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there was once a grasshopper named bob.
now bob had is ways with the world. he would do what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted. all things that he wanted he did and all things he did, everyone wanted. now bob keeps doing things, good things bad things, new things, but all different kinds of thing. hopping away to glory. eating what he finds when he finds, no saving for rainy days no burrowing thru the grounds, no making homes or nests. just living it up each day, grasshopper style.
same time there are these ants. millions of them. running around toe to tail, one after the other , in sync, in style all with the same dreams of one day being the queen bee, sitting and eating, hatching eggs at the heart of the hive. the good life they said. with the big rooms, the sweet honey, the friends, the admirers, the jealous onlookers the evil empires. everything under the sun and behind it to make us happy.
but every once in a while the ant would glance a shady glance at the grasshopper. dancing till his shoes hurt, doing his thing, the grasshopper thing. being himself smiling dancing making merry, doing the joke and poke thing. everyone watches him and so does the ant. part in awe part in envy and part wondering why hes not that guy? why is he doing this in the line on the floor thing? why cant he just leave this all and take up the violin and play the strings to oblivion. he knows he will be happy that way. it may not be all honey and empires, but he would do it for the happiness and stories. the guns and glories. the small town man with the big time dreams, making it in the big city without losing his chee.
but then he marches on. he get back in line, dons the helmet that his predecessors did and soldiers on. hoping, nay knowing one day, he makes it to the top, get the girl, the house, the sweet nectar of gods and all that. and resolving under his breath that one day he shall meet the grasshopper, watch him play the songs do the dance from high up above in his silvery throne. and tell the next generation as to how the grasshopper stayed where he was, while he moved up and moved on! the grasshopper froze each winter, the ant stayed warm, moral of the story work for your happiness nothing is for free. the end.
but no one asked the grasshopper, sir, what is your version of life? are you happy making merry or is there something to look forward to? dont you want to do the queen grasshopper thing? the life of luxury, shiny objects and fresh cut leaves? dont you want to be at that place? be that guy who everyone wants to be, who everyone either envies, or talks about? i think if someone did ask him these question he would reply in the most lost voice of all...
hell yeah. i want to be that guy that you all want to be. but i want to be happy first. and i cant make up my mind what i want to do about either of them? i cant commit to a life on the path, i think its just too slow, and too tedious. i want to do what i want to do and i want to have what everyone wants to have and i want it all now. i cant wait till the end of my life to do what i want, wait for my parents to pass on the mantle to me, wait for my kids to take on the mantle, wait for the birds to leave home the bees to go out hunting before i go out and play the fiddle the violin and become the traveling one piece band i want to become. but what can i do? can i stop being me for an indefinite period of time and then keep who i want to be for later? i dont think i can refrigerate desires?
we are all born at the crossroads. the fiddle in one hand, and a shovel in the other. you can find your time to do both, or bury one with the other. most make their choices early on, some have them made for them. i am still staring at both my hands, trying one, and then trying the next... still at that cross roads staring into what lies ahead. i am still the hopper i was the day i hopped in. and guess what.. i think i shall be happy hopping for a while.... and not cos i am happy doing it, no, and definitely not because i want to do it all my life, hell no. i will be hopping because that is all i know how to do, and if i stand in one place long enough, may be i would miss out on all the other places i want to be in. so there's this and thats that. now can i go please? i see something new i havent done before and i want to get done with it.
Showing posts with label reality check. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reality check. Show all posts
look at the things you use today. your phones, computers, the softwares on the computers, the things those softwares do, the internet, blogs, social media everything digital. now think of a time before these, the time before you had any of your digital realities. think of how people used analog things to do what you do with your digital. the watches, the word processors, the drawing tools. even the things you use the internet for. like communication, publishing, photo sharing, ideation, collaboration, everything that you do today, was being done then. slowly, none the less, but surely. now you have blogs, then you had news letters, now you have websites for designers, then you had bulky portfolios, now you have a mobile phone, then you had telephones, the text messaging of today, is the direct lineage of the telegram. and i can go on. but what am i rambling about here?
