Amongst the Thorns, She Fights!

Dream as if you'll live forever; Live as if you'll die today. - James Dean

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Love in the Morning

Whisper in the dark,
reaching for your heart,
feel the warmth surround me,
as you envelopes my arms

Nuzzle my neck,
feel my pulse against your lips,
find the rhythm of my chest,
let it echo in your head

Come a little closer,
feel my back arch against your touch,
feel you against my body,
sending shivers to shock my heart

Whisper in my ear,
eyes closed you’re all I hear,
say what you want, do what you will,
make me forget every worry,
you’re all I feel

Find the ache that’s calling out your name,
a little closer, we’ve found our embrace,
search in every corner,
find the treasure let it rest

Look a little deeper,
keep going, you’re nearly there.
This journey is just beginning,
you have me, all of me,
take it all and keep it dear

The morning has come,
we’ve found our path,
it’s time to get moving,
the day has begun.

Soulful stares,
with warmth on my lips,
my heart lingers and steams
yet the longing is deep

A wonder,
an endless flight
will take you over
to the other side.

A calling,
a yearning deep within,
I wouldn’t dare to know it
without it set free

‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ said Marilyn

Well, not really this girl. I think they are overpriced and lot of people being are screwed over in getting its real worth. Lots of us have heard about Blood Diamonds in Africa (mainly due to Pop Culture and courtesy of the likes of James Bond and the other name sake movie featuring Leonardo Di Caprio). But, let’s not forget that Sri Lanka has it’s own great source of diamonds and precious to semi-precious gems in the great town of Ratnapura. And let’s also think about the men and (sometimes) women who spend ages knee/thigh deep in mud and water (trenches) maddeningly going through them to see if they can find at least one precious gem to sell off (and hopefully buy food for his/her family and children). And in this process, let’s not forget that they will get screwed by the brokers or the buyers as they hustle for a low price (so that they can sell it off for hundreds and thousands of Rupees) but the poor gem miner gets just a bit here and there. Maybe I  AM a little prejudiced and I AM considering the worst case scenario (and I’m sure there are lots of people NOT being screwed), but I’m just thinking of those who are getting screwed and I frankly do not want to be the recipient of a gem or diamond that could have had such a thing intertwined with its origins (regardless of whether it came from the ground, the drama along with it can be bad luck).

Regardless, I’m not a huge fan of precious gems, though they ARE pretty, and because the world loves them I came across this bit of information and wanted to share it with you all.

Types of Diamond Shapes & Cuts

Information about Diamonds

Information courtesy of  James Allen.

Please remember to always ask for Conflict Free Diamonds.

Egg, Prawn & Broccoli Salad

I am on this weird diet, I don’t even know what the hell it is. Basically I like to call it my carnivore diet, cos I’m getting my body to eat my own fat deposit. Sounds fitting, with Halloween around the corner, doesn’t it? Regardless, I eat some yummy food, and I am sharing with you one that I made recently, and I took really low quality pictures of. It’s not neat or anything, but I’m not Nigella Lawson, so cut me some slack, please!
Right so, to the ingredients;
  • Prawns
  • Broccoli
  • Egg(s)
  • Salt/Pepper
  • Butter/Canola
  • Lime
Note:
  1. There is a difference between  a prawn and shrimp, like it says so here
  2. How to de-vein and peel a prawn, you can find a video tutorial here  (ps: I added Curtis Stone in there, just to make things yummier)
Righto, then. To the cooking pan!
  1. Once all the ingredients are ready, that is, you’ve washed and boiled your prawn and its all clean and tidy, get a bowl out, just add some butter (I prefer Canola, purely for the heart and it’s healthy), and leave it there
  2. Boil your egg (or eggs). Some like it hard boiled, but I kinda like it not so hard (boiled), so that when I dice it up, there’s a natural sauce for the salad, and I don’t need to add anything else (apart maybe from a dash of lime juice or butter(of course Canola).
  3. Steam your broccoli. If you don’t want to over steam your broccoli, what you can do is use your microwave. After washing your broccoli, place it in a microwaveable dish, in go the broccoli florets, then a spoon of water, cover it with cellophane, and into the microwave, for 3 minutes on high.
  4. Once you have everything ready, cut the broccoli into bite size pieces, and thinly slice your egg(s), and add everything to the bowl with the prawns.  Add some salt, pepper and  dash of lime for taste, get your fork out and start munching.

