Sunday, December 20, 2009

One Two Three Four Five - A Katya Tale

Katya is spending some quality time with her grandparents. Grandma is teaching her nursery rhymes that are either oh-so-20th century, or failed to cross the Atlantic, or have not yet reached Katya for some other reason.

[<em>As narrated by Katya's Grandma</em>]

Grandma: "One Two Three Four Five Once I caught a fish alive!"

Katya: "Did you really catch a fish, Grandma?!"

Grandma (<em>playing along</em>): "Yes I did."

Katya: "Was grandpa helping you?"

Grandma (<em>applies boolean logic</em>): "No."

Katya: "Where was he when you caught the fish?"

Grandma (<em>to use a chess term ... <strong>pinned</strong>, but escapes the check</em>): "He had gone to the temple."

[a little later, as observed by Grandma]

Katya (<em>in a singsong voice with action</em>): "One Two Three Four Five Six Seven ... Once I caught a Swan!"

Friday, December 4, 2009

Yahoooo!!! - another Baab tale

[as related by Mrs. Porcupyn]

As part of normal co-curricular activities in Baab's school, an intra-house quiz competition was underway. Participants were from Class IV through Class VII, and the audio-visual round was on. An actor's photo was displayed on the screen - participants had to identify him. No one from Team 1 could figure out who the actor was. All the other teams passed as well. The question now goes to the audience. Baab has his hand raised high... and, when asked, answers the question correctly!!

No prizes to my readers if they guess the actor without audio or visual clues! Suffice it to say that to a kid who I rocked on my lap to songs such as '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm1WnWVXYzQ">सुन लो सुनाता हूँ तुमको कहानी</a>',  '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FqOOeK_ixg">चक्के में चक्का</a>' and '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6dFfl1PTY">अकेले अकेले कहाँ जा रहे हो</a>' (audio and/or video) when he was a toddler, it was child's play :-)

Baab's grandfather was heard commenting that Team 1 would have easily answered the question had it been Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan. My response was that Baab would need to spend a few days at his uncle's place to get to know those gentlemen (on the tube, not in real life).

A related thought: When I was in school (and probably even today), old songs were dubbed a 'दादाजी के ज़माने का गाना' (grandfather's song). In this particular instance though, that term is pretty accurate given that I learned - and learned to appreciate - these very songs by listening to my father hum/sing them when I was a kid!

* - to those born in the 21st century ... or later(!!) (if you are reading this post), the answer to the quizmaster's question is/was Shammi Kapoor!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

One Season Lost - A Baab Tale

There is a proverb about apples not falling far from their trees. Here is some more proof  (while you read it, Mrs. and Mr. Porcupyn are having a <em>discussion</em> as to who is the apple tree referred to above):

Grandfather was trying to fix Katya's broken toy. After a few minutes, he gave up and declared, "Hmmm ... (a) spring is missing".  Immediately, Baab piped up: "Amma, that means we will be short a whole season!!"

Monday, November 2, 2009

On samosas ... and an enterprising vendor

So there we were, waiting at a station platform for our train - the mighty Karnataka Express with two engines and 24 compartments - to arrive. Not having had much of a chance to taste <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracyhunter/289026345/">authentic roadside food</a> ;-) the last few trips to India, this time I thought I might as well check it out, especially since I had already digested most of the full lunch I had eaten at home before starting out.

As luck would have it, the food stall at the platform was making fresh <a href="http://memsaab.com/onion-kachori-recipe">kachories</a>; however, my eyes were on the <a href="http://www.indiamarks.com/guide/Samosas:-Fried-Indian-Vegetable-Pastries/188">samosas</a>. Obviously, I wanted steaming hot samosas. So, I asked the shopkeeper how long would it be before he would make hot samosas. He replied that right now they were working on kachories; how many did I want? I said that all I wanted was a couple. "No problem," he said.