what i really mean to say is... we havent changed anything. we made the digital do analog things are satisfied with them. architects use autocad for 2d drawings, and are happy with it, only a few push things to their full potential. how many architectural firms think of computers and digital techniques as more than tools that replaced the drawing board? we call them design drawing. not designing. Word replaced the word processor or the typewriter. books written on the type are like books written on a computer, no change there. just the convenience of a select few. i am not one of those shun your computer, nature is the right way to go preaching hippie. i love my macbook. more than the people around me, but its just a sad realization that since the time someone invented the printing press, we havent moved much, and since the time of the telephone we have moved even lesser.
the mouse simulates a pen, the screen supposed to be paper, digital watches with needles, mp3 players that look like cassette tape players, bluetooth headsets made to look like Bakelite phones. we even had mobile phones with jog dialers,
all new technology at some point simulates and if we are lucky just about replaces old technology.
now forget what you know. think of something that has never been done before. like the multi touch track pad in the macbooks, and the new apple mouse since the beginning of the mouse/trackpad usage, no one thought of more than two fingers and 3 buttons. or google wave, first time ever, we got a system that is built on the internet, not on the postal service! social networking broke the mould to some extent, orkut, facebook, linkedin all these did move out of the general already existing since adam and eve.
now lets look at what work we do. day in and day out. time and time again, do we do the same things that people have been doing since for ever? or are we doing something new? is your digital too analog?
food for thought. and action. :)
(i know i got preachy on this one... but i was sick of the autocad interface when this one came about :) too bad you got the wrong end of this stick)
what i really mean to say is... we havent changed anything. we made the digital do analog things are satisfied with them. architects use autocad for 2d drawings, and are happy with it, only a few push things to their full potential. how many architectural firms think of computers and digital techniques as more than tools that replaced the drawing board? we call them design drawing. not designing. Word replaced the word processor or the typewriter. books written on the type are like books written on a computer, no change there. just the convenience of a select few. i am not one of those shun your computer, nature is the right way to go preaching hippie. i love my macbook. more than the people around me, but its just a sad realization that since the time someone invented the printing press, we havent moved much, and since the time of the telephone we have moved even lesser.
the mouse simulates a pen, the screen supposed to be paper, digital watches with needles, mp3 players that look like cassette tape players, bluetooth headsets made to look like Bakelite phones. we even had mobile phones with jog dialers,
all new technology at some point simulates and if we are lucky just about replaces old technology.
now forget what you know. think of something that has never been done before. like the multi touch track pad in the macbooks, and the new apple mouse since the beginning of the mouse/trackpad usage, no one thought of more than two fingers and 3 buttons. or google wave, first time ever, we got a system that is built on the internet, not on the postal service! social networking broke the mould to some extent, orkut, facebook, linkedin all these did move out of the general already existing since adam and eve.
now lets look at what work we do. day in and day out. time and time again, do we do the same things that people have been doing since for ever? or are we doing something new? is your digital too analog?
food for thought. and action. :)
(i know i got preachy on this one... but i was sick of the autocad interface when this one came about :) too bad you got the wrong end of this stick)
happy new year everyone.
i know i am late. i know it was 2 weeks and more ago. but i just woke up. from work. not a holiday, nor a drinking binge. anyways, the point is that its new years, and i got a good feeling about this year. i am doing seemingly well, making apparent intelligent moves, while showing hints of settling down in a job for longer than 30 days. the point is, i like this year. i think it is going to bring a lot of new things.
