Debate.

I Had my first debate tournament this weekend, and I unfortunately got paired with an interesting character from another school.
Some gems from my partner:

"Everyone. We should all do drugs because humans are like water. We do not want to be stagnant water. Moving water moves mountains"

"Rome was not built on drugs. This is the situation"

"We all need to learn from the field of grass known as knowledge"

"Love is beautiful. Why should we stop the glowing fire that is love?"

"The human body is beautiful. Humans are like water. Water moves mountains. Self expression helps us move mountains."

"I don't know what I am saying. I am just going to BS this"

After getting to the podium for 30 seconds "Where am I? What am I doing? What am I talking about? What is going on?"

I think you have the idea.

Clothes.

Hellloooo everyone!!

Every week, I want to post more than once, but I just can never seem to get around to writing before Sunday. For this, I apologize. All week, all I want to do is post something, but as usual, school work takes precedence. womp.

Anyways, I realized that people care waaayyyyy too much about clothes. Way, way too much. Not just about clothes, but their appearance, and for some reason, the clothes that people wear somehow equate to their appearance. People find it so necessary to look their best and wear proper clothes. People stress so much about what is appropriate. Myself included! Seriously though, who cares?! what does it matter what we wear, shouldn't we all just wear what we like to? Sometimes, it irks me how much people care about appearances at the hotel school, but yet, I still feed into it. What do they say? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Regardless of all this philosophical-ness, I still LOVE clothes. I don't quite know why, but it is so fun to find new pieces and make new outfits. I like it. What can I say? Secret: one of my favorite pastimes is online window shopping....though I only actually buy something once in a blue moon. Additionally, anyone that knows me knows that I only buy cheap things. I mean REALLY cheap things. I own a number of shirts and sweaters that $5 or less. For some reason, a piece of clothing is so much more attractive when I know it's cheap. hahaha

Current Dress I am eyeing:

It's from forever21 and it is only $24.80. I might actually get this one........

My cool thing:

I REALLY WANT TO READ THIS BOOK. Another secret. I love Clinton and Stacy from What Not To Wear. I know. embarrassing. But I think they are hilarious, and I really want to read this! Tell me what you think of it if you have!

Social Expectations.

Hellloooooo everyone!

I hope everyone had a splendid week and is ready for the one ahead of us.

What was/is everyone for Halloween? I went to a "7 Deadly Sins" party, and so I dressed up as wrath. I wore a red dress, painted my nails red, wore red lipstick, wore black eye-shadow, wore a harsh ponytail, and wore big black earrings. Thankfully everyone at the party quickly guessed what I was, but I had to explain to everyone I saw before I got to the party what I was supposed to be. I got a lot of "What are you?! Red dress girl?? A flower?" hahaha Comment below and tell me your Halloween stories!

On a different note, I was just wondering: Have you ever wondered about when it is appropriate to friend someone on Facebook? Should you friend them right after you meet them, after you know them for a while, when they show up your news feed? Whenever I friend someone whom I don't know very well, I am always thinking....should I have friended them? Do they think I am weird/a stalker for finding them? Its often the case, however, that they show up on one of my friend's wall or my news feed and so I just send a request. I am always nervous until they accept. Is that weird? Should I have waited until I was actually very good friends with them?!?

I do have one thing to note: I have found that often, I become better friends with the person in real life as a result of our Facebook "friendship".....Who knows.
(If it was not obvious, I just friended someone on Facebook whom I don't know that well because I wanted to get to know them better haha)

Ok my cool thing for today:

This piece was composed by a guy named Shankar Tucker who is AMAZING. He has been learning the clarinet from a very accomplished Indian flute player (Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, who I saw live!) for years, has played in symphonies over here in the states, and recently has been making these videos on Youtube which I can't stop listening to. This one is one of my favorites (and the guy playing the mridangam (drums) is my friend!)

Enjoy!

Don't forget to subscribe! :)

Party like a nerd.

Helloooo Everyone!!