A healthy, light meal, for your Happy Tummy A La Maya (that’s me) 🙂 Enjoy!

Goat-ey

Happy Goat-ey aka Percy

Laptops & Power Outages

I own a Compaq 610 (dubbed Podi Maya) and I have had it for about less than 2 years. It’s been reliable so far, since the demise of my earlier laptop, Panik, I have solely relied on it to be my source of EVERYTHING. BUT, as of late, I have found out that the battery has gone kaput. Well, I realised that the battery had gone kaput about 6-9 months ago, because when I remove the cable, it only would stay ‘alive’ for 30 minutes and it would die. Before this started happening, it stayed on for 3 hours, which made me quite happy. It’s a good laptop, and for the price that I got it for, it was a deal ($750).

My only issue is that, due to the battery issues, the laptop is no more a laptop and is quite plugged in (to the matrix? Sorry I had to put that there). A new battery would cost a good 20k(LKR). When the power cable went bust and a new one cost me 16k (LKR). What I was wondering, was whether this is a model issue or just a HP issue (cos I had the same thing with my earlier HP laptop). Also had the cable to the earlier HP Laptop go bust, and then the battery. Or is it that the fluctuations in Electricity available in Sri Lanka is so unstable, due to the unforeseen power outages that it makes my electrical appliances go bust. I do have a trip switch which goes off at times like those, but are there sneaky attempts that go unseen? Also, the fact that I use so many multi plugs and extendable power cords to reach my desk, could that be it? I don’t know. I need a working laptop and I don’t want electricity playing havoc on my babies 😦

All I know is that all my work goes bust when the lights go off and sometimes I get the Autosaves and sometimes I don’t. I just got in trouble because I had sent the wrong copy of a document I had corrected but it hadn’t saved when the power went bust, and I thinking it was the right one, cos I ‘thought; I saved it, sent it right away. Darn.

Yeah, I think I should either scrounge up the cash for a new battery or even a new laptop. (Sad)

Clarity

Sometimes when you look back in anger,
in between the mist of your emote eyes,
you see clarity and then you know
that you can let go, of everything that you are holding on to
with that tight rope, that is burning into your skin,
the one that will leave a mark on you and remind you of the pain within
so let go, “it’s okay” a magical voice may whisper into your lobes,
there is nothing that could have been done and fate might be to blame,
but letting go of one’s anger does not mean the build of another!
don’t blame fate too much for this either!
remember the good that it brought
remember the good that you now know
seize the day, let the rope fall down
and climb back on to that step and look around!
clarity without bias is a gift that you must will to be
and once it’s yours, hold that will close and breathe…


Situations present themselves to you, and sometimes the truth hurts, and even the situations. But, you need to see the good in those situations for those who are loyal to you in the midst of the evil that calls out to you to join The Sith. Be thankful that your Anakin didn’t cross over to the Darkside but stayed with your Padma, and pity Count Dooku who festers on the people’s fears and entices them to join him in his trysts. I’m frankly thankful that my Padma has her Anakin and he had the courage to say ‘NO’ to Count Dooku and stand strong by her side. I feel sorry for you, but I’m not petty enough to not friend you. So I will. And here I am, with clarity.

Yes, clarity, poetry and Star Wars at 6:00am brings you a post such as this.

TTPT Sandwich

Okay, so you know what’s yummy? What I just had for lunch, that’s what! I didn’t want to eat the same old rice and curry, so I thought I’d make something from whatever I had at home.

What I found that appealed to me in my pantry/kitchen was a can of tuna (which had sunflower oil), a bunch of parsley I had in the freezer (keeping the parsley in the freezer helps it stay ‘fresh’, by that I mean, avoid it getting wilted), tomatoes and bread. Those being the ingredients, all I needed to make what I was making (Tuna,Tomato & Parsley on Toast aka TTPT Sandwich, yes I made that up 😀) was a frying pan, a bowl, 2 spoons and some butter (I prefer Canola – healthy and all).

So, yeah I first got the tuna out of the can and into the bowl. Then washed the parsley well, chopped them into little teeny weeny pieces and put it into the tuna bowl. I then did the same thing to the tomato as well. I made toast out of the bread and then I put the filling in between the toast and THEN voila, TTPT Sandwich on the plate, and a few bites later, in my tummy, happy and warm!

