3 months old!

Geetu is now 3 months old. I can hardly believe it.
She grabs things. She reaches out and grabs things; she even grabbed her doctor's stethoscope! She smiles and coos a lot and recognizes my face. She even holds her own bottle, when there's less than 1.5 oz of milk in it and even tries to flip the page in the rhymes book that her mom got her. How can kids be so smart? The prenatal pills did the trick? Her brain is ultra active. Oh my.

This weather this week has been beautiful. Great fall colors here in Aurora; we took Geetu out to the play ground and I put her on the swing while her mother held her. We didn't swing her, but I did take a pic on my iphone.

Speaking of the iphone...the other day, Geetu looked at and felt the iphone like it was the monolith. Only one buddy on facebook caught it. I gotta take a picture the next time she does that. I really wonder that my generation crosses its monolith properly and clears the way for Geetu's generation. We are so useless. *sigh*

I really gotta control my anger (at my mom and wife) when they're taking care of Geetu.

OK - we gotta go take her hand prints and foot prints. Adios ;-)

PS: We definitely aren't calling her "Gia". The name has become a little "Eww" for me.

Back - with two girls in my life!

I had forgotten the name of my blog. Literally. I clicked on some random (hehe) guy's blog; it didn't exist. Then I clicked on something that brought me to my own blog and I go "is this me?"

I've been wanting to write ever since Geetu was born, but I'm lazy. I wanted to record every single thing that she ever did/does (cooing, crying, turning over, saying "amma", etc). But I'm lazy.

Since I last posted, I got hitched, knocked up my wife right away, had the most beautiful baby girl in the world and also celebrated my first anniversary. I think it's a good thing that I didn't write while my Mother-in-Law was here. My head wasn't thinking straight.

Ok - now I gotta go pick up Chaitra; I don't want her to wait in the rain. She just called and I'm ignoring her; she goes "you are being very frank". I'm waiting her to ask about Geetu; she finally asks "Baby?" as if she's totally tired of asking "How is Geetu?" "Did she drink milk?" "Did she sleep ok?" "Is she playing?" "Did she coo?". Today is her first day back at work and evidently, I'm already very productive.

Children change everything. If children had the ability to retain their memories from infant-years and toddler-years, then the world would be a much better place. I now realize what my parents went through with me. And Geetu is about a million times better.

I really gotta go pick her up. Adios.

literally random!

so much has happened since christmas. i made a contribution to the casino for new year's. chaitra met my folks and acts as if she likes them (she probably gets along ok) and we've finally started shopping for le ring. yes yes, i have always despised the idea of giving a ring in exchange for a woman's hand, but it seems, it's more about giving something as a remembrance. now i'm actually looking forward to it. also, formal engagement dates have been set and formal wedding dates are being planned out. God willing, everything will be fine.
my effective time-management thing lasted 10 full days. i'm no longer maintaining a list and am no longer striking things off. i am keenly watching the primaries and am hoping for an obama win. i somehow wish i could afford to work for the dem party; i'll help them better craft a message- they suck at doing it.
international law continues to be boring; i think i'll maintain a B/B+ grade this time and be happy with it. oops, our second moot court is this week.
megha took me to an italian place that had the best sauce ever! i need to take all my friends there at least once! i could have my wedding dinner there!
seriously man, i sometimes act like i'm the woman in the relationship. plus, she totally has balls.
*yawn*
ps: i have a french beard now; pooja wants a pic hehe
pps: rajkiran thought i should paste this in a blog; i know he was taking my trip, but what the heck
==
rajkiran: ok...

3:13 PM elections follow autunnava ?

