In today’s blog (or was it yesterday’s), N S Ramnath was mentioning about the fallible of human mind, like how once an idea gets into our head we hold on to it in a committed way and refuse to change the point of view and stuffs like that. He was also mentioning a couple of tools, like six hats and PMI, which we can use to get rid of this kind of thinking. In my opinion, to take complex rational decisions, one can use SWOT analysis also, though this is mostly used in business scenarios. I have used PMI and SWOT many times to clear my mind and see the facts before I took major decisions in life. And the best part is I don't have any grudges or felt sorry for the decisions I have taken. So I would recommend others, who might be interested, to use SWOT and PMI.

Somehow N S Ramnath’s blog is not satiating my appetite to read such blogs. Today morning I read his update and evening I logged on to read yet another update. He should keep updating his blog more often in a day.

The blog update of Pavithra was I-don’t-know-what-to-say… just amazing. She has a way with words. Is she a regular writer or what? Today’s update was on Pisiraandhaiyaar. In school, I have read about this poet and Kopperunchozhan, but I actually didn’t know how close these two were. Pavithra had given a beautiful story to let the readers know about their friendship.

I love books like Chocolat and Casa Rosa. I really enjoyed reading these two. I don’t actually know what genre these books fall into. They look deep into the characters’ thought process. I would say more than the plot, the characterization is a strong asset to such stories. I would like to get hold more of such novels.

Anyway, I was speaking to my mom over phone. She is a teacher at a primary school. Basically I was asking her to visit me on Monday (26th Jan). She said she cannot because she had to go to the school for flag hoisting. That brought a whole lot of memories from my school days. Interesting times we had. Though I was not all that outgoing or participating in school, I still had good time in my own way. I need to start recollecting what I used to do in school days and probably jot down for my kids to know more about me. Well, that is a long way to go, because the first one is expected only 2 months later. And I’ll give my first kid another 10 years to read the blog and get to know me better, if he or she prefers. So I think I have a whole lot of time ahead to plan such things :-). I have to see if I have my old diaries around to recollect how my life was used to be. Nowadays I don’t even remember what happened a month back. Life has become a monotonous drone where only thing exists is tension and dissatisfaction with work. Anyway, I have passed the stage of cribbing and have started to take things in its stride. Maturing? Well, I can call it escapism also :-)

More to come…

Well, I didn’t know till last Thursday that Ray wrote crime stories. So it came as a surprise when I saw thin books with Ray’s name on it and the back cover saying they are crime stories. This was at Chennai Book fair. In another stall, I saw two volumes of Feluda stories and I got the first one. I haven’t started reading it yet, and I will post my detailed thoughts once I am done with it.

I bought Ponniyin Selvan for Guru. I haven’t read it till now though I have read Sivagamiyin sabadham and Mannan Magal. This year I want to read PS and add one more to the list of epics that I have read.

A week back I came across two of very good blogs that I have ever read (not that I am an expert in saying which blog is best and which is not, it is just that I enjoyed reading both immensely). I am providing links here (N S Ramnath and Pavithra) and in the links section also. These are by two of Chennaiites. Reading these blogs, helps me in keeping myself updated with what’s happening in Chennai, as well as reading about like-minded people (not 100%, may be 50% of like-mindedness).

A good blog I came across

According to one of my theories good is almost equivalent to weird.

Hey people Am BACK

Check out the evil landlady maze... interesting.

Hmmm.... back with more which one are you stuff... now you can check which beatle are you... Follow the link!

Good news, I'll not be working 6 days a week. From next week onwards one "very productive" day has been declared off.

Am back with more.

Check this site out. Its called Freebooksummaries. What this site has, is the summaries of self-improvement books like "Rich Dad Poor Dad", "How to work a room" etc. The categories range from Health, Wealth Creation, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Relationships etc. Every month you get to read a free summary of a book if you register. (Of course registration is free!)

Funny game which we can use during parties and get togethers...

Stand with your back to the wall. Imagine that, on the wall, is the face of a clock. Your hands are the clock hands. Have people shout times to you and see how fast you can indicate them.

One interesting Blog I came across today. There was an article about a programmer Kevin Flanagan who committed suicide because he was fired from his job at the Bank of America. The reason for firing him was outsourcing his project to India. Poor thing!

Any takers for George Bush? Here is his resume!

Few interesting stuffs that I came across on the net...