Even as my eyes were roving around for a microwave (with the country improving by leaps and bounds, I felt that that thought was not as far-fetched as it appears), he took two samosas that were ready for sale and dunked them into the hot oil. After a couple of minutes, I held two hot, refried, dripping-oil-onto-an-old-newspaper-fragment samosas in my hands. Of course, I enjoyed them (Mrs. Porcupyn averted her eyes - not only could she not eat those savories herself, she could not bear to see me eat them either), though I had to drain a teaspoonful of oil just before I had the last bite (no, I am NOT kidding)!

Now, in hindsight, I wonder whether that approach would have worked in the USA? Probably not. Had I had asked for hot Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts (see picture <a href="http://javajones-mylife.blogspot.com/2009/05/five-things-i-have-done-for-myself.html">here</a> and a video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEoaq9oEkP4">here</a>) when <a href="http://www.krispykreme.co.uk/doughnuts/our-varieties/glazed-cruller/">french crullers</a> were being made, the answer would have been an unequivocal "No" or "Please come back tomorrow morning at 6 am" or some such. Score one for the enterprising Indian shopkeeper(s).

<em>PS: The hot refried platform samosas having whetted my appetite for samosas, I could not contain myself and helped myself to a few more at different station halts during the course of our 20-hour journey. Even Baab partook a small piece once, in defiance of his mother's orders! Please note that this behaviour is strictly not recommended for a "First World" stomach, unless you are prepared for a <a href="http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2009/08/delhi-belly.html">Delhi belly</a>.</em>

Friday, October 30, 2009

How many laddus - A Baab Tale

A few months back, following a religious ceremony, a large gap between the supply and demand resulted in a large stockpile of <a href="http://www.neivedyam.com/2009/05/100th-post-boondi-laddu.html">laddu</a>s in the house. Dutifully, Baab and Katya's mother corralled* the sweets into the freezer to ensure that they stayed relatively fresh.

Over the next couple of weeks, Baab religiously had a laddu/day in his lunch box as a snack (and relished them, obviously). One day, when he was eating his dessert, his lunch pal could not contain his curiosity: "How many laddus do you have at home?!!"

* <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/corral">corral</a>led - the use of the word here might be controversial; however, those who would raise issues with the word do not realize that sweets come alive in the Porcupyn household and develop an urge to fly towards the stomach of the nearest (male) adult. Therefore, the personification is 100% legitimate. Now, whether the freezer can be an "enclosure" is a different argument altogether.

Visit to Four of Southwest USA's National Parks (Part Six of Many!)

[<em>A very old travelogue lurches towards completion</em>]
As I was concentrating on the scenery at the <a href="http://porcupyn.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/visit-to-four-of-southwest-usa%e2%80%99s-national-parks-part-five-of-many/">North Rim of the Grand Canyon</a>, I forgot to share the photos that I took enroute there from Hurricane. Though there is hardly any vegetation on this route, the colours on the ground, the mountains and the hues on the clouds combine to provide a singularly picturesque locale. If it was not so unbearably hot, above 105 degrees F, we would probably have stopped at a few more places and taken photos. As it was, we stopped at two-three places, and the rest of these photos were from within the vehicle. Here are a few of the ones I really liked (I will add captions sooooon) ...
<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1692.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-720" title="IMG_1692" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1692.jpg?w=512" alt="IMG_1692" width="512" height="384" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1696.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-721" title="IMG_1696" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1696.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1696" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1707.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-722" title="IMG_1707" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1707.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1707" width="300" height="225" /></a>
<p>The photo on the right gives the idea of something similar to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event">Tunguska event</a> (on a smaller scale, of course), which is still a mystery.</p>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1715.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-723" title="IMG_1715" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1715.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1715" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1725.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-724" title="IMG_1725" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1725.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1725" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1732.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-725" title="IMG_1732" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1732.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1732" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1737.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-726" title="IMG_1737" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1737.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1737" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1710a.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-727" title="IMG_1710a" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1710a.jpg?w=225" alt="MG_1710a" width="225" height="300" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1746a.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-728" title="IMG_1746a" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1746a.jpg?w=225" alt="IMG_1746a" width="225" height="300" /></a>

Visit to Four of Southwest USA's National Parks (Part Seven of Many!)