If you want a quick and healthy meal that can be made in 5-10 mins, this what you can make. If you aren’t a fan of tomato, like my fiance is, then you can opt for a bit of lime for the same effect. I wouldn’t opt out of the parsley, but if you don’t have it, then you can try a salad leaf or even a slice of cheese. Still healthy.

I think I might do this more often, the cooking and blogging thing. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures, I was famished. And I hope I haven’t bored you with this, but hey, HAPPY EATING or as the Italians say, Mangiare Bene!

It's not my image, but mine came out a very similarly

Counting Down Has Never Been This Amazing


Standing, along a blue wall, that’s speckled with water bubbles patiently fighting to burst out through the plaster beneath the cool shade, there we stand face to face, looking through each other as we were mere ethereal personas, standing still against time. And I stand there looking at the wonder of those brown bright orbs that mirrors your emotion and mine combined yet each with a story to tell but one that will not be spoken yet transcended through vibes and aura so strong that it sets my hair on end. Holding me close, noses touching one another, we stare right through the galaxies of our corneas. Eye lash grazing, sending tingles down my being, shocking the caverns and their beasts who are now awakened and fumbling towards the light. Your lips tremble as mine does with yearning, its a longing that beats against my heart as loud as a beating drum heard down in tribes far away.

And we meet, like waves crashing against one another, mighty and strong, overflowing as our lips make contact over and over, in unison to the rhythm of the current that sweeps through an open door, as your hot tongue greets mine like an old friend, shaking hands and saying “how do you do, I’ve been expecting you for quite some time and I’m sure glad that you have arrived“. Maybe not friends, but lovers brought from friendship and understanding so strong, that it governs the mighty waves of thought into tsunamis that can break down those very walls I had constructed brick by brick against possible and probably hurt and hate with cynicism as twisted as a tangled braid. But you tore those down, like the Berlin Wall and you made a change, you changed my world.

The lines of my hand met yours as if they knew because fate had etched them on our palms a long time ago and now you and I, we’ve been found. Every graze, every touch sends tingles to every corner of my being, awakening them and as your kisses sends warmth searing through to my heart, I feel jolts of heat pass through you into me and explode into a beauteous array of fireworks only my inner being can pay witness to, and you, yes you are the reason why every inch feels as if its in a caffeine induced coma, one that makes you spring to life against the misery which lies solid, un-moving in a corner. You are the reason, for my being, for constantly moving forward through the blizzard. You are my strength, my heart and soul, you are the spirit that runs through my veins, giving me life. And I, I love you, with every heartstring calling out your name.


I dedicated and gifted this piece of writing to Thar for his birthday, and I have been waiting for the right time to post this online, and I think it’s time. Happy 17 Months, YOU ARE THE BEST PART OF MY LIFE.

Little Boys and Train Sets

He was only a little boy, a darling chubby thing with rosy cheeks that were meant to be squeezed. And how he hated his cheeks being squeezed. All he really wanted was to play with his train set, and imagine he was big and important, but no, here he was, being sat on some grubby old lady’s fat thighs being squuezed every ten minutes while she made faces that could scare a kid his size and age and probably give him nightmares. But no, he wasn’t scared, he was brave, like his Mama always told him to be. But this lady wasn’t like his Mama, and didn’t smell like her either. No the fragrant fruity smell her hair always had, but something musty and quite unbearable come to think of it.

She was his father’s oldest brother’s wife. And she had bad breath. If there was something that he couldn’t handle was smells that were bad and they always gave him a headache, especially when he pictured it doing things to his body. Those fumes going up his nasal canal and up to his brain making it go mushy. Yes, he did have an overactive imagination, but a boy his age, you’d expect it.  He tried to get away from the old lady, but he knew that wriggling off him would cause her to latch on to him tighter, like a snake does to his prey. He had seen it on the Discovery Channel.

How do I get off of her and into my room, without upsetting anyone‘  he thought to himself.

‘Maybe I could start sneezing on her and excuse myself’, or maybe if I start crying. No, I must not cry, it will only upset Mama. Alright, I’ll try coughing and sneezing on her‘ he finally thought. ‘At-chooo, atchooo, atchooo, atchooo‘ and on went the sneezing fit and before you knew it, he was off her fat thighs and in his Mama’s arms as she checked his temperature.

What wrong, sweetheart?‘ she asked but I couldn’t say anything in case I my plan was foiled.

