Sri Lanka

If you are interested, you can read about my Sri Lankan adventures here: http://followingthemasala.blogspot.in/

That is all.

A Brief Intermission

Hello Boys and Girls,

Today we will discuss why I am doing yet more procrastination when what I really want to be doing is writing my fingers off. I promise there will be more writing fun soon.

As I mentioned, I went on a week long sweat fest to Sri Lanka. This is in no way hyperbole - Sri Lanka has some excellent sweating weather, along with other charms. I'll post a link to my other blog up here if you care to check out my adventures. Anywho, Sri Lankan resorts do not choose to offer lap top plug ins - seriously, not one outlet in the entire hotel room (or ones that fit my American laptop, which I have no problem finding in India), or wireless internet that is not WAY too expensive. Thus I have a metric ton of work that I just blithely ignored for an entire week (what do to??) that absolutely needs to get finished before I can indulge in any more written work.

Hang in there - I'll be back in a day or two.

Becky

I’m Watching You Slovenia – Always Watching You

Mood: Pretty Damn Chipper

Listening to: IPL talking heads

So….my happy mood. The wonderful Lady in Red gave me a Liebster award over at my Masala blog. Please go check her out. Once again, much obliged. This made my week. I also just had a bowl full of butterscotch ice cream. Let me explain butterscotch ice cream for those not familiar. Indian butterscotch ice cream is not actually butterscotch flavored. It is cupcake frosting flavored (no joke, you can’t eat more than a small scoop it’s so sweet – well, I can’t anyhow) and has random….crunchies in it. I’m not sure what they are, but it’s yummy.  

IPL stands for Indian Premier League. It’s cricket time bitches. I have been converted. Not too happy to see Mumbai get spanked by Calcutta, but I’m a Bangalore gal anyhow, so it doesn’t matter.

Last weekend I went to my sister in laws house with the husband and monkeys to spend some quality family time. I disconnected myself from my laptop with much pain and suffering and left it at home.  When I came back, my Outlook kept being ridiculous about sending and retrieving emails. This is nothing new – my outlook officially hates me, possibly because it has to load so many blogs every day. I love me some reading blogs. When I tried to log on to Google mail online, I was told that my account was targeted by a hacker in Slovenia and I should definitely get on the changing my password thing.

Good save Google, much appreciated. I hate spammers. So glad I wasn’t made into one. Slovenia – I’ve got my eye on you.

The G is headed off to Sri Lanka for a week. I may or may not have time to update this blog this week. Check out the link above for my blog about life in India (Masala). There will be descriptions of Sri Lanka, along with pictures. Hopefully lots of them, I do love my camera. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go finish packing. Packing procrastination is my favorite kind of procrastination

Becky

P.S. 10 points for anyone who recognizes the reference in the title.

Goodbye Maurice Sendak

The world has lost another great. Maurice Sendak has died. This makes me sad on so many levels because his book Where the Wild Things Are was an absolute favorite when I was growing up. I loved the story and I loved the illustrations. I know he’s done many more things since then and he got a lot of attention when they decided to turn this book into a movie, but this is how I will remember him. I was 6, my father was reading this story to me at bedtime, and I was very happy imaging my very own place with wild things. Thank you Mr. Sendak.

Becky

An Intervention, or Not.

Listening to: Good Thing – Fine Young Cannibals

Mood: Coffee.

As I’ve discussed before in this post, moderation is just not my strong suite. I’m not quite sure why people loved that post so much, but sure.

After we moved to India, my coffee habit was changed for a while. I absolutely LOVE Indian coffee. However, it just doesn’t have the same punch as American coffee does. Sometimes, I need the energy – I crave it. I’ve also said that with a smidge less discipline and more exposure to an epic friend of mine, I could easily be an alcoholic. I’m afraid the same can be said of coffee. Hello, my name is Becky and I’m a coffee addict. I’ve recently reverted to using strong instant coffee.

I’ve had a cup of coffee (mostly iced) every morning for the past 5 years. These days I find it hard to function and actually wake up if this doesn’t happen. As per my usual thinking, if one cup is good, 2 must be amazing for energy purpose.  This leads to some pretty crazy bursts of ideas and activity. The thing is, I like it. At the best of times, I tend to be a bit manic. I could give you a couple of reasons for this, but I would be boring myself even more than I would be boring you. I have my reasons for craving the intense burst of activity.

Since we’ve moved to India, I’ve been much less alcohol soaked. It’s just too expensive here to drink like we did in the US. I’m pretty fond of alcohol. It makes me relaxed, happy, and chatty. Caffeine is pretty much on the opposite end. It doesn’t make me mad or antisocial, but the energy and focus rush that come along with a few cups of coffee are amazing.  I feel like I can take on anything. I’m much less likely to have happy laughing conversations, but the ideas fly fast and furious.

