Thursday, February 28, 2013

Appreciating Friendships

(This was written as a journal entry some time ago and is somewhat rambling and convoluted.)

Where do you draw the line between being there for someone and letting them take advantage of you?

I have been getting better over the years at doing this. Getting away from the people who knew the older (actually, younger!) me helped; and new relationships I forge are based more on mutual respect. This means usually that intimacy develops far more slowly. That there's less dependence, less exposing one's vulnerabilities. But I have the Guy for all that.

And really, apart from with the Guy, when did I have that anyway?

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Mid-Week Reads: Mostly About "Of Mothers and Others"

Feel better about your caffeine addiction: seven reasons why coffee is good for you.

And now for self-promotion! I interviewed the amazing Ann Handley of Marketing Profs
 
I reviewed Of Mothers and Others on Women's Web: it's a collection of writing -- essays, stories, poems -- about motherhood. I quite liked it, though of course as in any collection, I liked some pieces better than others.

I especially enjoyed the pieces by Jai Arjun Singh (even though he didn't bribe me this time!), Smriti Lamech (though she's also a friend), Anita Roy, and Sarita Mandanna. But most of all, I liked Andromeda Nebula’s ‘Blankets in the Sky’: the writing, the story... it just blew me away.

(If you're in Pune and want the book, I can send it to you.)

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Seven Year Anniversary

This blog has now run for seven years.

Seven. I'll pause for a minute to let long-time readers feel old.

And here are seven posts I liked from the last year, in case you haven't read them yet:
In this post written two years ago, I described how blogging has enriched my life. I am especially conscious of this right now because Chicu was here recently and I find myself, as always, thrilled to meet her and bereft when we part.

Take a minute to leave a comment and tell us why you like coming here, won't you?

Monday, February 18, 2013

Making A Friend Is Like Falling in Love

Making a friend is like falling in love
The same heady feeling of enjoying the other's company
Finding time fly by when you talk
Looking forward to meeting again.

The tentative overtures
The anxious watching for signs
And the relief, the joy, when you realize
She feels the same way.

The realization of how lucky you are
To have found her.
That no other relationship you have
is quite like this.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Co-founding a Business with Your Partner: A Survivor's Guide

Conversation in our home/office on a Wednesday morning:
Me: I need some time off. I wish we could take today off.
My husband: But there’s the client meeting.
I know! And tomorrow is our Office Hours. Maybe Friday?
Don’t we have that deliverable for a client?
Oh right. And Saturday we have that start-up event to attend. But at least we have Sunday.
No, our developer is working on Sunday, so we have to work with him.
Me, with palpable desperation: Oh my god, we’re never getting a day off!
Over on Women's Web, I write about what it is like to work with the Guy. Go read.  

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Youth and Hope

I am supposed to talk to this young woman -- a girl, really, she's still in her teens, I think -- once a week. but I'm a bad volunteer and a lazy person, and only managed to call her today after a long gap.

She's studying for a diploma in mechanical engineering, and she told me about her project with three other young women in her class. they built a refrigeration unit that uses LPG (cooking gas) and can be connected to your kitchen cylinder. She was understandably proud, and told me theirs was the only physical product developed by anyone in the class. And the lecturer announced it was top of the class.

I know nothing about mechanical engineering, but I think that's pretty cool.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

The Sound of A Torn Friendship

What do you do when your illusions shatter?
When someone who you thought was your dearest
closest friend, the one who could rely on...
Shows again and again that she doesn't care?
That she isn't who you thought she was
Or maybe she's grown up, grown apart, grown different?

What do you do if you still care?
If you reach out your arms to eyes that don't see them?
Plead to ears that don't want to hear?
How long do you stay in place, arms open?
Wait and wait for your turn to talk?
How do you believe that it's over?

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Mid-Week Reads: History Edition

Check out these gorgeous covers of Pride and Prejudice. My favorite is the Harvard University Press edition. But #8 had me crying out, "This makes no sense! She doesn't ride! That's the whole point in the chapter where she walks over to Bingley's house!" The Guy nodded tersely at me and continued working. It's clear who the Jane Austen fan in this household is.

I was fascinated by this article about the origins of curry. Apparently, people of the Indus Valley civilization used garlic, ginger, and turmeric in cooking!

Agatha Christie was investigated by British intelligence because of the name of a character in one of her books! But they didn't dare question her directly.