Mama I think something funny went up my nose, I can feel it Mama!‘ making sure I let the old Aunt hear what I was saying, just so she could hear all the grimy details of my nose and send her off in a spiraling out of control into a pit of mental imagery. ‘Mama, I’ll go up to my room and wash myself off, and lie in bed, if you don’t mind. I’m awfully sorry, Mama, but I don’t feel well enough to be here, something is making me sneeze…  atchooo‘ he said while sneezing for effect.

Oh of course, my dear. Just run along, my darling‘.

As he retreated back to base camp, he could hear Mama relaying her apologies to their guests. he was out of harm way or rather the old Aunt’ grubby hands and distasteful odor and back in his room. ‘Aaah Room Sweet Room’ he thought, while he first went to wash his face with cold water and soap, just to get her skin off him. And then, soon enough he was back in his room with his train set, diving right in, and thinking about traversing the land on a fast train jetting of to every corner of the land. While he  daydreamed, he stepped right into nap and was fast asleep with his dreams of trains and travels.


I don’t really know why I wrote this. I decided I needed to write more, at least something small everyday. And this is what my fingers were told to type. Oh brain, you silly old fool.

Bed Time Ponders

What is life but what seems to be an endless story that falls over itself in cascades and into tiers, and as a tier approaches, you age. You eat, you sleep and you dream in between the nights and days, from dusk to dawn. But do most of us really put thought into our lives, or do we merely ‘go with the flow’? Do we continue like robots, being programmed on a machine line or back in a secret lab no one is supposed to know about. If we’re the latter, well we must know that we are important and different, and if we are different how are we different. William Shakespeare said “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life, Is rounded with a sleep”.  What I think he means is that we have our bubbles and we are safe in them and rarely move out of our comfort zones.

Do we live our lives like its meant to be your last, or do we just procrastinate and expect to wake up the next day and with new opportunities sprouting like ripe tomatoes growing in your back yard, filled with vegetation (if you didn’t procrastinate to water them, or lest make sure the sprinklers came on time – having programmed that too). What I meant to say is, do we go about like we’re living a dream and that we’ll live forever, or as one of my favourite quotes by James Dean goes, do you “dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today”. Because to me, the latter is what gives me the strength. I dream, and I live. Passionately. I’m happy when I’m happy, I’m angry when I’m angry. It may seem a little black and white when I put it like that, but to me, that’s me feeling, and when I am overcome by this drive that powers me, I can’t feel anything else but that pure adrenaline that keeps me going. Do I at times deter and deflect, when ailment and misfortunes come my way, I do. I am only human, and I have to let nourishment and time mend the bridges of whatever I am referring to and move on with life. The same life that I said I live passionately. I don’t take my life for granted. I don’t take opportunities given to me for granted, I take everything that comes my way with a skip. But that doesn’t mean I trip. Life dishes out the good and the bad, and the bad never comes knocking. And doing a balancing act is quite tough too, when you are trying to live your life to the fullest, because you also need to prioritise to manage your time.

Then, there’s love, and there’s friendship. When it comes to love, there are so many highs and with emotions and passion there will be puddles and there will be bumps on the road. But life comes with a ying and a yang, with love is the opposite with evil and the ugly side of life, just staring you down, making you quiver in a corner. It’s okay to be afraid, but it’s important to also stand up once you recover from it and find your bearing. Aldous Huxley said “Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you” so when life beats you down, just get back up and move on. And friendship comes in many sizes and shapes, and forms. It could be genuine and it would false, be aware of who your real friends are. If you are a nice person, don’t let the false friend turn you over to the dark side, come out the winner and don’t let them have their laugh.  People will talk, people will judge, people will never attempt to see more that what they want to see, because they are limited, they are restricted, they are afraid to sometimes see that you may have something that they do not have, that they couldn’t possibly have and they might have insecurities of their own and that’s where they start pointing fingers and saying things about you which you do not deserve and they know you do not deserve. You have something they want and do not have, and in today’s age it’s easier to criticise and not praise when one finds themselves in such predicaments. It’s a sad affair, but sometimes nothing can be done.

If you come across such situations, its easier to shrug it off and be the bigger person. Sure it’s hurtful, but life was never supposed to be easy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. You can be aware of these things, but don’t let it take over your life. “Don’t worry, be happy” may be the biggest cliché in the book, but there’s truth in those words. The Dalai Lama said that the purpose of life is to be happy, and I agree. Shrug those worries off, and if you can’t, write them off, quite literally. Pour out your feelings into pen and paper, or on a Word processor and be done with them. I just did, and I feel better already.