Yeah, I saw my sister's answers and I fell for the oldest pyramid scheme in the internet. I answered the Friends and Family fun email questionnaire. Again.

 

So I thought, I should blog this... so I remember 1) that I did it and 2) what I said... and 3) i have record so I can change my mind whenever I choose.

So here goes...

 

1. FIRST NAME: Vidya

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Some chick

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Thursday

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Who writes by hand anymore?

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?  water.

6. KIDS? Only rental.

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'd observe me... that's for sure.

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes I am on my 15th one.

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Are you threatening me?

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? I think they have me.

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Of course. Use your seat cushion as a floatation device.

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Special K. With berries.

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Flip flops, dude. I'm in Cali.

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Strong, sometimes. Evil genius? Oh, yeah.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? I prefer creme brulee, but ok... rose flavored kulfi ice cream is killer. so is choc chip mint. esp. with berries scattered all over a big scoop of it.

16. SHOE SIZE? 8

17. RED OR PINK? shades of gray.

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU? I hate that i get tired.

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my ex-mother-in-law... oops...was i using sarcasm again??? Really, I miss dabby and I miss my baby sisters when they were babies. And that one person who knows I miss him. But that's what memories are for! As for me.. I love Microsoft!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Everyone? Um, my servers may not be able to handle Everyone. But you guys, I am ok with.

21.WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans, black flipflops.

22. LAST THING YOU ATE? Doritos.

23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Coldplay - Speed of Sound. Oh, that ended. Now I am listening to The Doors - Roadhouse Blues.

24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Crystal.

25. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL? Fresh lavender growing all over the Microsoft Campus, which you can smell when you drive past them at night.

26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Mike

27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Intensity in the eyes: Windows Vista for the soul.

28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Hope so. We're related. I raised her. It would help if i liked her. ;)

29. FAVORITE DRINK? nonfat doubleshot latte

30. FAVORITE SPORT? competitive chess; perplexcity (www.perplexcity.com), sailing, and vigorous HGTV and TLC-watching.

31. HAIR COLOR? not happy with it yet.

32. EYE COLOR? honey brown

33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I did till that mean lady at the airport confiscated them because they were in liquid.

34. FAVORITE FOOD? sushi

35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Um.... yeah. Just make me laugh.

36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Peter Sellers - The Party. I am evangelizing this movie.

37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Brown Baby Phat Tshirt.

38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Bay Area winter

39. HUGS OR KISSES? Do I have to pick one? OK..Kisses

40. FAVORITE DESSERT? creme brulee or chocolate fondue with berries and bananas. mmmmmmmmmm...

41. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? uhhhh... Beavis??

42. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Spongebob

43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Society of the Mind by Eric L. Harry

44. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? A trap with cheese.

45.WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Whose Line is it Anyway? reruns.

Something is happening to our world. Something creepy and quite ridiculous. Terrorist alarmism seems to be recurring with some cyclical frequency which I think we should start tracking. What bothers me is that I know what my traveling companions and I will have to go through when we get to security, however, what do we really know about the airlines themselves? I see more and more of the airport and airline staff filling in with non-American employees. That is cool, I am all for that. But during red alerts, I am sorry to say, even though I too am ethnic, I am visibly creeped out. Will they stock our beverage cart for my 5-hour flight tonight? Will they refuel our plane? Will they fill the handsoap in the lavatory on my plane? I am nervous. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe it will. I just yearn for an internationally-derived game plan to grow a more mature international citizenry, free of the ancient baggage that has been causing violent outbursts in our advanced global society.

 

The following is a poetic ode to red-alert flights in 2006.

 

Liquid-Free Flight

 

I open my rolling backpack.

I unpack all the items.

Some old receipts. A pen. My ipod.

An ethernet cable. A DVD.

In a third pocket,  I find it.

A small tube of toothpaste.

A small bottle of shampoo. 

My contact lens solution.

Think fast to replace all these.

Was the plot really against us?

Or our amenities? Are those who hate us angry

About our lives? Or about how easy we have made them?

Is inconvenience what they aim to use to break us?

We shall overcome.

Two t-shirts. Jeans. A Microsoft baseball cap. Prada sunglasses.

Essentials.

Replace the lip gloss with lipstick. I wonder if that counts?

Replace the body wash with a bar of soap.

Replace the mascara (I guess its gel) with an eyelash curler.

American innovation will never die out.
We will creatively find ways to travel.

And fly... liquid-free.

 

 

In our last episode, I was shuttling one suitcase back and forth, packing and unpacking it, over and over. Well, my friend (who's at Cisco) Tammy, had this brilliant idea of helping me. While I have a Miata, she has a huge car (a Beemer convertible), with 4 seats... so it took us only 2 trips to load tons of boxes and bags. But it was Beverly Hillbillies all over again when I ran out of the fancy moving boxes and began shoving stuff into garbage bags for the move. Also, it was really cute, when Tammy was wheeling down a bunch of boxes, with a big tub of knitting yarn filled to the top. I know, me and the yarn. It was not as hillbilly as that time with Tracey's bench facing traffic as we drove down the turnpikes to NYC from Detroit, but it was pretty funny watching Tammy and I with tons of stuff in the cars, with our tops down, holding on to make sure stuff didn't tumble off.

 

Tammy, being Midwest at heart, can drive her car! We were racing all down 237 and 101 to try and get everything done fast. She also had this cool dolly/trolley thing, that flatbeds, or becomes a ladder or step-stool. I told you they sell cool things on QVC! It was tiring, so we had some champagne and apps at Banderas(Los Altos Grill) for fun. They had amazing banana creme pie, and of course, we never say no to good desserts!

 

The most amazing thing about Tammy is her energy. It was warm and boring with heavy lifting and packing and loading and unloading... but she kept the cheer going and it really motivated me, since i was already feeling pretty zapped from last week's unwellness. And you know what? She gave me her TV, a DVD/VCR player and this cute TV stand, as well as a beautiful round ethan allen end table and a gorgeous black floor lamp... and an amazing pewter finish table lamp! This never happens. She's just too amazing and totally sweet.

 

I feel really blessed to have good friends around me.

 

When I got here I had checkbooks sent by the bank sitting in my mailbox, with the new address. It was a sudden awareness that I had made the shift. I guess I am almost Californian now.  Miss you guys.