Below are the most recent 7 friends' journal entries.

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
phrygiana	1:33p	2009 Year in Review Meme It's a little early for this, but I just love doing this meme every year, so here goes! 1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? *LOL* Well, let’s see…. Watched my first Bollywood movie (and my 110th Bollywood movie), learned Hindi (or at least started to), saw my first cricket match, learned to keep score for cricket, drove to Canada alone, saw Niagara Falls, visited a Hindu temple … and a loooooot of other things! 2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? My New Year’s Resolution for 2009 was to let go. Considering what I was holding on to, YES, I absolutely kept that resolution. I think I will make one for 2010, but I’m not going into that here. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Katrina had Evelyn and Lauren had Emily. A couple other co-workers had babies too, and a few old friends as well. 4. Did anyone close to you die? I … don’t … think so. 5. What countries did you visit? Canada 6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Time. Definitely, definitely time. I was incredibly busy through almost all of 2009. And a man. =D 7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory? March 1, 2009. The day I watched my first Bollywood movie, Salaam-e-Ishq. Ah! And the day Mel and I went to that very first BOCC cricket match. I also liked the birthday party I threw for myself in July. It brought together a large, diverse group of people and I think everyone had a good time. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Being elected President of Bryn Athyn Community Theater. 9. What was your biggest failure? I feel like I didn’t spend enough time with the people that matter to me. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had swine flu AND a kidney stone at the same time in November. I also sunburned my legs so badly that I couldn’t walk in May. Ouch! 11. What was the best thing you bought? All the Bollywood DVDs and Indian clothing. No one single thing. 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mike Thomas. He was a shining example of all that is good about the male of the species. And in the process of being himself he helped me to begin to chip away at 30 years worth of baggage. 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The person (whose name I can’t mention here as this is being cross-posted to Facebook) who taught me that yes, there is a limit to what I am willing to accept in terms of acceptable behavior, even though she might argue she isn’t hurting anyone other than herself. 14. Where did most of your money go? Not counting expenses and bills, Bollywood and Indian clothing. And I think I did more eating out this year than ever before. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Going to Toronto!!!! All three times I went. And Shah Rukh Khan, but that’s an entirely different kind of excited! *wiggles eyebrows* 16. What song will always remind you of 2009? “Om Shanti Om” and “Dard-e-Disco” and all that they stand for. 17. Compared to this time last year, you are: Happier or sadder: So very much happier, and I was pretty happy at this point last year. Thinner or fatter: The same. Richer of poorer: Maybe about the same. 18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Kissing boys? 19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Part of me wants to say spending money, but I think almost all of my spending was worth it. 20. What was your word of the year for 2009? Zindagi 21. What was your favorite month of 2009? Ooo, tough one. Probably July and the first few weeks of August. Cricket, Toronto, Mary Lake, friends, fun, and Bollywood. 22. Did you fall in love in 2009? Absolutely! I fell head-over-heels in love with Shah Rukh Khan. And the BOCC. 23. How many one-night stands? None. Nor will I ever. 24. What was your favorite TV program? Lost. … And The Office. 25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don’t hate anyone. And the one person I do hate I hated this time last year too. 26. What was the best book you read? King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Hindi Cinema It was both a biography of SRK and a really interesting history of B-town. 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Hindi film music. Talk about a whole other world of incredibly awesome music! That and CrazeFM, the online radio station I listen to it all on. 28. What did you want and get? The pure, unadulterated joy of knowing that there is a world that I fit into and where I am wanted and needed. 29. What did you want and not get? Same thing I haven’t gotten for the past many years: a solid relationship with a loving, nice man. 30. What was your favorite film of this year? Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. It’s now my favorite film ever. That and Om Shanti Om, DDLJ, and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. 31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 35 and I invited a bunch of people over to my aunt Martha’s house to eat Indian food and watch Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. It was awesome! 32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I really can’t say that online. *shifty eyes* I don’t know who’s reading this. Heh heh heh 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Indian-inspired, I’m 35 and I can dress however I want, lack of inhibition about fashion fashion concept. 