The only thing I’m wary of is having too much. As with alcohol, I know my caffeine limits. I have had times when I felt like I needed to peel myself off the ceiling with a putty knife. The out of control pulse, shaking hands and brain that feels like it’s going to explode because my thoughts are running wild. Yes, as with everything else in life, I have found the outer limit.

What’s your relationship with coffee?

Becky

Asshat of the Week – Sean Harris

Listening to: Swing Swing – All American Rejects
Mood: Pissed.

If you don’t associate the name with the story/are an ostrich, this asshat is the pastor that advised punishing your effeminate sons and forcing your daughters to look pretty.  Yes, it’s an oversimplification of the situation, but it’s just so you get the gist of it.

Watch out ladies and gentlemen, I am whipping out the soap box again. I don’t want to be a blogger who just rants about stupid stuff I don’t agree with all the time, but I feel like this is one of those situations where you can’t just sit quietly and not say anything.

Pastor Harris (and I say that only out of years of it being drilled into me that the only proper way to address a minister is Pastor, even if you can’t stand them), may I ask you a question? Do you have an effeminate son? Do you have a tomboy daughter? If your answer is no, please shut the hell up right now. Even the very best parents among us wish for a training manual. Talking about a child rearing situation you have no personal experience in makes you a douche at best. Absolutely no one should listen to you spout off such damaging practices about things you don’t know about. Seriously.

If your answer is yes, you have my sympathy. Not because you have a sissy as a son or a boyish daughter, but because they will doubtlessly end up with a pretty deep seated disgust and anger at you not accepting them as they are. If I may remind you of a few small things: 1. You are a parent first and foremost in your life. Your job is to love and cherish your children. There are no guarantees that you will end up with the same life views as your child. Don’t waste a beautiful, natural relationship with your child over who they are. Your job is to love the hell out of that child and raise him or her to the best of your ability. 2. There is absolutely nothing in the bible about shaming your child for being different. I’m not even arguing the religious views on homosexuality. God specifically said love one another – this goes 6 fold for your family. Buck up and be the man your family needs you to be; a Godly one.

What this comes down to folks is religion. Now I’m not knocking religion – it definitely has a role to play for people with spirituality and human needs. What I really strongly object to is the sense of righteous morality that makes people judge others based on their singular view of the world and feel better about themselves. I’m not going to go into homosexuality in this post beyond a touch, because this issue could apply to almost any of the other Christian sins – homosexuality just seems to be a hot issue right now.

I am so tired of listening to people spout off a view that they know is ill informed or will stir up controversy for the sake of argument. You don’t talk to an atheist about how God requires us to pray in a church once a week unless you want an argument. Look, we’re all entitled to our own views on religion and existentiality. Everyone arrives at their own truth sooner or later. It is egotistical in the extreme to figure that you have thought more or arrived at a more correct conclusion than anyone else. You simply cannot make anyone else subscribe to your brand of religion.  Nor does your brand make you more righteous, spiritual, or moral.

I understand that labeling and sorting things into convenient parameters helps humans to deal with the world. It’s a scary, confusing, chaotic place. This is not an excuse to dehumanize those who are different than us. We need to call out this fear and start seeing things for what they are and start remembering that in spite of it all, we are all humans. If you feel the need, use religion to meet your spiritual needs, but do not for one minute think this makes you different or special in relation to the rest of the human race. Having a belief system does not in any way excuse you from respecting humanity. Belief systems and religion are a way for you to conduct yourself, not impose arbitrary rules on those around you.

Children are people too. Being children they need a lot of guidance, but they also need love, respect and acceptance too. It is criminal in my mind to tell a child that they are wrong in whom they are and that they should put on an act to be something else. How can you raise a secure, happy child if you can’t accept that they are who they are? It may work to subvert a child’s natural self when they are young, but it will come out with a vengeance when they get a little bit older and rightfully start thinking for themselves. They will then resent the fact that they never got acceptance from the only people in the world they have a right to expect it from and will think that there is something inherently bad with themselves that they had to be something else. The world is a brutal, nasty place. Helping your child to accept who they are and be proud of it is one of the best things that you can do for your child in order for them to be confident enough to navigate life – no matter whom or what they are.

What are your thoughts? Is it acceptable to do this for a lesser degree for other issues? For example, we use behavior modification to stop tantrums. Where do think the line is between changing who they are and helping them function in a society?

Becky

For Your Listening Pleasure – Pitbull

Listening to: Pitbull/Marc Anthony – Let it Rain Over Me

Mood: Happy

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a thing for music. Some music just touches spots in my brain that nothing else can get to. I am such a sucker for a man with some pipes. May I suggest some ear candy for you?

The man of the day for me is Pitbull. I guess he doesn’t technically have an amazing set of pipes, but something about the man’s songs gets me going. That rough, sexy voice combined with the snapping hot Spanish/Puerto Rican accent. Mmmhm. If you’re listening carefully enough, the man has some naughty suggestions in his music too. I’ll take it.

Becky