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Showing posts from January, 2012

We're off to see the wedding!

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Din 149: "There is a treasure trove of talk."

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I just love India. From the slight change in scent after disembarking from the plane to the Magic Masala chips and cashew cookies I enjoyed after collecting my luggage, the country is a treat. If the rest of the world is a snack for the senses, India is a banquet. Having come through customs, I found Ruby Chachu and filled him in on my time in London (though he already reads my blog religiously). Today's drive from New Delhi to Ludhiana was only a record-breaking five hours! We arrived in Dadiji's arms after a smooth and relaxed ride. Once home, I chatted with Dadi before performing some "blog maintenance." ( Click here to read all about our trip to London in one place!) I then lay down to rest awhile. I must have been a bit more tired than I realized, as I ended up sleeping from 10:30AM to 5:30PM. Namaste, jet lag! In the evening, I arose and had some "lunch." Then, Ruby Chachu and I went out on a special errand. Tomorrow is the wedding of m

Day 148: "Get in the queue like everybody else!"

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The show last night was absolutely breathtaking -- quite literally, as our fellow audience members shot us frequent sidelong glances for our sighs of pain at the characters' tough choices and our squeals of joy at the actors' great voices. Laura was especially bowled over by the unbelievable effects made possible by the Queen's Theatre's revolving stage, and, as straightforward as it seems, I just can't get over the power of the vocal talent we got to hear. Back at the Cobrigoe Hotel, we continued to marvel over the two shows we had seen as we packed our things for today. This morning, Laura and I dragged ourselves out of bed impressively early (for us!) and checked out at the crack of eight, having been sorely overcharged for our "conplimentary" breakfast. We lugged my luggage (cognate accusative!) to Pimlico station and waited sleepily until our absurdly overstuffed train to the airport arrived. When sitting space eventually became available, we

Day 147, Part II: "I came to London to sit next to you."

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After lunch, Laura and I traipsed through the stained glass, oil painting, and jewellery collections at the V&A (practicing speaking Spanish in a Spanish accent and English in a French accent) until we were utterly spent.  We then headed into Kensington and consumed some scrumptious Nutella crepes. From there, we ventured to Piccadilly Circus, where we've been wandering about for the past few hours. This last hour or so was spent looking for a restaurant that would have food for Laura's means (she needs to eat more veggies!) and wifi for me. After walking up and down the street several times, we finally spied a restaurant we had passed several times but not noticed, Caffe Concerto. Laura now sits polishing off our lasagne and Caesar salad (so authentically British) as I write this post. We're off soon to the Queen's Theatre, where we will be watching Les Miserables tonight. Obviously, we're stoked! It's time for me to sign off, readers! I don&

Day 147, Part I: Woke up in London yesterday.

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Song of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpSiQRoTQU4&feature=youtube_gdata_player -- I'm able to snatch some wifi right now, so I thought I'd update you all. Any day that starts with cake is a good day. After breakfast, Laura and I hopped back aboard our tour bus. On our way to South Kensington, we read Sonnet 147 together before exploding into Ingrid Michaelson harmonies. Upon arriving at the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum), we quickly made the executive decision that we could spend the entire day here. Naturally, we gravitated toward the Medieval & Renaissance displays, and I regaled Laura with my scant knowledge of classical mythology as we both bewailed our lack of Biblical expertise. We must have spent an hour obsessing over one of Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks alone, lamenting the lack of such genius in a single individual of our society today.  After strolling through the sculpture gallery while listening to my favorite heart-wr

Day 146: "Did you swallow a thesaurus?"

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I'll admit that after the excitement of a conference call with my varlets and subsequent text messages with family (both fictive and sanguinary), it was a bit difficult to fall asleep on the plane. Coupled with the promise of chicken curry quickly identified by my talented Indian nose, rest was nearly impossible. But when I recovered from jubilation over my exit row seat to notice that the entire row behind me was empty, I enjoyed an improved quality of comfort. Three seats are better than one! I read Sonnet 146 over breakfast on the plane before my arrival in London, where I was greeted by the sight of the always mediocre Laura K. holding a sign reading "Miss Gilbourian." My sister and I enjoyed a second breakfast katching up at Krispy Kreme before taking the tube from Heathrow to Pimlico, where we checked into our hotel and powdered our noses before hitting town! We embarked upon a traditional double decker bus tour of the city (the Brasiliero ticketmaster sai

Day 145: "I've never missed you because you've never left before!"

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I started this morning by checking in online for my flight tonight (harder than it looks) and scanning some Baby Ratna photos for Mama's Facebook, before doing some research on grants for Gyaan Ghar . After a nice relaxing bath, I ran some errands with Mama and then we went to the mall to get me some sneakers for my trip. Back home, inspired by today's lovely shorts weather and my yet-to-be-inaugurated shoes, I went for a very brisk jog (sprint) outside. I then bolted indoors to do some quick ab exercises before commencing last-minute packing agenda items. With that almost done, I leapt into the shower, out of the shower, and into some sorrily sloppy sweats before we raced to Flint Hill for tonight's Band and Guitar concert. (I read Sonnet 145 in the car.) Never have I ever enjoyed a band performance this much!! (Certainly including the time when I was a band member myself.) Under the direction of the awesome Mr. Cosby, the upper school band collaborated with th

Day 144: "You speak in essays."