3:14 PM me: sorta

i'm beginning to hate kill blinton

rajkiran: he he

3:15 PM its inevitable that he takes centerstage

3:16 PM me: seriously

i'm hating this whole 'dynasty' thing

3:17 PM rajkiran: its prevalent everywhere...india, pak, srilanka...u name it...

me: point

but i never expected it in amrika ;)

3:18 PM rajkiran: "known devil is better than unknown angel" syndrome

me: it's been absent for generations now

3:19 PM rajkiran: kennedys wouldve been the first if they all hadnt gotten killed...

me: well

roosevelt was there before that

3:20 PM and before that, adams family was there (father-son presidents)

teddy roosevelt and franklin roosevelt were 4th of 5th cousins (and i dunno what it means)

3:22 PM rajkiran: so it exists...its getting highlighted more in this media-crazy age...

3:23 PM me: like i said

we haven't had it in a coupla generations

and i hadn't expected one

3:24 PM rajkiran: who do u think will get the nomination or rather should get it ?

15 minutes

3:40 PM me: hillary has enough corporate backup to raise money and win

obama should win ;)

3:41 PM rajkiran: y ? becos he is young ? or can he truly reduce the polarity that exists right now ?

3:42 PM and also restore world order...

7 minutes

3:49 PM me: nah

i'm not that optimistic about him

but in the short run, i think he and his party will question/change the status quo over the next 4 years

we are in dire need of that as of now

3:50 PM clinton, i think is an "establishment" candidate (she wouldn't have been back in 1992), but with an ex-potus behind her, she cannot win without that establishment

3:51 PM if there is one reason why obama isn't doing as well as clinton is because he is badly failing at providing an articulate narrative for his positions

i'll give an example:

they threw a question at him

3:52 PM 'your advisers used to advice clinton way back in 1992. with such advisors how can you claim that you're a candidate of change?'

hillary said 'i wanna see you answer that' and cackled'

this fellow got smart and said 'i look forward to you serving me as well'

3:53 PM done, over. the media said 'obama made a good comback and won his argument'

but in reality, he was beingfunny- he made no argument and was not articulate about his position on hiring ex-clinton (potus) advisors

3:54 PM he could have said 'back then, clinton stood for an agent of change- mainly because he stood for changing against 12yrs of republicchaan administration. now i have the same team routing for ME instead of routing for HIS wife'

how easy was that narrative? but he didn't pull it. that's why he's trailing in some polls

sigh

3:55 PM anduke ra nannu evvarru emi adagaru

rajkiran: in-depth analysis avasaramu babai....

3:56 PM entha mandi pattichukuntaru anedi important...

me: yup

but if you read my argument carefully

it tells you volumes on why ex-clinton advisers aren't advising hillary clinton

1. she has empty experience

3:57 PM 2. she claims that she really is the wife of a black president (clinton was hailed as the first black president, metaphorically, because of his background)

3. she won new york by fluke!

this fellow has had grassroots experience man

anywho

3:58 PM rajkiran: but natl. level takkuva kadaa ?

5 minutes

4:03 PM me: bhalle vaadivi ra nuvvu

national level experience evariki undhi?

woodrow wilson, teddy roosevelt, john F kennedy - were all considered great presidents.

4:04 PM they all had modest political experience when they became presidents

it's that fresh blood that doesn't mix in properly with the DC blood that makes these blokes stand out

4:05 PM and even the more average presidents- reagan, clinton, nixon, etc - had only state-level experience (all governors) (i chose these guys because they all won 2 terms)

4:07 PM rajkiran: thats true...but in the current scenario, its not just abt lifting this country out of economic doldrums kadaa...its also abt getting back some credibility in the world...

keeping these in mind...can obama do it given enuf time ani...

me: you can save the world babai

but you do it one step at a time

4:08 PM i want young fresh blood, who can challenge the status quo and can make a coupla good steps first.

world credibility will automatically fix itself. i don't think world credibility is gonna be on the leader's mind in the beginning- the leader needs to serve his constituents well. everything else is peripheral

4:09 PM so right now, the question isn't "given enough time will he be a good leader?", but is "what's the best replacement to overturn what's been done over the last 8 years?". this guy is your guy

4:11 PM rajkiran: lets hope so...

me: yup

you know what upsets me though...