We reached the South Rim of the Grand Canyon about an hour or so before sunset. However, as we approached it from the east, we got stuck behind a line of vehicles stopped at the checkpoint (I believe to get entry permits or to get them verified). After a few minutes' delay, we re-entered the Park, and decided to spend some time at the first viewing point (see Desert View on the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/grca_pano.pdf">map</a>) to freshen up, as most of the members in the party had had a nice nap along the way.

What was supposed to have been a stop for a few minutes turned into a half an hour pit stop, during which we climbed up the ... and took pictures. As a result, time was running out to find a good viewing point of the sunset. I drove like crazy to cover a few more miles to get closer to the Visitors' Center (our original destination for sunset), but the Sun was faster. So, I had to take the first available viewing point (we probably got to Moran Point - refer to map - but I have now forgotten where we took the turn) to take Sunset photos. Here are some of them ...
[caption id="attachment_1758" align="alignnone" width="512" caption="Sunset approaches at the Grand Canyon's <em>South Rim</em>"]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1758.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1758.jpg?w=512" alt="IMG_1758" title="IMG_1758" width="512" height="384" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-753" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1759" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Before this trip, I somehow had the impression that the river cannot be seen from the South Rim; obviously, I was wrong"]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1759.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1759.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1759" title="IMG_1759" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-754" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1760" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The lush greenery provides a refreshing contrast to the painted landscape behind. Those are not just shrubs but full grown trees!"]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1760.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1760.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1760" title="IMG_1760" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-755" /></a>[/caption]

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1763a.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1763a.jpg?w=384" alt="IMG_1763a" title="IMG_1763a" width="384" height="512" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-756" /></a>

[caption id="attachment_1769" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sunlight bounces off the cliffs ..."]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1769.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1769.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1769" title="IMG_1769" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-757" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1772" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="... at sunset"]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1772.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1772.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1772" title="IMG_1772" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-758" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1777" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Tricks of the camera! Would you believe it if I said that this photo was taken ..."]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1777.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1777.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_1777" title="IMG_1777" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-759" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_17801" align="alignright" width="300" caption="... before this one?"]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_17801.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_17801.jpg?w=300" alt="IMG_17801" title="IMG_17801" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-764" />[/caption]

Thursday, October 29, 2009

People in Portraits - Another Katya Tale

Katya's paternal grandparents live in ATown while her maternal grandparents live in BCity. Though she is currently living in BCity, it is obvious that she has not forgotten "her motherland" as evidenced by this incident:

Last year,we had a full house in OFLCity as the visits of both sets of grandparents overlapped for a week (a very very rare occurrence - rarer than a full solar eclipse). Obviously, to celebrate the occasion, we had gone to a local Portrait Studio for a group photo. A couple of weeks ago, while showing the photo to relatives, Katya identified the people in the photo - "ATown grandfather, ATown grandmother, BCity grandfather, BCity grandmother ..." (and over our collective gasps and laughter) "OFLCity father, OFLCity mother, OFLCity Baab, and OFLCity Me" ;-)

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My House is Strong - Another Katya Tale

As you all are aware, power shortage is the situation normal in the real India (the &lt;span style="text-decoration:line-through;"&gt;Garden&lt;/span&gt; Silicon City is no exception). Katya and Baab are getting used to the situation, but her mother recently observed that Katya hasn't forgotten her birthplace ;-).
[&lt;em&gt;As related by her mother, as usual, and paraphrased by yours truly&lt;/em&gt;]

Katya (to cousin): &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;My&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; house is not weak; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;my &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;house is strong.

Somehow mother figures out that the topic of discussion is the power situation and thinks that Katya is referring to the UPS that powers the computer and the related lights in the house she is living in, until ...

