago ...

Just a crazy thought

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:29:00 +0000

California just recently moved up its primaries to February 5th. Our state has been known as the cash cow for elections. Essentially Californians contribute in hoards, and the point behind bringing our primary date up is to presumably have some of that money spent here. I say California is the cash cow not just for elections but for almost everything. We have the fifth largest economy in the world.(Our economy is larger then the country of France) As of 2003 Californians were contributing 12.3% of the nations federal taxes. We all know that federal tax revenues are not being spent here. California's political views are often at odds with the rest of the country. Our Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzeneger could very well be a democrat if you take a look at his policies. Our ethnic makeup is also unique in comparison to the country especially "the bible belt". Our states topography is no different then one of a large country, and from a meteorological standpoint we pretty much cover a wide range of temperatures. With all that being true why can't California just secede from the Union. Yes I just said it, why isn't there a movement to make California, it own country. Wouldn't California just be better off as a country left to manage its own affairs. I know, I know I am a nut. Like I said in the title of the post it was just a crazy thought...

What Now?

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:33:00 +0000

The Democrats just won the election and that means that they see the election as a clear sign that the American people want change, and they should. What is change though? Is it withdrawing from Iraq is that even a possiblity. It's definitely not "staying the course." The President is hilarious, he is "staying the course" but his Secretary of Defense is resigning, perhaps someone should tell him what that actually means, "staying the course" that is. Maybe Condeleeza should actually work on making sure the President understands what he is saying; I think the pretzel that he choked on might have made him loose air for a little too long.

All jokes aside I think the Democrats have a real problem. Either we withdraw which would be a global nightmare or we stay which would be a national nightmare. It was great strategy to use the war as a tool to win the election, but I am afraid it will hurt the democrats in the Presidential election coming up. The democrats are faced with a president that is going to veto anything they pass which perhaps could work in their favor because if nothing gets done they can just point the finger at him. We are just in for a couple of really interesting years politically and the world is not going to stop and wait for us to catch up...

Haven't Written in a while

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:37:00 +0000

I haven't written in a while, haven't really felt the urge. Perhaps its been the lack of things to talk about, perhaps just the fact that I don't think anyone reads this thing anyways. Maybe its better this way. I have to say I am frightened. I am frightened by the state of affairs going on in the world around us. The war in Iraq, the problems in Darfur, and now the Israeli Conflict. The war in Iraq has been beat up on enough so I will just let that one be. Darfur is reaching a new level of conflict even with a peace agreement in place because of Chad's involvement. It's amazing how long the world has turned a blind eye to this segment of the world as a whole population of civilians is killed. The current state of affairs begs for a International United Nations force, one which has been refused entry from the Sudanese government. It's baffling what we are going to do to bring this conflict to an end.

I want to dedicate a little more discussion to the Israeli conflict. I believe this problem is bigger then meets the eye of most citizens in the US. I am going to forego a discussion on the Palestinian front.(like the Iraq war I think that has been discussed quite a bit too) So lets talk about Lebanon. There are a number of issues that scare me but there are one or two that make me feel like this is like no other conflict that we have seen in the past.

Let's take a look at Hizbullah, its a terrorist organization. One that is amazingly organized. The problem is not in their organization but in how the world and more importantly the United States is supposed to deal with them. It's a group housed primarily in Lebanon but funded mostly by Iran and Syria. That sort of structure begs the question who is to blame. Hizbullah attacks Israel, Israel attacks Lebanon. A minority Shiite' organization in the Southern part of Lebanon attacks Israel and the disproportionate response sets a whole country back twenty years. Israel is defending itself but not by curtailing the current threat. They are ensuring that they do enough damage to Lebanon to prevent the revival of the threat for years to come. In some senses with the perdicament that Israel is in they are within their rights to do so. My problem is that setting back Lebanon will not solve the problem. It will merely result in the funding mechanisms targeting their money to different organizations.

Let's take a look at Hizbullah, its a social welfare organization. One that is also amazingly organized. Hizbullah runs a couple of hospitals, a few schools and a variety of other social service type orgs. In fact Hizbullah in South Lebanon does a better job of social service then the Lebanese government itself. By bombing Hizbullah the Israelis are destroying a social service organization that is close to the people and therefore providing another reason for the people to hate Israel if there weren't already enough. The Israelis are creating a recruiting haven for Hizbullah for years to come as the youth of those lost and slain will harbor hatred for those that are responsible.