so when i saw a lot of designers come and write about their new years resolution of doing 365 pieces of personal art, i thought i should do something like that! now the catch was, i cant think of 5 different things to draw, wait... i cant think OR draw!365 of those would give me a stroke! i needed a more doable goal. 365 blog posts a year. again, stroke worthy. i can barely think of one tweet a day, plus a facebook status message added to that.. the pressure of being visible, is too much. not that i mind it, its a mental exercise and i love the challenge of coming up with these, plus its fun. so now back to the challenge of doing something that will need constant thinking throughout the year. 52 blog posts a year. (for 52 weeks, of the year.. if you didnt know that... i think u should quit reading here). that means a couple of 100 words a week. too doable. its not so much of a challenge, when u have to get up one morning say, good morning people in text/type, rant about the things that happen to you once a week and then go back to bed. i mean once a week is for starters. not re-starters. us second time text offenders need stricter punishment. so here goes. 2 posts a week for the first 3 months. then move up to 4 and so on. the final climax would be 2 posts a day, for the last one week of the year. so those watching, (i know i got 2 official followers (thank you both!)and hopefully a larger number of people who would read it once and then would sanitize their computers, delete their logs, format their OS's and never acknowledge that they visited my blog. i know, its insulting to read this crap right? anyways...) brace yourselves, include me and my resolution to write more often in your nightly prayers and your daily desires or at least lie thru your teeth and say 'good job karthik keep it up!' cos i am NOT a self mover. i am a self starter but i am also a self - lose-interest-er.
so here goes nothing. absolutely nothing.
see you in 3 days with more nothing.
i know i am late. i know it was 2 weeks and more ago. but i just woke up. from work. not a holiday, nor a drinking binge. anyways, the point is that its new years, and i got a good feeling about this year. i am doing seemingly well, making apparent intelligent moves, while showing hints of settling down in a job for longer than 30 days. the point is, i like this year. i think it is going to bring a lot of new things.
so when i saw a lot of designers come and write about their new years resolution of doing 365 pieces of personal art, i thought i should do something like that! now the catch was, i cant think of 5 different things to draw, wait... i cant think OR draw!365 of those would give me a stroke! i needed a more doable goal. 365 blog posts a year. again, stroke worthy. i can barely think of one tweet a day, plus a facebook status message added to that.. the pressure of being visible, is too much. not that i mind it, its a mental exercise and i love the challenge of coming up with these, plus its fun. so now back to the challenge of doing something that will need constant thinking throughout the year. 52 blog posts a year. (for 52 weeks, of the year.. if you didnt know that... i think u should quit reading here). that means a couple of 100 words a week. too doable. its not so much of a challenge, when u have to get up one morning say, good morning people in text/type, rant about the things that happen to you once a week and then go back to bed. i mean once a week is for starters. not re-starters. us second time text offenders need stricter punishment. so here goes. 2 posts a week for the first 3 months. then move up to 4 and so on. the final climax would be 2 posts a day, for the last one week of the year. so those watching, (i know i got 2 official followers (thank you both!)and hopefully a larger number of people who would read it once and then would sanitize their computers, delete their logs, format their OS's and never acknowledge that they visited my blog. i know, its insulting to read this crap right? anyways...) brace yourselves, include me and my resolution to write more often in your nightly prayers and your daily desires or at least lie thru your teeth and say 'good job karthik keep it up!' cos i am NOT a self mover. i am a self starter but i am also a self - lose-interest-er.
so here goes nothing. absolutely nothing.
see you in 3 days with more nothing.
things about me a list i made for some other time but had so much fun that i went on and on about it so here is a list of things that people who know me know and the ones who dont will.
1) i was born. not found.
2) i dream. a lot. a looot.
3) i wish to die soon, but with no intentions of killing myself.
4) i love things more than people.
5) i have a secret wish to suffer from a really rare disease.
6) i can go without food for 5 days. but haven't gone without a computer since 1996.
7) i need people around me. and i hate that.
8) i know my sister is a better person than me.
9) i love escalators. when i build my own house, thats the first thing that i put in it.
10) i need the movies. i cant live without them.
11) i am a comic book fan.
12) i am like superman. i need the sun. i am like batman. i live in the dark. i am like both. i try to hide my true nature. i am like neither; my underpants are on the inside. generally.
13) i suffer from a perpetual identity flux.
14) i think an exclamation mark is the most amazing symbol ever invented. i wish i had had something to do with it.
15) i am a closet realist narcissist. i know the world revolves around me. i just dont boast about it.