Katya (continues): "Power does &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; go off in &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;my&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; house! &amp;lt;then flexing her teeny-weeny biceps&amp;gt; My house is &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;strong&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;!" (at this point, there is no doubt that it is not the Indian house that is being described)

Monday, July 13, 2009

Riddle me this (Another Katya Tale)

... or <em>What a dash of a western upraising, steeped in Disney culture, can do to a kid!</em>

<em>[As related to me by her mother]</em>

Katya got a new uniform and tried it out with her mother's help. She discarded it on the bed after trying it on. Mother, obviously, put it away when Katya went out to play (and forgot about it).

That evening ...

Katya: Where is my red flying thing?

Mother: What flying thing?

Katya: I said, where is my red flying thing?

Mother: Is it your toy?

Katya: No, my red flying thing!

Mother (at a loss): Baab, do you know what she is talking about?

Baab (to Kaatya): What do you want?

Katya: My Red Flying Thing!

Baab (to mother this time): I don't know what she is talking about.

Mother (totally flummoxed now): I do not know what you are saying, child. You need to tell me exactly what you want!

<em>At this point, Katya has realized that she is communicating with Living Things With Less IQ, and that she needs to stoop to their level. So, she lies down on the floor and starts thrashing around like a veritable <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqhIMFQNGCg">Roomba</a>. After an hour of no progress, the Roomba quietens down. Issue is still unresolved, of course.</em>

<em>The next day, as Baab is getting ready to put on his uniform, Katya says something, that lights up the resident tubelights of the house.</em>

In true Vikram-Vetaal style, a riddle for the wordly (and wordly) wise, and those who are into Disney (that's a clue, I think):

What did Katya say, or How do you get from a school uniform to a Flying Thing with a couple of degrees of separation? Answers will be posted in an update in a couple of days or after a critical mass of correct/incorrect responses are reached, whichever comes first!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Baab's Tales - Part 1

(As related to me by Mrs. Porcupyn)
Baab comes home from school; is obviously puzzled.

Baab (head moving like a Spring Doll): Amma, how do I do it?
(Equally puzzled, <em>with a touch of exasperation showing through</em>) Mom: Do what now?
Baab (still trying to shake his head): Shake my head!

Mom gives some tips on an acquired skill...

<em>Two days later ...</em>

Baab (animated): Look Amma, I can do it now.

Proceeds with a vigorous, inimitably (<em>inimitable no more</em>!) desi, head nod - northwest to southeast followed by southwest to northeast (axis points from head to toes). ;-)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Tales of Katya - 1

Like 0.01% of all kids (but 99.99% of all desi ones), Katya is notorious for not finishing her food at lunch time. Various tried and tested methods - especially those that worked with Baab - fail miserably with Katya. Scenes like the following are normal:

Mom: Katya, why didn't you eat your lunch?
Katya: Because lunch time was over!

M: How about the olives?
K: Uh uh. (followed in a high-pitched whine) You didn't put chocolate milk for me.

M: Only if you finish your lunch. You've got to finish today's lunch at home before you can have anything else.
K (on reaching home): I want a <a href="http://www2.kelloggs.com/brand/brand.aspx?brand=202&amp;cat=poptarts">pop-tart</a>.

M: Only after you finish your lunch.

After a few minutes ...

K (to me): Can I watch TV?
I (can-ning my obvious response - You can, but you may not - which would obviously serve no useful purpose): OK, go ahead.

After a few more minutes ...

I (hoping I have earned enough good-parent credits): Katya, how about a hug for me?
K: Only after I finish my lunch!!

My face = a <a href="http://www.priceless.com/us/personal/en/index.html">mastercard moment</a>!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Visit to Four of Southwest USA's National Parks (Part Five of Many!)

The Zion and Bryce legs of our trip complete, the plan for the next day was to check out from our Hurricane-based motel and return to central Arizona or our base in Phoenix, depending on where we were, and when we were there! Though we had gotten back only at about 1 am thanks to the deer scare, we needed to leave as early as possible the next morning.

Our plan was to visit Grand Canyon National Park first. If we were close enough to the North Rim early enough in the day, we would visit it. If not, we would skip it and head straight for the South Rim. We had an option to take the scenic Zion-Mt Carmel highway once more, but the experience from the previous day - it took a long time to get through - shot that option down very quick.