I apologize, it has been MUCH too long since I have posted (a not-sucky post). HOPEFULLY this will put an end to that :)

SO before I start talking about things that actually interest you (and not just myself), I will talk about things that interest just myself. haha. First: I got through that crazy week I was telling you about (relatively unscathed). YAY :D Second: It is forecasted to snow in Ithaca on Thursday >-<. I HATE THE COLD.

Okay, so this past weekend, after all of my exams, I had a dance performance! All of the Indian people at Cornell get together every fall to put on a show for Diwali (Hindu New Year), and basically everyone who wants to gets to participate. I was part of the sophomore dance--it was fun! Anyways, so of course afterwards, everyone partied. Real original. I know. So there was this HUGE party with TONS of brown people, and I took two of my (not-Indian) friends. They. Loved. It. They could not stop raving about the party and how great it was. It really struck me when one of my friends said was that it was refreshing to be at a party where the majority of people knew and liked each other as opposed to a "party" which consists of a bunch of random, sweaty, drunk people stuffed in a room. I agree. Really, what is so great about being squished and smelly? Also, grinding does not equal dancing. Sorry to all of the crazy people couples on the dance floor. Also, I wish that people still liked parties where people were NOT just randomly drunk and stuffed in a room. I think parties which consist of people who are actually friends are fun! Parties where there are games, food, discussions. I even like dance parties and parties where (legal) people drink. I just don't get how that is the only type of party and that is the ONLY way people can have fun! Also, believe it or not, dance parties can be fun without the alcohol. Crazy, I know. People rollllll their eyes at board-games. I, on the other hand, love scrabble. Hmph. What can you do?

Sooooo my cool thing for today:

On (kind-of) the same note, here is yet another article from the Cornell Daily Sun that really spoke to me.

http://cornellsun.com/section/opinion/content/2011/10/24/emptiness-being-invulnerable

It is intriguing that everything this author is saying is true. We, as a society, try SO hard (whether we like it or not) to put out an image of ourselves. What is the point in tailoring ourselves to be the people we think others want us to be? If we truly think there is a problem with the way we are, we should change it, not hide it!

Just a thought :)

It will be Diwali in approximately 35 minutes, so Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak to everyone :)

On a last note, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! I'll love you even more if you do!!

Peace and Love <3

Overwhelmed.

Ok, I don’t want this to become a whining blog, but I am going to whine anyways haha. let me tell you. I have SO much to do! Today, I am in meetings straight until 9:30 at night (this lunch is my only break all day), after which I will continue to work on a group project until it is finished. Oh, and from 7-9 I somehow have to be at two places at once. I have a 25 page group paper due tomorrow (the one I mentioned before), 3 exams this week, and a dance performance on Saturday (which has multiple rehearsals before then). To top it all off, there is something stuck underneath my “D” key on my laptop, and so the key doesn't always work. Soooo, I will let you know if I am still alive after this week.

Ok whining done!

Haha funny story: today my friend posted this to my facebook wall:

“True story: I just watched a kid sitting by himself and all of the sudden he just started laughing for no reason. I immediately thought of you and was like oh he probably just cracked a joke to himself hahaha”

The funny part is that she is completely on mark to think of me. Hahahahaha

Ok cool thing for today!!

I have a really great cause that I would like to share with you—The Cause is called Krochet Kids, and they teach people in developing countries how to Crochet different things which they then help sell. It is a really great way to start moving these communities towards being self-sufficient, and I think it is GREAT what they are doing. The thing that is really cool about this non-profit is that the founders are just normal people who have a passion for helping people out. They were a bunch of guys who liked winter sports and taught themselves how to crochet. They thought it would be a good idea to teach others how to as well. Their story gives you that warm, fuzzy, reassuring feeling that anyone can do something small to help people out.

Here is the link to their website:

http://www.krochetkids.org/

Home Sweet Home.

Hellooooo Everyone!