16) sweet is my favorite taste. i can have deserts for all three meals. a wise man once said. life is uncertain.. eat desert first. i live by that rule.
17) i have the answer to all problems in the world. i just dont have all the questions.
18) my left foot is a size and more bigger than my right foot.
18)i hate shoes. i love buying them.
20) i have to pack my things thrice over when i go travelling. i am a packing perfectionist. i can fit the world in a suitcase given the right time and conditions.
21) i always over prepare for trips, but forget one important thing, always.
22) i am bad with money. and everything else that needs to be saved.
23) i see awkward questions and have an urge to ask them. how ever inappropriate, i just have to.
24) i hate people that love the news. if you think it makes you smart to know, sucks to be you!
25) i am the most uninformed person i know. but i am a trivia buff.
26) i am orderophoebic. i am afraid of ordering food at restaurants. i get nervous while deciding what to order because i think that that will be the one dish in the whole menu that the chef will screw up and i would never step into that place again. i always ask someone else to order for me. that way, if its bad, its their fault.
27) i have to have the largest tub of soft drink at the movies. how ever large. (1.5L was the largest at last count. thank you sonycenter berlin.)
28) i swear. a lot.
29) i am a chocolate addict.
30) i am a coke addict. but regular coke. i am leading a campaign against diet coke. i think principally nothing that is sweet has a right to be sugar free. plastic sweetners are just rude!
31) i have a speech ready for both the oscars and the nobel prize. i have been working on these for the last 25 years.
32) i like children. just dont like what they grow into.
33) i am at peace in filth. cleanliness is next to sickness.
34) i believe in lucky underwear.
35) i am chromophoebic. i am afraid of wearing colors.
36) i am a reluctant freeloader. i want everything for free. but i feel guilty for it afterwards.
37) i am the laziest person alive.
38) i love postit notes. all sizes and shapes.
39) deadpool is my favorite superhero.
40) i love making these lists.
41) pheew! i am done
1) i was born. not found.
2) i dream. a lot. a looot.
3) i wish to die soon, but with no intentions of killing myself.
4) i love things more than people.
5) i have a secret wish to suffer from a really rare disease.
6) i can go without food for 5 days. but haven't gone without a computer since 1996.
7) i need people around me. and i hate that.
8) i know my sister is a better person than me.
9) i love escalators. when i build my own house, thats the first thing that i put in it.
10) i need the movies. i cant live without them.
11) i am a comic book fan.
12) i am like superman. i need the sun. i am like batman. i live in the dark. i am like both. i try to hide my true nature. i am like neither; my underpants are on the inside. generally.
13) i suffer from a perpetual identity flux.
14) i think an exclamation mark is the most amazing symbol ever invented. i wish i had had something to do with it.
15) i am a closet realist narcissist. i know the world revolves around me. i just dont boast about it.
16) sweet is my favorite taste. i can have deserts for all three meals. a wise man once said. life is uncertain.. eat desert first. i live by that rule.
17) i have the answer to all problems in the world. i just dont have all the questions.
18) my left foot is a size and more bigger than my right foot.
18)i hate shoes. i love buying them.
20) i have to pack my things thrice over when i go travelling. i am a packing perfectionist. i can fit the world in a suitcase given the right time and conditions.
21) i always over prepare for trips, but forget one important thing, always.
22) i am bad with money. and everything else that needs to be saved.
23) i see awkward questions and have an urge to ask them. how ever inappropriate, i just have to.
24) i hate people that love the news. if you think it makes you smart to know, sucks to be you!
25) i am the most uninformed person i know. but i am a trivia buff.
26) i am orderophoebic. i am afraid of ordering food at restaurants. i get nervous while deciding what to order because i think that that will be the one dish in the whole menu that the chef will screw up and i would never step into that place again. i always ask someone else to order for me. that way, if its bad, its their fault.
27) i have to have the largest tub of soft drink at the movies. how ever large. (1.5L was the largest at last count. thank you sonycenter berlin.)
28) i swear. a lot.