The only other alternative was to take SR59 to SR389, to US89 to Flagstaff (see <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=111688570994517770274.00046a102ca3789c0f278&amp;ll=37.050793,-112.07428&amp;spn=0.920657,1.768799&amp;z=9">map</a>). I had hoped to spot the turn-off to the Waves, but missed them during both inbound and outbound drives. Maybe on a future trip ...

Jacobs Lake in AZ is the point from where SR67 branches off into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I figured that if we were there by noon or so, we could visit the North Rim, spend some time there, then continue on to the South Rim and Flagstaff. We got there in time, and decided to visit the North Rim.

Because it is more remotely located - compared to the South Rim - for most travellers who come via Phoenix at least, the North Rim is definitely less visited and has less facilities. However, it does have a nice lodge with a spot for visitors to sit and take in the scenery right off the Grand Canyon's rim. If you are travelling with senior citizens, this is the best place - bar none - to visit and watch the Canyon (there are many other lookout points elsewhere on both North and South Rims and some that have better views, but this is the one place that requires minimal walking and you can sit in air-conditioned comfort).

When we got to the visitors' center, we asked the nice folks there how long it would take to drive to the South Rim based on the current traffic conditions. We were informed that it would take about 4 hours. So, we decided that we would spend until about 2 pm in the area, then drive out so we could get to the South Rim in time for sunset scenery.

Here are some photos. Please note that photos do no justice to the Canyon, especially because they provide no depth perception. To be honest, even if you stand right at the canyon's rim, it is downright impossible to gauge the depths, masked as it is with the seemingly interconnected canyon cliffs that are really separated by a mile or so! After all, one typically gets a sense of the depth only by contrasting the scenery with some (ideally manmade) object whose height is known, like a building. Having never been to the bottom of the canyon, I have not experienced the swiftness of the Colorado river, and from the rim, the river appears like a placid oxbow lake.

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1620.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-683" title="Folks at the Grand Canyon's North Rim" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1620.jpg?w=512" alt="Folks at the Grand Canyon's North Rim" width="512" height="384" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1622.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-683" title="Another view of the Grand Canyon from its North Rim" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1622.jpg?w=300" alt="Another view of the Grand Canyon from its North Rim" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1642.jpg"><img class="alignright size-large wp-image-684" title="IMG_1642" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1642.jpg?w=300" alt="caption" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1643.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-685" title="IMG_1643" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1643.jpg?w=300" alt="caption" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1653.jpg"><img class="alignright size-large wp-image-686" title="IMG_1653" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1653.jpg?w=300" alt="caption" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1665.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-687" title="IMG_1665" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1665.jpg?w=300" alt="caption" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1666.jpg"><img class="alignright size-large wp-image-688" title="IMG_1666" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1666.jpg?w=300" alt="caption" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1669.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-large wp-image-689" title="IMG_1669" src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/img_1669.jpg?w=512" alt="caption" width="512" height="384" /></a>

Monday, April 13, 2009

Southern Utah

It has been gnawing at me that I am yet to completely blog <a href="http://porcupyn.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/visit-to-four-of-southwest-usa%e2%80%99s-national-parks-part-four-of-many-a-harrowing-drive/">our travelogue from</a> almost a year ago. This article has given me some more impetus - I will try to work on it this week!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

I shot an arrow ...

Well, I did not, literally speaking. But in school, I did have this H W Longfellow piece as one of my favourite songs;

I shot an Arrow into the air
It fell to earth I know not where,
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breath'd a Song into the air
It fell to earth, I know not where.
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of a song?
Long, long afterward in an oak
I found the Arrow still unbroke;
And the Song from begining to end
I found again in the heart of a friend.

Well, more than three decades ago, I lived in a state where I picked up a new language and a bunch of hit songs in that language. The language I lost from disuse, but I kept breathing a few of those songs into the air. Today I located a long-lost friend, and he found me this song - from beginning to end - from within his heart! Glory be to the 'net!



Here is another of my favourites (as performed in ... NJ?):