The Unsung Psalm

… when you’re on the last few pages of the Agatha Christie novel that you’ve been reading for a rather longish time, have arrived at a most critical juncture in the novel, you’re just about to turn the page… and a most frightfully ugly black insect, with the appearance of an overgrown ladybird (only darker, and I cannot stress it enough – uglier) comes crawling over the edge of the page.

As is customary in the circumstances, you let out a soft, yet masculine shriek and fling the book towards the other corner of the room. Then you recover from shock, and glare at the book waiting for your assailant to emerge from under it. Yet, it does not emerge.

You jump up and start brushing your clothes, terrified that it somehow made its way onto your person. The frantic search is traumatic, terrifying. After 5 minutes of search, you look around, and look at the vicious insect climbing a distant wall. How did it reach all the way there? You don’t know, and you cannot ask it either, because in a flash, you’ve brought an end to it’s oh-so-lustrous life, collected it with a sheet of paper and cremated it in your fishbowl.

Oh well, at least Marcello is pleased.

So I spent an evening a few days ago at Pankaj’s place. Pankaj is taking his GRE in a few days, so naturally, since the two of us were dropping in unannounced, we only considered it appropriate to help him out with the word-lists. Thankfully, I was on the side of the book that had the meanings on it, so I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself. Mind, I said too much. A few years ago, my reputation, owing to my command on English, would precede me. There was little basis to it, of course, since though I confess I was better than the average, I was not too brilliant. Nonetheless, I’ve never been as close to the average as I have become off-late.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I came back home, decided to pick up the GRE book and run through the wordlists, just to familiarize myself with some of the words that I don’t use anymore simply because I haven’t in a long time, and thus are missing from daily usage. (I did take the liberty, of course, of skipping words that no sane human being uses in conversation.) The vocabulary, quite like the mind, atrophies with disuse.

I thought I’d write out 10 new words every week on a piece of paper and stick it somewhere I’d see it often, and then I realized the single flaw in the plan. I’d never look at it, even if it was under my nose, and I’d never change the list.

But then, change is exactly what I need in life. Change my ways. Challenge my weaknesses. For better or for worse… anything but stagnate.

Expect usage of fancier words in this space, hence. If it doesn’t happen, demand it!

_____

Here’s another example of my commitment to change. I wrote this post out, read it once, found it boring and pressed “Delete”. In the fraction of a second that it takes to delete the post, I selected the text of the post and made a copy.

So what if it’s boring? I needn’t write to entertain all the time! At the worst, dull posts will lose me a few readers. Big deal… at least I have my dignity!

(or something like that)

So I was seated next to a casual friend in class, this morning. She was bored, and I was bored. So she picked up her pen and started making some graffiti on my arm.

Me – Stop it!
Her – What…
Me – Stop leaving those marks on my arm
Her – Heehee…
Me – If you want to give me marks, give me a different kind…
Her – Huh?
Me – Give me Stretch marks!
Her – *embarrassed smile*
Me – Come on now, give me stretch marks… Make me pregnant!
Her – *Laughs*

I have a rather nasty feeling that I’ll use my humor on someone not equipped well enough to withstand the subtle profanity. Or explicit profanity. And these sort of cracks only come forth in the company of the ladies… Sigh!

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Your Blog Should Be Orange

Your writing has a star quality – it’s charming, bold, and flamboyant.
You write what’s on your mind, without fear of embarrassment later.
You are one of the most honest bloggers around, and people appreciate your daring persona.

Oh, hah! I didn’t know that