34. What kept you sane? Bollywood and BOCC. And Mel. And Shah Rukh. =D 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? In case you hadn’t guessed already…. SHAH RUKH KHAN!!! Although I had a few interludes with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan in there too. 36. What political issue stirred you the most? I tried to avoid politics this year. And I was pretty successful. 37. Who did you miss? My mom. Always. And Mel. Dangit, it’s no fun to have one of your best friends in another freakin’ country. 38. Who were the best new people you met? Oh my gosh, another huge long list! Mike Thomas, Shariq, Krish, Raj, Sushant, Mrinal, Marc, Nadeem and all the guys who are a part of BOCC, the Longstaffs, Kirti, and my new best bud Saru! 39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: Life can be incredibly freakin’ wonderful if you’re open to new ideas and take those leaps of faith. And you have to take those leaps of faith because they make life wonderful. 40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Hum hai rahi pyaar ke, phir milenge, chalte chalte Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
phrygiana	9:34a	Shaadi OK so here's the scoop for all of you who were so curious about what my cryptic status update from Wednesday was all about.... I've been thinking about this off and on, seriously and not so seriously, for a bit, but on Tuesday night I finally got brave enough, and bored enough, to set up a profile on Shaadi.com. What the heck is Shaadi.com? Well, it's like eHarmony or Match.com, only it's designed for Indians and NRIs (Non-Resident Indians). And it's not so much a "dating" site as it is a "get the heck married" site. *LOL* Filling out the forms and basic information was a trip! I had to answer fun questions like "What is your caste?" and "What are your family values?" and "What do your parents expect of your married partner?" Well, honestly, I think those questions are more designed for the people who are actually in India. As I've learned in the last few days, the site is very flexible when it comes to geographical locations and cultural differences. But I figured, why not? At the very least it'll be fun. And oh boy! I have not been disappointed! So far I think I must have had at least 80 guys express generic interest. Julie (co-worker friend) has been helping me go through all the profiles. 98% of them are hysterically NO! Over half are men in India. Not particularly photogenic or well-written men in India. As Saru advises me, steer clear, they just want a green card. Um, YEAH! But it's fun to read all of their profiles. A couple have seemed genuinely nice. However, they seem to have missed the giant message in my profile saying that I am NOT moving anywhere and I am only interested in guys who live near me, i.e. Philly or NJ. There have been some guys from Philly or NJ, but most of those ones have also missed the part of my profile where I state I am not interested in guys in their late 40s, 50s or early 60s! And I may be being a little too picky in this regard, but I also stated no divorcees. It's amazing how people don't read instructions, so to speak. Cracks me up. Anyhow, I am highly amused by the whole situation. It's vastly entertaining. And who knows, maybe I'll actually meet someone while in the midst of being entertained. Because there was one guy (out of the 80) who, frankly, I would marry tomorrow if he asked me! *LOL* Seriously. He's a doctor in Philly, likes theater and other "intellectual-type" pursuits, was born in the US to Indian parents, is 37, never married, and CUTE as a button in a perfectly adorable, nerdy with glasses but also quite photogenic, actually SMILING in his pics kind of way! He sounded so like my type that I paid for a full membership just so that I could send him a personal message instead of the site-generated generic messages. Yes, I just paid $70 to say hi to a guy. Wouldn't it be a great story if he turned out to be worth it? So that's the scoop. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and if this whole online thing doesn't work out, Saru is going to take me to the Dulha Expo either in NYC or New Jersey this Spring. *LOL* They actually have conventions for finding a bride! As Aline asked, do I get my own booth if I go? *ggls* Although Saru tells me it's more like a singles mingle. I'm just having such a fun time with it right now. I'll try just about anything to say I did. And hey, if I end up meeting a nice guy in the process then woo hoo! Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
phrygiana	7:32a	Horoscope - Day 5 "You may feel at loose ends today, but you can get back in balance if you really want. It's not so hard to ease up in one area of life while pushing forward in another, so keep at it until it all feels right. You likely are not feeling emotionally and physically up to it, but you will probably need to confront a personal situation today. Dodging the issue now will only stretch it out and make its effect linger, and you'd much rather put it behind you as quickly as possible. Be careful what you say and how you say it. Someone is primed for battle, so don't give them plenty of ammunition with any careless or cutting remarks. You don't have to be the life of the party all the time. Some days you just want to stay in and spend a couple of hours tending to hearth and home. That's perfectly healthy, plus, your pets really do miss you when you're not around." Uh oh, that middle bit really worries me! OK, no one pick a fight with me today! I'm not up to it! Which is sort of true in that really, I would just like to go back to bed where it's warm rather than having to deal with this cold, winter world. And besides, my cats miss me! The stars say so. =D Current Mood: okay (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