There are definitely many other facets to this discussion that I am omitting but just the two highlighted above, in my mind, make this a very scary situation.

Another one bites the dust

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Mon, 29 May 2006 02:18:00 +0000

The time has come, when we have to realize that we are at the beginning of the end. Everywhere you turn soldiers are losing the war. You try to aid them in their effort keep them upbeat. You even offer a shoulder to cry on. Nothing seems to work. At the end the war is just to tough. The lure too strong for some. And that is how you lose them. This last weekend we lost another good soldier. He too gave in and laid down his arms. Atur decided it was time and proposed. It seems as though in the last few weeks the morale has been especially low as I have been hearing of more fallen soldiers then ever before. It has gotten so bad that there are circles betting on who the next soldier to fall will be. My money is on the Doshi brothers. Any takers. Well Atur you have ventured to the other side I wish you well. I say this with a heavy heart. Another one bites the dust....

Mother's day

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sun, 14 May 2006 18:43:00 +0000

Some of you may know this and others probably don't but I work mostly with teachers and their retirement accounts for work. Teachers are a very curious bunch, one of them asked me the other day when mothers day was for us culturally. Perhaps there is one but if so I don't know when. I relayed that to her following it up with, in our culture everyday is mother's day. It bugged me to think that we didn't have a celebration like mothers day or that even if we did we didn't celebrate it in our household except for the American version. I got solace in the fact that mothers in India and Pakistan are held up to a pedistal that in my opinion is not paralleled in American culture. In Islamic belief salvation is under your mothers feet, and in Indian culture from what I understand your Mother is revered like a god. Since I am a muslim of South Asian descent I get the best of both worlds. Basically I am a momma's boy and in light of that I just wanted to say to my mom and all the mothers out there HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.

I am getting old.

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sat, 06 May 2006 17:20:00 +0000

I am getting old; So it was Cinco De Mayo yesterday and a friday night and I spent it at home in front of my Tv. Is it just me or is it harder and harder to find things to do. I live in Corona which doesn't help cause I am quite a drive from anyone. On top of that everyone is so busy with their own lives that its so difficult for all of us to get together. So since I was stuck at home I watched the playoffs and then played online poker. Online poker can be addicting. It seems as though the highlight for every weekend for me is playing basketball. Since we play early on Sundays I don't go out on Saturdays and most of my Fridays are spent just like this one was at home.
The highlight of the night was the Colbert speech at the correspondent dinner(thanks Terrence) the shit was hilarious. I am just wondering who thought it would be a good idea for Colbert to speak at the event. He was right on point, after this bit he has surpassed Jon Stewart in my mind, although I think Colbert gets carried away sometimes. Were it not for Colbert the night would have been a complete bust.

Humanity Lost

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 03:03:00 +0000

I just finished reading Night by Elie Wiesel, it's a book about the holocaust. It's really well written and painfully elaborate. I wasn't even able to read large portions of it at a time just a little too much to bear. It was much easier reading little bits at a time. Although the whole book was a hard pill to swallow one fact in the book stuck out even more. Even when people are put to the limits of humanity they are still able to hate. I learned from this book that the term Jewish prisoners used to refer to their weaker compatriates that would be sent to the crematorium was "Muselman" the german word for Muslim...

How about the BRUINS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:32:00 +0000

That's right the Bruins are going ot be playing in the championship game. They have a great backcourt and they can play defense with the best of them. They won't be able to run against Florida as they did against LSU but if they can keep the game to a pace similar to the game against Memphis, then they might be bringing it home.

Since it's Sunday here are some music and reading suggestions.

Songs

No Bravery- James Blunt(his whole cd is good)
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
Tenu Ishq Hua - Saru Maini
Yeh Hai Meri Kahani - Zinda

Books

Been reading about resumes and cover letters nothing interesting to add

Till next time...

Here goes

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 20:44:00 +0000

The Vapor Trail
Random Brutal Love Master (RBLMm)

Here today, gone today. You are The Vapor Trail. Are you in a relationship now?

Your exact opposite:
The Backrubber

Deliberate Gentle Sex Dreamer

What about now?