I am so incredibly sorry that I have not been in touch for quite some while! I was home for fall break this past weekend, and needless to say it was crazy, hectic, and loads of fun. I hope everyone had as much of a wonderful weekend as I did. Now, however, it is time to get back to the grind.

You know what’s funny? The things that you realize you miss when you get home. There is the obvious: my bed, my room, my desk. Oh. And my family I guess. But you know what I miss as well? Right now, I am sitting in my own living room, in front of my own TV, on my own couch, under my own blanket, next to one of my own best friends while my own parents are in the next room. Somehow, this is the best part of my weekend. Not the food (surprisingly enough haha), not the time I spent talking with everyone, and not even the Garba we went to (see post before this one).

Yes. You do have permission to make fun of that extremely sappy paragraph. 

Sooooo, I figure, that since I love to cook, I would try to post some recipes every now and then when I think of one. I have not cooked in a while, and I usually do not follow a recipe (I do a lot of putting whatever is in the fridge together to make something edible haha).

So my “cool thing” for today is a recipe! (Warning: it is nothing special or exciting: my favorite dishes are super casual and easy).

Today, I have a sandwich for you.

Ingredients:

-Bread (I prefer pita), or you could do two slices of your fave

-A couple slices of your favorite cheese: I think gruyere is delicious in this sandwich, or provolone works splendidly

-Tomato slices

-Cucumbers

-Olives

-Hot peppers (if you please, I like banana)

-Hummus

-Onions

-Anything else that sounds yummy to you. I am vegetarian, so I don't eat meat, but I feel like turkey could work here.

-Salt and pepper (I also like some ground rosemary….or rosemary bread!!!)

-Here’s the kicker: PESTO

Pesto is super easy, all you need is some leaves, oil, salt and pepper, cheese, and some nuts. I like spinach and almonds. Basil and walnuts is also great. ANYTHING GOES!! Just stick it all in the food processor and drizzle in olive oil while it’s on. Some balsamic vinegar could also taste really good.

I hope you all know how to put together a sandwich, but a tip I have is to put the olives on top of the hummus to that they don't roll around!

I know. Revolutionary. I warned you it would be earth shattering.

At the very least, I hope I  made you hungry!!! 

And yes, you have permission to make fun of the recipe as well haha

Good day to you all! May you have a better week than I am going to.

(Non) Regrets.

Hello everyone!

I hope this past week and weekend treated you well-I for one had a wonderful week (despite the piles of schoolwork that I had). Additionally, I am so very excited to be going back home next weekend: I can’t want to see all my family and (of course) one of my best friends Sonya.

These past few days have been part of a Hindu festival called ‘Navratri’ which is a festival that worships the Hindu goddess Durga. During these 9 days, people from the state of Gujarat: Gujaratis (such as myself) attend dances called Garba where everyone dances and has fun. You may recognize the dances which use ‘Dandiyas’--the sticks in this picture:

Two things about Garba:

1. I am SO excited to go home and go to the Garbas there because they were/are such a big part of my life: I have gone every year since I was an itty bitty kid.
2. There was a Garba here. At college. IT WAS SO FUN. I danced from 8:30 to 11:30 straight!

If any of you have a chance to go to a Garba, GO!

The reason for the name of this post is that I don't regret not doing all of the work I didn't do because this weekend was amazing :) In addition to going to Garba, I went to Ithaca's amazing apple fest (http://www.downtownithaca.com/events/view/27th-annual-downtown-ithaca-apple-harvest-festival.html)!!
I was also going to go to a Janelle Monae (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqmORiHNtN4&ob=av2e) concert tonight, but I think I should be a litttttleee bit responsible tonight and get some work done.

Since we are on the whole ‘Indian’ Theme, my interesting thing for today is the Bollywood movie Fashion. I have been watching it today (probably for the 4^th time) while doing homework (shhhhh!), and I highly recommend it. It is not a typical Bollywood movie, but it is great! I love the soundtrack, and there is a really great HD version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WMDI9m9Ck0) on youtube!