the eternal question: like vs. love

i've had quite a few friends who have had their moments of confusion: do I love so-and-so?

while there is no rule in general, I don't recall this question ever giving me much grief. and strangely enough, it's due to my past experiences with "love at first sight".

i've liked plenty of girls, but I knew who I loved even before I had a chance to realise that I liked them.

maybe that's what my confused friends need to learn: like doesn't imply love. not even if it's a whole big lot of "like" :)

either that or I need to fall in love at second sight. now that will truly leave me confused!!!

my meandering ways

i stop for a chat, or maybe just a hi
a word or two before i go about my way
for though something seems to draw us apart
in this noisy silence, you're always in my heart

(dedicated to all my awesome friends...past and present :))

the opposite of congress

after months of growing discontent, and frequent bouts of "something should be done"itis, I finally bit the bullet last saturday. and became the proud new owner of a sony ericsson xperia x1 (or the SEX1 as some people call it).

for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting a review, i'm very sorry to announce that your wait shall be prolonged.

this post is one of introspection.

my phone has finally overtaken:

my first computer's resolution (800 * 480 vs 720 * 350)

my fouth computer's cpu clock speed (528mhz vs 500mhz)

my sixth computer's ram (256mb + some unspecified gfx memory vs just 256mb)

my sixth computer's hard disk/storage (8gb + 256mb vs 8gb)

my seventh computer's internet connection (EDGE vs dial-up)

my seventh computer's network speed (56mbps vs 10mbps)

the only catch? I also paid more for this phone than i've ever paid for a computer (of course, that's only because i've never brought the entire computer at one go - it's always an upgrade)

cheers to progress!!!

ps: post typed on my phone. on blogger's standard posting screen. i'm happy as can be :)

memories in a sea of forgetfulness

first off, i brought a new phone. i'm not gonna speak much about it now, cos there's gonna be a nice full post on that sometime soon.

so after a bit of figuring out, i managed to get my texts transferred from my old phone (yeah, all 7700+ of them!). only catch is that the first time after importing, the phone has to do some sort of reorganization of all these messages. skipping the dry details, the end result is that i had to patiently wait for over an hour (and still counting!) while each text flashed on my screen for a fraction of a second.

i can't think of an adjective to describe the experience.

among the thousands of texts that flashed by, i read ones from a friend who subsequently passed away, texts from a person who i didn't know a few months ago who turned into one of my bset friends, a relationship that was budding at the start of 2008, almost made it, and then died, friends who i had such great times with but don't speak to any more, friends who have mysteriously drifted apart, vacations and road trips being planned and executed, birthday/christmas/easter wishes and the like, and so much more.

i almost relived the past 16 months in an hour.

ps: yeah, i skipped the last 2 months of texts cos i had to type this out. but i guess that's not too bad :). and the post title is inspired by the BT song with the same title :)

google adsense EPIC #WIN!!!

at first glance, i thought it was someone's idea of fun. but then i realised the ad has been carefully selected by google. an epic win of the most epic proportions, if ever there was one.

ps: screenshot taken 20 minutes ago from my google reader. only photoshopping done was to blur my google id :)

the (r)evolution will be televised

a few days ago, i was checking linkbacks to my site (yeah yeah, i have these occasional moments of vanity) and i found one on tim ferris' blog. surprised (tim is quite a celeb blogger in his own right), i clicked the page. half expecting it to be some sort of mistake on technorati's part, i was pleasantly surprised to see the linkback was from my own comment (technorati's wizardry at work, i guess).

i read my comment. and was fascinated. i then read the entire post and all the remaining comments. and was fascinated even more.

the post was about ways tim uses twitter and why he doesn't do some things people generally do with twitter.

my comment made me realise how much my use, and interestingly, my approach to networking in general (both online and off-) has changed.

here's my comment:

i guess i’m the exact opposite when it comes to twitter use - although my extreme is also quite practical for me.

i follow everyone i know in real life, on twitter. i also post random things about my day (okay, not “just bit into a muffin…mmmmm!!!”), but things like what i’m doing, what i’m feeling, an observation, a thought that someone might appreciate…it goes on. most of my friends (with a few irritating exceptions) also do the same. that way, i’m always in touch, without actively being in conversation with everyone. if someone’s having a bad day, or if i have something to say that won’t fit 140 chars, i pick up the phone and call/text. i dislike links because they force me to fire up my phone’s browser (or leave whatever’s already on it) to complete the picture of what my friend wanted to say.

twitter is different from phone or text or im, because it’s a sort of selective broadcast. it’s also more timely than a blog. twitter is also not the sort of medium where i’d post something i’d want to recall a month from now. that’s going straight to my blog.

twitter helps me stay in touch with friends who might have otherwise drifted apart due to geographical/time zone distance. compared to the friends who aren’t on it, the contrast is stark enough to be black and white - if a friend lives in another city and isn’t on twitter, it’s almost guaranteed that we’ll be out of touch in a few months :D

and what's changed since then:

most of my then friends have left twitter. their accounts are still there, but they seldom use them. and i mean less than once in 2 months, or worse even.

on the other hand, i've embraced twitter as a platform for meeting new people. i now add people on twitter and if i meet them and they turn out to be the sort of people i want to associate with, we swap numbers, facebook accounts and the works.

and i now use facebook to keep in touch, almost the same way as i used to use twitter back then.

strange but true. and a full circle in (online) social media.

ps: title inspired by "the revolution" by bt. one of my favourites!!!

happy easter!

lent just got over, and it's (finally!) easter today. this year was a different one for me, as i decided to give up alcohol for the last 42 days. it was pretty hard at first, but i finally got used to mocktails and juices (and i love fruits anyway).

so finally, lent is over. easter started with a good tipple, more than just good in fact.

but you know what, it's not that big a deal. it wasn't even worth it. because abstinence hasn't brought me any closer to god.

i need to start earnestly praying again instead.

happy easter, everyone!!!