phrygiana	7:42a	Horoscope - Day 4 OK, it looks like it's going to be a bad day at work today. Oh no! *LOL* "Work is harder than ever today -- or your chores, or your job search or whatever else feels like the most serious task facing you. It just involves a few too many steps, but if you can make any progress, that's a win! It looks like work could be your primary challenge at the moment, and just getting through the day takes plenty of energy. But the energy you put into really noticing those around you pays off now." Actually, so far, the horoscope has been very, very mildly accurate in some unexpected ways. I don't see how this one can possibly come to fruition. At least I hope it doesn't. I'll let you know..... Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
phrygiana	7:26a	Horoscope - Day 3 "A conflict arises in your calendar -- and you may need to rearrange a few things to move past it. If you lose some time you'd blocked out for resting or meditation, you just need to catch up later." Well, I don't have anything scheduled for today. So I kinda don't get how that can be a conflict of scheduling. But we'll see what ends up happening.... "Work has probably been less than easy to concentrate on lately -- the stars are encouraging you to think of far more interesting topics. But now, you can't think of anything you'd rather do than apply the pants to the chair and the nose to the grindstone. Should your family voice their complaints, let them know this is temporary and that you have faith in their ability to boil water." Oh my gosh, so true! I haven't been able to concentrate on work to save my life! There really HAS been so much else to think about. So does this mean we'll get a lot of acceptances in today??? I wouldn't mind having a busy day at work, especially since traditionally the next couple of weeks are slowsville. Current Mood: groggy (Comment on this)
Monday, December 14th, 2009
phrygiana	7:32a	Horoscope - Day 2 "How will you ever write your novel if you don't get rid of a few distractions?" Well that part of my daily horoscope today just cracked me up. How true! I'm in a novel lull at the moment. Rather than continuing to write on the one I've been working on I've been rereading one of the others in the hopes of picking that up again. Let's see about the rest of the horoscope.... "Between your job, your home life and your social life, everything seems to be draining your energy resources. But what about you? You may have set aside precious little time in the past days to nurture yourself. Now's a good time to remedy that. As soon as you can, head off to your favorite spa or cafe and kick back. Buy yourself a cup of cappuccino and drink it sloooowly. If you have caller ID on your phone, use it for all it's worth. The interpersonal energy's a bit off at the moment, so don't be surprised if interactions take strange turns. Meanwhile, taking extra-good care of yourself is favored. Get yourself a treat, and relax and enjoy it." Hmm. I just took all of yesterday to do nothing. Maybe it's off by a day. But I will, however, bring the cappuccino mix I got at the family party on Saturday night to work and enjoy that slooooowly in the afternoon! =D And if I have strange interactions with people today I'll know why. *nods* Current Mood: good (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
phrygiana	10:48a	What's your Rashee? Yesterday I just happened to check my horoscope on Yahoo, and strangely enough, it fit exactly with what I was thinking about. It advised me that in the process of making a major decision I shouldn't take any action until I was absolutely sure. I laughed. And then I thought, OK, I'll follow what it says. Not only that, I am going to try an experiment. I'm going to read my horoscope every morning for, oh, let's say a week to start, and try to live my life exactly as it says. Just out of curiosity. I wonder what the results will be. So the rules: I'm going by the horoscope posted on the Yahoo home page. Apparently it's delivered by astrology.com. Today's horoscope for Cancer: "You may have a hard time making up your mind today about simple things, like which socks to wear. It's not as hard as it seems, but you just can't filter out the extraneous information from your thinking." Hmm. It took me about two seconds to pick out my socks. Extraneous information? I always have a hard time filtering that out of my thinking. I do not usually have a hard time making decisions. And I don't really have anything going on today. My plans for today were postponed until next week. So not much to go by there. However, the site has other various pieces of advice in other areas, like love and relationships, etc, so I checked those too. And the following really struck me: "Not taking things personally is one of the secrets to a happy life, so don't stress out on someone else's high expectations. It's really not about you at all -- people who aren't satisfied with their own lives try to rule everyone else's." Damn! Someone was a total jerk to me on Facebook this morning and I did take it very, very personally. I was stressing out about it! But I also absolutely believe that the only reason this person would lash out like that is because they aren't satisfied with their own life, etc. etc. Hmm! Go astrology! More to come in the days ahead.... Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)