Depending on your mood, this link could leave you irritated, frustrated or hooked on endlessly.

Want to know which X-men or Matrix character you resemble the most? Check the links.

I resemble Jubilee from X - Men! - Though you may be young and inexperienced, you have great potential and will someday become an admirable figure. For that to happen, though, you must overcome your juvenile belief system and adopt a more mature view on life. Funny!!!

And....

I resemble Trinity from Matrix - You are Trinity, from "The Matrix." Strong, beautiful- you epitomize the ultimate heroine. Very Funny!!!

Website time guys! Ok, again!

Check this link out. It is so cool, you can convert any file into a PDF. But like how all good things are limited in life, this is available for trial. Meaning, you cannot convert more than 5 files. Anyway something is always better than nothing. So here it is THE conversion link. Remember to create a login.

Enjoy yourselves.

Another Good site on Knowledge Management. This site also has information, articles, white papers etc. on e-Business, Business technology, SCM, CRM, Six Sigma and a whole other stuffs.

Came across another interesting website to search for cliches. It has over 3300 cliches indexed. Was fun going through the cliches for the word 'old'.

There is a website listing phobias. This has an extensive list. Should be helpful when I write fiction I guess!

Looking for tongue twisters? Check this website out...

I like Alex's website. In her other website, she has put up her day-to-day or rather time-to-time thoughts about leaving a full-time well-paying job for freelance writing. When I read that, it was like reading from my diary had I taken the same decision. I guess I'll take the BIG step like her someday, and this log of hers will help me get through the rough times.

I blog regularly, almost everyday. I also keep reading blogs of other people. The ones that I like to spend time on are

Tad's and celicafreak's

Otherwise I like to do crossword from thinks

I am currently reading Bridget Jones's Diaries. I know its pretty late that I got hold of the book. The reason why I am reading it now is that I couldn't see the movie on TV. That's why.

Work is pretty boring. So searching for other jobs. I think my resume has a good shape now. Let's see.

Came across another beautiful site. Questia

Online library with lots and lots of research articles and books. The best thing about this site is, its free. I guess so, atleast I was able to access one of the research papers.

Came across a great site on words.

Eddy from TWIN Mailing list suggested this site for learning new words.

It is a Visual Thesaurus in 3D / 2D effect.

I think Guru also suggested this long back, but either the internet connection was too slow or I didn't find time to see it.

I was reading an article in Michael LaRocca's Newsletter. It was about the good things about reading on two different media. One was reading books / any material on the computer and the other was reading a book. That got me into thinking. Well, though reading on the computer and searching information on the internet proves time-saving and quick, I prefer reading from a book.


Call it a good thing or bad, I tend to drift away into daydreaming while reading. It is like, a thought strikes me and I get to think about it, adding more dimensions that I could think of, and try to speculate whether my thoughts are reflected in some way or the other by the author. I don't know why, I don't get to do a lot of daydreaming when I read from the computer. Sometime back, I had become so savvy in speculating what the author might have been arriving at on an idea, that I had to close the text down because it turned out to be right and that is a real fun-killer! Nowadays, its a different story. I don't get time to read from books, though I keep reading something or the other online. This has curtailed my daydreaming activity making me more boring and less creative!


Also another important thing about reading books is that when this book is made into a movie, you get to know how horribly movies could be made. My mental block is that good books do not make good movies but not vice versa. I feel when you read books, you get the freedom to visualize what you read as per your discretion. You want the brightness to be more, no problem. You want a dolby effect, again no problem. You want to highlight the natural settings, no hassles. This kind of a flexibility is not available in movies. Especially those stories of the movies which you have already read in the form of books.

I like the smell of old books, especially the second hand ones. That luxury you don't get when you read online. Similarly, the luxury holding a book in your hands, as if it is a delicate creation and might tear. Of course this holds good for the second hand books that I mentioned about. When I get new books, its like I have to be extra careful so that it doesn't get old and worn out. What contradicting thoughts!

I like the feeling of possessing my books. I don't lend it to anybody unless the person stays near to my place, so that I can go and take it from his/her place when I want to, with or without their knowledge. When I see books colorfully arranged on my bookshelf it is like seeing an old friend, the sight brings naturally a smile on to my face.

I don't want to vouch for reading online / offline because I don't want to stop feeling all these feelings that a book might create in me. It is an indication that I am normal and not acting crazy.