4:12 PM we've not had a senator from the democratic party win the presidency after JFK

in fact, after JFK- no senator has won the election

they were all governors

(executive experience)

so why is the democratic party not encouraging guys like bill richardson and howard dean? i don't get it

4:13 PM rajkiran: maybe they dont have enuf clout

4:14 PM me: good point

if they don't- then we gotta ask why they are not able to manage that

do people simply do not want democratic governors?

here's an argument:

4:15 PM the people who needed the welfare dept (so called poor people), the people who needed equal rights (women, colored, etc) and people who wanted help from the govt are the ones who used to vote for democrats

maybe that demographic has changed

and the party isn't realizing that

they still quarrel about getting the female vote (for abortion issues) and about getting the black vote (for something they did 50 yrs ago)

4:16 PM why still worry about that?

why not talk about alternative fuel reserach and investments in climate change and about saving social security for the extremely young and extremely old?

these are the new issues- and they don't talk about it enough

4:18 PM rajkiran: i think once it comes down to crunch time they go back to tried and tested "roti-kapda-makaan" formula

4:19 PM me: the fundamentals

rajkiran: yup

me: it's time to change them

and the 18-24 yr old age bracket said that

they couldn't understand the big deal about why blacks were studying in separate classrooms and had diff bathrooms until 1955

4:20 PM they don't count it as a big deal

and they are worried about how they are taking loans for college, and aout social security being cut from their taxes not knowing if it'll be there in 45 yrs for them

people don't want equality in name anymore, they want opportunity

4:21 PM (which is actually a republican party formula)

4:23 PM rajkiran: it will change if more ppl in that bracket come out and vote...right now dems r only worried abt black votes and women's votes

me: concur

4:24 PM it's difficult to get new people to vote in this country (esp 18-24 yr olds)

it's a small technicality but it goes a long way in a majority of the counties

4:25 PM 1 voter registration requirements for some are stringent (since a lot of students are out of state, it becomes difficult for them to vote in state where they go to college) so students have difficulty registering

2 voter registration deadlines are at least a month before the election in most states (MN is one state that has same-day registration- and it has had 70% of voter turnout in some races)

4:26 PM 3 elections are on weekdays - students have exams (one big reason why Kerry lost Ohio in 2004)

so, the electoral process as of now, needs to be reformed

4:27 PM i can't believe no one talks about it and even if they do, they get accused of being unpatriotic

should i stop yacking ;)

you have no idea how many people every year go 'fuck i wish i registered' or 'fuck- is that what i need to do to register?' etc

rajkiran: go ahead babai...u should blog all this....

4:28 PM me: the parties need to spend money in a bipartisan electoral commission to fix this!

blog hehe

4:29 PM inka enna samachara?

rajkiran: fix the electoral system so that right demographic can vote and we can have the right ppl at the helm...thats the solution...

nice...

another year

new year is always exciting for me. this year, my new year resolution: effective time management. i won't read useless things, watch simpsons, sopranos or tintin without finishing up all my chores and errands. i even started making a list of todos and am scratching out items as soon as they are done. so far, it's working ;)

new year eve was different this time; i made a donation for a change. to the casino. hundred dollars. per hour. for five hours. great start, i say.

i already feel 28! and now i gotta go clean up my room. what am i doing here?! hopefully next year by this time, i will use the phrase "my wife". *sigh* i hate what she's done to me.

the person who i borrowed w00t from? i forgot her birthday yet again! and i'm so good at remembering birthdays. a big belated happy birthday to lauren ;)

studying sucks. i just wanna drink single malts, eat nachos and watch cartoons.

why is it that every time i look at obama, i picture a bullet in his chest? i'm gonna vote in the IL primaries, god damn it. we're gonna put him in the office!

ps: i need to get my IL id.

w00t!