Vapor Trails can be highly charismatic people--unpredictable, confident, and magnetic. You're experienced. You know how to handle yourself in a relationship, and many people appreciate that. Many people, all in a row.

You've had your share of blissful beginnings, to be sure. But things almost never turn out how you'd like, do they? The problem is you're never happy with someone for an extended period of time. Relate to the following:

Vapor Trails especially need a girl who will laugh at their jokes. They're also the most likely male type to be haunted by serious regret.

FACT: A few of your exes, the ones you were best to, will always love you. Nice going.

ALWAYS AVOID: The Intern, The Maid of Honor

CONSIDER: The Sudden Departure

Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.
My profile name: benkow

Try out this website it tells you how old you act

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:38:00 +0000

You Are 26 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

I have been tagged

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 07:16:00 +0000

So Niyati tagged me. I am supposed to describe my perfect life partner and then tag eight other people. Let me say first that this almost sounds like one of those creepy forwards, having said that I will attempt to describe my perfect partner. As far as tagging other people goes, anyone I would have tagged has already been tagged, so the chain at least on my end stops with me.

So lets see perfect partner, let me get this out of the way right at the on set thats an oxymoron. I know I know lighten up. Well for me a perfect partner is someone that listens to you, understands you, loves you for who you are, and makes you laugh. The perfect partner would also makes me listen to them( I tend to talk a lot), force me to see their perspective( I am a tad stubborn) hate me when I am not living up to my potential, and also laugh at my jokes( I am not great at telling jokes)

Bush has done it again

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 18:28:00 +0000

President Bush has once again managed to ignore the democratic process. Wire tapping of US Nationals wasn't bad enough. Now Bush has attempted to make a bi-lateral agreement with India while ignoring that fact that this agreement violates the NPT and that before he made such a deal he might have wanted to consult Congress and more specifically the Senate who is the body constitutionally responsible for ratifying treaties. The reasoning to allow India some latitude in their Nuclear program and for the United States to share information with India is the need for nuclear energy in India due to its growing economy. incidentally this is Iran's reasoning for wanting to have their own Nuclear program. I just find it problematic for us to tell one country that they can do something and another one that they can't. It's like a parent telling one kid well ok you can have the candy and telling the other one no. Just my opinion.

Yeh Hai Meri Kahani (This is my Story)

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 04:07:00 +0000

I recently talked to someone I have know for a while and realized I knew very little about their story. We spend so much time partying and hanging out but rarely do you have time to say so what is your story. I am going to share my abridged version hitting some highlights my hope is that for those of my friends that read the post that they will perhaps post their own story on their own blogs or in the comments. Anyways here goes.

I was born in Dubai, U.A.E. on February 10th 1979. We actually lived in Dubai for seven years. My memories of this time in my life are few. Of course there is the fact that my brother Ammar was born a couple of years after me. The companionship of a brother in a foreign land meant that we were instantly forced to spend most of our time with each other. The most vivid images of that part of my life are of Ammar doing silly things he was the family comedian and of us fighting about everything and anything. I have images in my mind of Family friends that used to live their and of my uncle and his wife who lived in Sharjah. I have memories of toys lots of them that my dad would buy on his many trips out of the country. I have memories of a calendar that was on the wall that my brother would make my mom x daily counting down the days until my dad would return. I have been told that I was a shy kid, a quiet kid. (I know I know what happened) We left Dubai and moved to Pakistan.

Pakistan is where I have lots of memories. My dad was in Africa working on Business ventures and we spend the year with my mom. Initially we lived in a room at my dad's brothers house. Those were fun times, I learned to play cricket our cousins were almost our age so making friends and getting in trouble was easy to do. Ubaid bhai was a couple of years older then me and Zubair was my younger brother's age. Even though we were there for a whole year I remember it taking a while before I felt home. One of my fondest memory is of my mom and aunt sending Ubaid bhai and I to the local restaurant to get tandoori roti and having to always order extra cause we would inevitably eat a couple of the warm pieces of bread on the way home. I remember Ammar disappearing for a day and my mom frantically trying to find him only to find out that one of our uncles, he is the comedian in my dads family, decided that it was crazy that Ammar had never ridden an elephant so he just took him to the zoo. Of course Maria my sister was born while we were in Pakistan. I remember that we moved into an apartment of our own about six months after moving there. All in all this was childhood at its best. Next we moved to Taiwan.