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The weather wasn't the only gray thing about today -- it was my last day at Flint Hill! After reading Sonnet 144 in the car, I arrived at school this morning to news from Jake Shor that some of my pieces had been fired! It was awesome and super gratifying to be able to see a few of my finished products. Leaving the kiln, I sauntered into Mr. Chang's room, where I had the pleasure of reading/proofing his Curriculum Vitae, Teaching Philosophy, and Personal Statement for an application he is compiling. Now that was what I call good reading! After bidding Mama Maddox bye-bye, I embarked on a quest to find Ms. Cardone. I made a slight (okay, major) detour to Mr. Lamont's office, to receive his blessing before my upcoming trip to India. Following his warm words, I interrupted Ms. Kotey's class to wish her farewell and pick her brains about some plans I have. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch with two of my brothers! We had a super conversation (i.e. I talked

Day 143: That's where you'll find me.

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After reading Sonnet 143 and eating a banana this morning, I went with Papa to watch Priya's volleyball tournament. It was really fun, she played really well, and I gained a new appreciation for team sports, the closest to which I have experienced is Certamen. :) In between her matches, we got lunch from Wendy's. I don't know why food was really important to me today, but my spicy chicken sandwich and frosty float were absolutely scrumptious. Papa and I also picked up lunch for Mama and took it to her at the open house she was hosting. When we learned that Priya would be at the gym until 8:00 this evening, we dropped by to take her a snack as well, and I quizzed her a bit for the History test she has tomorrow (iPhone studying is the best!). Back home, I had just started packing when I received a surprise visit from my sister Iman! She had dropped by to say "bye" one more time, and give me a really thoughtful farewell present. My favorite part was th

Day 142: We better find each other.

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I read Sonnet 142 today after my weekly phone call to Woojin. I then spent most of the morning figuring out my travel plans for next week. Let's just say I'm excited. For lunch, Papa took Priya and me to Cosi (Bombay chicken salad for the win), where Mama later joined us. I also got to introduce Priya to the delectable s'mores there, which, as one may imagine, elicited a lot of hugs from my little monster! After our meal, Priya and I browsed the Town Center as Mama shopped, and we ran into our Uncle Ramon -- what a fun surprise! We arrived home in time to enjoy a beautiful snowy sunset. In the evening, I found two lovely sweaters for my upcoming trip before commencing a VDV (Varlet-Dictatrix-Varlet) meeting with Patrick and Nizar. When we had finally selected a place to eat (Luciano), we talked about Nizar's past, Patrick's present, and my future. I have hair in this photo, so it obviously wasn't taken today. After dessert had been eaten, awkw

Day 141: "You lose the beauty when you say you have it."

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Today felt like it was comprised of more hours than usual. Despite my eternal splitting headache, I enjoyed an eventful and truly enjoyable day. I read my morning sonnet before getting to work planning a sliptrail "workshop" for Ms. Cardone's advisory. With my lesson for them prepared, I proceeded to my appointment with Mr. Chang to review the Latin exam I took on Day 106 . My translations were not bad overall, so we could spend time discussing the nuances of verbiage in Catullan and Horatian poetry (how I miss Latin class!) -- but my multiple choice has not improved much since high school. Eheu! During Long Advisory, I got to conduct the aforementioned workshop. It was awesome to have new people working on decorating the bowls, and the Cardone advisory is an artsy bunch! I think the activity went very well. When they left, Ms. Cardone taught me to apply a layer of clear glaze over my underglaze designs. Clearly, this went very well. Apron-donning is among

Day 140: Eso es un SOS.

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To be succinct, today was AWESOME. -- But because I am not Ernest Hemingway, and am actually rather garrulous, let me walk you through it. When I woke up today, I said to Priya, "My body feels like I benched 100 pounds last night, then fell into a hole filled with ice and slept the night there." My physical and mental energy levels could only improve. I read Sonnet 140 on the bus before becoming audience to a private vocal performance by a crazy talented 12-year-old singer. I know Laila will be famous one day, and I can't imagine being that confident at her age. At school, I was greeted by Trent Saiget, who was just admitted to his top choice school. The University of San Diego is so lucky! In the morning, I attended choir, where we had a substitute teacher. I got to talking to her after class, and when I mentioned that I am not quite sure what academic path I plan to pursue, she made a strong case for the statement "you never know where you'll end up

Day 139: To another island, in another life.

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"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?" These words greet her as she enters her alma mater. Possible responses: Aren't we all? No, I'm just where I want to be. Actual response: "I'm leaving for India soon!" The English hallway now. A girl cries in her rush to beat the bell. "It's the anniversary of my mom's death tomorrow." "Are you sure you want to go to class? I'll be in the studio all day. Come find me. Do you want me to wait outside?" What does one say. Today's bowls are to become papyri. As she smooths out her slab, she recycles the cup of her second caffeinated beverage of the day. She fills the first bowl with these words: On me dit que nos vies ne valent pas grand chose. Elles passent en un instant comme fanent les roses. On me dit que le temps qui glisse est un salaud que de nos chagrins il s'en fait des manteaux pourtant quelqu'un m'a dit que tu m'aimais encore, C'e

Day 138: I won't grade your heart.

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After reading Sonnet 138 this morning, I set out to begin my usual task -- making bowls. Today's goal was to make 12 smooth bowls on which members of the Literary Magazine will be able to write their poetry as a collaboration with the Clay Club this week. As I started rolling slab and molding it into dishes, words started popping into my head that eventually turned into a short article about my experience at Flint Hill. You can click here to read the piece I ended up writing, and I also hope to have it published in the next issue of the school's newspaper. Ms. Cardone's second class of the day was just starting Ceramics III, and thus engaging in their "rite of passage" adventure -- throwing 3 pots each on the wheel . . . blindfolded. I was Julia's assistant as she blindfolded her students and helped them transition from one pot to the next. Other than that, they were to receive no help. I found this activity, and the students' observations on't