every time i want to post a blog, i gotta sit and think about the link to my blog for a whole minute. i should have thought of a cool name. sigh

i had an amazing christmas. i went over to my buddy's place in indy and ate like a pig; i ate everything his wife cooked. and christmas day, 2007 will be remembered as the day i got an official 'okay' from my parents on my girlfriend. w00t! i need to make an appointment with the purohit. yes, this is the aspect that makes me 'religious' and not just 'spiritual'. i've already been asked a few times 'you believe in all that?'. yes, very much so. it's not about logic, it's 'faith'. end of story.

i'm looking forward to ny eve! i'm telling everyone 'i'm broke, so i'm gonna gamble and make money'. ;-)

ps: i borrowed "w00t!" from a very old friend, even before it wasn't cool enough to be used.

mind games

'international law' is putting me to sleep! why did i ever think that i'll love it during my undergrad years? i was thinking about why i found it boring- then something struck me: 'international law really does not hit us on a daily basis; it doesn't impact me'. well, i used the same argument when i was studying computer science. i loved programming as long as i could come back home, code, and see the results right away; i had created something tangible. the moment my courses started yacking off on how to improve performance and started grading me on numerical analysis on the dos and donts of coding, i lost interest. it wasn't something that i could "hold on" to. hmn, this idea took me somewhere else.

last semester, i completely surprised myself when i was researching for one of my assignments. i chose to evaluate trade agreements between nations and was supposed to scrutinize them through the lens of ir theories. i simply could not find one sound liberal argument that would best help explain these trade agreements (specifically, nafta and us-china). imagine: not one sound argument to support cooperation among nations! isn't liberalism in ir all about opening up borders and tackling humanitarian issues that go beyond geographical, racial and socio-economic borders? but, all the liberal theories about nations getting together for 'mutual gains', 'taking a hit in the name of cooperation', etc, seemed so completely moot. all i could find was literature with sound realist arguments that best explained trade agreements. the history behind nafta and the politics behind the formation of nafta were completely machiavellian in nature. the same was true for us-china.

ok, fine. but why did this surprise me? and why is this 'revelation' of sorts even relevant? that's because i tend to call myself a liberal at heart. i thoroughly support liberal policies and causes in america. let me put it this way: it'd be extremely hard, nay, impossible for me to date a pro-life woman! so, when i couldn't find any literature that i could "hold on" to, to support the opening up of economic borders, i was not only shocked, but was also upset and disappointed that there were no liberal scholars with the gall to explain cooperative models with proper real world examples (history and politics), with proper liberal scholarly work to back them up, and with proper liberal arguments as a precedent. well, at least they weren't as good as the realists! at the end of the paper, i had become a realist. i got a good grade on the paper and my prof (a thorough liberal) acknowledged that it was a solid piece of work.

this took me right back to brown v. board of education. i remember discussing this in 'judicial politics'- the members of the scotus played politics to get a unanimous decision to end racial segregation in public schools. but now i question: did marshall accurately use sound legal arguments that one can "hold on" to when he argued for racial desegregation? or was it just a loud cry of humanitarian injustice that had been spread across centuries? what about the affirmative action case in 2004? do liberal politicians have sound arguments that they can "hold on" to, specifically, when they talk about 'labor protectionism', or 'universal health care'? or, are they just crying out loud? in essence, when it comes to my political beliefs, am i just crying out loud because i have nothing to "hold on" to? i should have a better reason to be liberal/a liberal, no?

why blog?

so i'll start with the customary topic- 'why blog to begin with?'. i couldn't think of a good reason. personal reflection? heh, ok- i'll stick with that.

dec 6th- ah, my grade 4 class teacher's birthday. her name was pankaj neel. neeraj public school. she once said 'your handwriting is terrible, but you don't make spelling mistakes'. hehe

i'm in touch with one guy from that school now.

ok enough. back to my 'diplomacy' studies. "the return of the state" by ann-marie slaughter, here i come. i ought to look her up before i read anything by her- no?

peace.