Taipei was a great city and I actually remember a lot more from this part of my life. I experienced death for the first time in Taiwan. One of my friends passed away from a brain tumor and I remember feeling lost. In Taipei I again had a feeling of not having a home. I learned the language fluently even though we were there for about a year. I remember feeling alone. I actually even ran away at a point. I disappeared for a day and roamed the city. Taipei was great and beautiful the people were amazing and sweet. I would have to say that as siblings Ammar was a part of many memories in Dubai and Karachi. Taipei was Maria's city she ate anything and everything she spoke better Chinese then Urdu or English and she was adored by all, friends, family, and even complete strangers. I remember these two Chinese girls they must have been in their early twenties who thought Maria was cute they took pictures with her. They actually came to the park for the next four weeks in a row on the same day and time hoping we would be there to give us duplicate copies. All in all Taiwan was wonderful. Next we moved to Thailand.

Bangkok was full of life. I would have to say Taipei had a certain quaint feeling about it not so for Bangkok it was buzzing at all times. The lonely feeling I had in Taipei was gone. We spend hours on our bikes and although I had no real friends in school, we were like a gang of kids. There was Tra and Rak who were literally the same age as me and my brother. Pramote a few years older then us was our fearless leader. We got cuts, scrapes, played hours of soccer, blew up firecrackers and reaked havoc in our neighborhood. Bangkok was a time of prosperity for our family and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Leaving Thailand was tough for Ammar and me. I remember complaining to my parents that this was the first time in my life that I had friends and they were taking that away from me. Next stop Houston, TX.

If you are going to move to the United States from out of the country I would reccomend not moving to Texas. Having said that I am glad we did. My aunt, my mom's sister lived in Houston and we moved in to a house about a block from where they lived. If it weren't for Irfan and Faizan our cousins I don't know how we would have adjusted to the new environment. I learned Basketball and Football sports I had never played before. I also read a lot in Houston. Although I read throughout my life I think in Houston the things I read in Houston shaped me in different ways. I read almost any titles I could get my hands on by William Slater and Gary Paulsen. Although at school I was the butt of almost all jokes at school,life at home with the cousins was great. We are all within five years of each other and there were memorable outings, late night sleep overs, and of course action packed fights. I will take the liberty to share a funny story here that might give some insight to the often silly behavior of my father. My dad took all of us that is my cousins and Ammar and I out to a restaurant. This was not for lunch or dinner it was a late afternoon snack. We ordered Chicken Pakoras and devoured the first plate, my dad kept ordering more and we kept eating them. To make a long story short we ended up eating ninety dollars worth of pakoras. I don't have to tell you that my mom and aunt were livid with my dad went we got home. After Houston we moved to Los Angeles.

I went to Artesia High School where I somehow transformed from a shy quiet kid to the loud obnoxious person you guys know today. I was involved in MUN, went to NCCJ training, learned to Rock climb, participated in debates, was involved in ASB and was an all out social butterfly. I attended college at UCLA and majored in Political Science. At Artesia most of my friends were Asian at UCLA that changed to South Asians. I can only describe LA with one word, Home. Sorry for the long post I hope some of you enjoy it...

Just at work

noreply@blogger.com (Simple Voice) — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 03:00:00 +0000

I am strarting to feel like that blogging at least for me is having a journal. Except that this one is open for all to read including strangers. I find this both enlightening and scary. Anyways the next topic I hope can incite some people to respond.
I read a post recently on a friends blog and it got me thinking. It seems as though every religon at its core values peace, expects change and preaches tolerance. It baffles me then why the most fundamental believers the " true believers" tend to harbor so much violence. The Christian right has had its history of violence. We all know fundamental Islam is showing its flair all over the world with bouts of violence. Under the BJP even in Hinduism showed its violent tendencies. As a child who grew up in a Muslim household I was told stories of how the prophet(pbuh) was ridiculed and taunted by people and his response was to tell his followers to not respond with violence but with understanding. The prophet(pbuh) was personally persecuted and he remained peaceful but yet a cartoon artist draws a picture and the muslim population reacts with violence. There is a principle of Sunna in Islam which says that we should follow in the ways of the prophet. I don't how today any of the clerics that encouraged such behavior can argue that we are actually following in that example...