29) i am a chocolate addict.
30) i am a coke addict. but regular coke. i am leading a campaign against diet coke. i think principally nothing that is sweet has a right to be sugar free. plastic sweetners are just rude!
31) i have a speech ready for both the oscars and the nobel prize. i have been working on these for the last 25 years.
32) i like children. just dont like what they grow into.
33) i am at peace in filth. cleanliness is next to sickness.
34) i believe in lucky underwear.
35) i am chromophoebic. i am afraid of wearing colors.
36) i am a reluctant freeloader. i want everything for free. but i feel guilty for it afterwards.
37) i am the laziest person alive.
38) i love postit notes. all sizes and shapes.
39) deadpool is my favorite superhero.
40) i love making these lists.
41) pheew! i am done
/riya brought this upon me... a looooooong time ago.. adn i finally got to writing it...!
some day i shall remember to thank her for this. :)
life ten years ago:
Odd, awkward, aimless.
i wasnt born that way, they made me like that, full of dreams void of directions. another cog in the wheel destined to become a spanner in the works. one way or another. fresh out of high school, I dreamt of becoming a research scientist, which got lost somewhere in the transition between the child and adult. the glorious future replaced by the multi flavored present. the rude shock that i am now at the crossroads that would lead to i-know-not-where. into architecture by chance, not sure if belonged. they were weird times.
music: the birth of the metal junkie. introduced to it by an acquaintance trying to showoff
Life five years ago:
angry, smitten, determined.
it wasn't over night but it was somewhere now. from the reluctant entrant into the world of architecture and design, i fell in love with it. no longer a design virgin i was hooked like an addict. my friends took up alcohol i took to fantasy for kicks. angry at the system for keeping me in the dar about the wonders that design brings. angry that i didn't know then what i know now. determined that i would better what they ruined. make up for lost time. load up on junk and get the show on the road.
music: deep into nu rock. heavy metal, death metal and all things that sounded rebellious, introductions were made with classic rock too... U2, rush, lynnard, DT were made...
Life tomorrow
certainly uncertain.
music: metal still rules, right besides, house, electronic and classic rock...
Five locations I would run away to
i dont think places are special. its what we make them with the things that we do that make them special.
my top 5 hideouts:
my imagination, alone, with characters, and the things they do.
a road trip to nowhere, dirt sweat, caked mud on a throbbing head has its own charm. this i would do alone, no baggage, emotional physical or otherwise,
a movie theatre, the matrix trilogy, kshitij, dey and a lot of coke.. not snorts, liquid, not diet, the stuff that real men drink!!
the beach at pondycheri, friends, food and fights....
bangalore, friends, food and ram to take shots at! (sorry ram but u are the best part!)
5 bad habits:
y top five, i leave that to you...
this is what came out of an exercise on a very long and cramped plane journey...
(axe, elle and the short lady!... you know who u are!)
fear of responsibilities
confused
short attention span
push over
aimless
talks crap
lazy
indifference to attire
no tact
spendthrift
inconsistent
emotional
afraid of women? (i dont know what made them say this.)
restless
no sense of belonging (root less) (drifting)
spells horrid!
disinterested
non prioritizing
childish
immature
Five things I will never wear:
under normal circumstances:
deep purple/red/yellow
head gear made out of another animals head.
a suit
the emperors new clothes.
a shirt that says britney rules!
Five biggest joys at the moment
ravioli in walnut and cream sauce.
the macbook 13" black.
motorbike and an open road
good movies
new music
Something to achieve by next year
c l a r i t y! would give anything for it!... absolutely anything. just show me what it is that i want. a definite answer to anything. but ya otherwise, a new bike, a longer ride, a faster run, a smoother road, a cleaner beach, and someone to understand why! if not ride along :) and a million bucks... any currency.
Something that impacted me last year
18th march 2008, the maiden concert and everything that happened around it!, (you know who you are)
What I will miss about 2007
everything and nothing. it changed my life in more ways that i know and more ways than i would like to... its was the best and the worst year of my life, this phoenix burnt brilliant in 2007 !
Five things I want to do before I die
World domination.. and wont take no for an answer.
waken festival
road trip on a bike that i hand built across all 5 continents
skinny dipping in the Antarctic.
and stop a speeding bullet... just once!
and now to inflict this on to the next breed of suffering bloggers... I would like to introduce ... Sam , sister and r3fluxx, may you feel what i felt while writing this post. :)
cheers!
some day i shall remember to thank her for this. :)
life ten years ago:
Odd, awkward, aimless.
i wasnt born that way, they made me like that, full of dreams void of directions. another cog in the wheel destined to become a spanner in the works. one way or another. fresh out of high school, I dreamt of becoming a research scientist, which got lost somewhere in the transition between the child and adult. the glorious future replaced by the multi flavored present. the rude shock that i am now at the crossroads that would lead to i-know-not-where. into architecture by chance, not sure if belonged. they were weird times.
music: the birth of the metal junkie. introduced to it by an acquaintance trying to showoff
Life five years ago:
angry, smitten, determined.
it wasn't over night but it was somewhere now. from the reluctant entrant into the world of architecture and design, i fell in love with it. no longer a design virgin i was hooked like an addict. my friends took up alcohol i took to fantasy for kicks. angry at the system for keeping me in the dar about the wonders that design brings. angry that i didn't know then what i know now. determined that i would better what they ruined. make up for lost time. load up on junk and get the show on the road.
music: deep into nu rock. heavy metal, death metal and all things that sounded rebellious, introductions were made with classic rock too... U2, rush, lynnard, DT were made...
Life tomorrow
certainly uncertain.
music: metal still rules, right besides, house, electronic and classic rock...
Five locations I would run away to
i dont think places are special. its what we make them with the things that we do that make them special.
my top 5 hideouts:
my imagination, alone, with characters, and the things they do.
a road trip to nowhere, dirt sweat, caked mud on a throbbing head has its own charm. this i would do alone, no baggage, emotional physical or otherwise,
a movie theatre, the matrix trilogy, kshitij, dey and a lot of coke.. not snorts, liquid, not diet, the stuff that real men drink!!
the beach at pondycheri, friends, food and fights....
bangalore, friends, food and ram to take shots at! (sorry ram but u are the best part!)
5 bad habits:
y top five, i leave that to you...
this is what came out of an exercise on a very long and cramped plane journey...
(axe, elle and the short lady!... you know who u are!)
fear of responsibilities
confused
short attention span
push over
aimless
talks crap
lazy
indifference to attire
no tact
spendthrift
inconsistent
emotional
afraid of women? (i dont know what made them say this.)
restless
no sense of belonging (root less) (drifting)
spells horrid!
disinterested
non prioritizing
childish
immature
Five things I will never wear:
under normal circumstances:
deep purple/red/yellow
head gear made out of another animals head.
a suit
the emperors new clothes.
a shirt that says britney rules!
Five biggest joys at the moment
ravioli in walnut and cream sauce.
the macbook 13" black.
motorbike and an open road
good movies
new music
Something to achieve by next year
c l a r i t y! would give anything for it!... absolutely anything. just show me what it is that i want. a definite answer to anything. but ya otherwise, a new bike, a longer ride, a faster run, a smoother road, a cleaner beach, and someone to understand why! if not ride along :) and a million bucks... any currency.
Something that impacted me last year
18th march 2008, the maiden concert and everything that happened around it!, (you know who you are)
What I will miss about 2007
everything and nothing. it changed my life in more ways that i know and more ways than i would like to... its was the best and the worst year of my life, this phoenix burnt brilliant in 2007 !
Five things I want to do before I die
World domination.. and wont take no for an answer.
waken festival
road trip on a bike that i hand built across all 5 continents
skinny dipping in the Antarctic.
and stop a speeding bullet... just once!
and now to inflict this on to the next breed of suffering bloggers... I would like to introduce ... Sam , sister and r3fluxx, may you feel what i felt while writing this post. :)
cheers!
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