A for Alpha, A for Aspire

Over the last year I've off and on seen friends participating is an AtoZ Challenge. I've wondered what it was all about, after all it looked interesting and fun. But somehow I've never got a grip of it. I don't know whether it can be started at anytime, whether it's done individually or as a group. I don't know if I have to declare that I'm doing it anywhere. I don't know..., so much :D

All said, it's something I've wanted to do for a while now. So, today being my birthday and the start of a new year, I figured it's a good day to start my own AtoZ Challenge. (Growing up, Mom always said a good start on your birthday makes sure the rest of the year will go well. And today is the Tamil New Year too!)

So here's my attempt at an A to Z Challenge. I'm hoping it'll break my hiatus from my blog and force me to get back to blogging everyday. I'm planning to chose words from A to Z for my coming year, words that will push me to do more with my life and dreams. Ok, enough of all that and onto the words.

A is for Aspire

The dictionary describes the verb aspire as 'to direct one's hopes or ambitions towards achieving something'.
A late Middle English word, it originates from the French aspirer or Latin aspirare, where ad is ‘to’ and spirare ‘breathe’. It's first known use was in the 14th century.

Some synonyms - aim, intend, plan, propose
Some antonyms - decline, descend, drop, plunge

This year I aim to get productive with my time. Pack in as much as I can do into my day. Push myself to realise my dreams that I'd shelved while I sorted house, dogs, work and life.

So I'm Aspiring, aspiring to breathe. To feel free. To feel the rush of self-fulfillment. To feel happy and satisfied.

14th of April in History

Today is my birthday but over the years aside for that I've found that so much has or happens on this day. Some good, some sad. I was born on a day that is significant enough to be deemed a holiday in a lot of places. :D
Here's some things that make the 14th of April significant, other than ofcourse the fact that I was born on this day. :P How many of these do you know?

• Black Day in South Korean - A day when single people get together and eat white noodles with black bean sauce to celebrate their singledom.


• Tamil New Year - Puthandu


• Malayali New Year - Vishu


• Oriya New Year - Maha Visuba Sankranthi


• Tuluva New Year - Bisu


• Punjabi New Year - Vaisakhi


• Assamese New Year - Rongali Bihu


• Bengali New Year - Pohela Boishakh


• Burmese New Year - Thingyan


• Nepali New Year - Bikram Samwat / Vaishak Ek


• Sinhalese New Year - Aluth Avurudhu


• Thai New Year - Songkran


• B. R. Ambedkar was born in 1891


• Trainspotting actor Robert Carlyle was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1961


• The Sikh Religion was formalised as the Khalsa - the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints - by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699


• Noah Webster copyrighted the first edition of his dictionary in 1828


• Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth in 1865


• The Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 in 1912


• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck was first published in 1939


• The Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99% in 2003


• Nearly 2,700 were killed in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai, China in 2010

I've just included the ones that are significant to me coz the actual list is oh, so long! And some of these even I didn't know :P

Special Thanks to Vidya Sury, for I saw the A to Z Challenge first on her blog :)

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Book Review: The Gardian Angels by Rohit Gore

Title: The Gardian Angels
Author: Rohit Gore
Paperback: 328 pages
Publisher: Grapevine India (July 10th 2013)
Genre: Romance
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart
Summary: (Goodreads)

The Guardian Angels is the epic and tumultuous story of two star-crossed lovers who weren’t just soul-mates but were also each other’s protectors.
The fates of Adi Mehta and Radha Deodhar are deeply entwined when within days of their first rendezvous they save each other’s lives.
Despite their vast sociopolitical differences, they are drawn to an uncertain future fraught with contrasting ambitions, personas and ideologies.

. . . he is the son of a billionaire, she is the daughter of a socialist.
. . . he is quiet and unassuming, she is a firebrand and spirited.

However, the unexplained phenomena ties them forever – whenever they are in peril, they are each other’s only saviors.
Over the following two decades Adi and Radha live through hope and despair, joy and sadness, and try to decipher their relationship. As the truth of their bond is revealed, they must confront the true nature of love, and ultimately, their destinies.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Rohit Gore for offering me your book to read and review :)



Cover: Eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Ebony on Ivory!

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and mind with no big words.

Why did I choose this book: The cover caught my eye.

This is the story of two people, Radha and Aditya, who have known they have chemistry since they became friends as kids and yet life keeps them apart. They are different in so many ways and they walk different paths but destiny brings them together every time one of them is in trouble. Will they ever come together, that's the story.

Considering that Radha and Aditya are always there for each other in times of trouble, the title seems appropriate. The cover caught my eye with a simple outline of the face of a man filled with the image of a woman. It's simple and uncluttered. The blurb though left me wondering if I would like the book.

I've read a fair number of romances over the years but this is the first time I've read a story like this. A unique plot, the story had me wondering right to the end if Radha and Aditya would get together. The plot is a simple one of a girl and boy from very different backgrounds coming together and yet it's complicated with the intricacies and sub-plots of each of their lives.

Set in Mumbai, Gore goes back in time to the city of Bombay and works his way to present day Mumbai. He has used the city as a good backdrop for his setting of the world of a rich industrialist's son and a socialist's daughter. However there isn't so much of the city as Gore focuses on the lives of his hero and heroine. That said, I did get subtle flavours that are so Bombay.

Aditya, a billionaire's son has the world at his feet yet he lives in the shadow of his father and Radha, the daughter of a union man is wise beyond her years. The story revolves round Aditya and Radha but with them are a host of well described characters. Some of the characters are an integral part of the story but there are quite a few others who make fleeting appearances and take the story forward.

After my skeptical start of the story, I must say I enjoyed the book. The blurb had left me wondering if I had done the right thing when accepting the book and the first few pages made me wonder some more but as I read on I started to get curious about the end. The story starts a little before the end and then backtracks. It's clear right at the start that this couple is going to go through a struggle and Gore doesn't disappoint. The story builds up well and the climax is almost expected, yet you don't know what the end will bring. There are some threads that Gore doesn't tie up tight but it doesn't rankle when the book finishes.

Told from the perspective of Aditya along with Radha's journal entries, both sides of the story are told as incidents unfold. The language is simple and the emotions believable. Gore keeps the pace though the book and I didn't find myself getting bored at any point.

Over all this is a good book to read once if you like reading romance set in modern day India where the girl and boy come from diverse backgrounds. Men would like the book but I think women would enjoy it more. There are some violent and sexual scenes so age I think is YA and above.

About the Author:
Rohit Gore currently lives in Pune and has spent over a decade in the IT industry. He loves sports, specifically the discussing and watching part of it, since he says his playing days are long gone. He is interested in history, especially the history of music and arts. You can connect with Rohit on his Facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

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Book Review: Haveli by Zeenat Mahal

* "I use Grammarly for proofreading because grammar is the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit..." :D



Title: Haveli
Author: Zeenat Mahal
Paperback: 93 pages
Publisher: Indireads (June 12th 2013)
Genre: Romance
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon
Summary: (Goodreads)

It’s the 1970′s in Jalalabad, an erstwhile princely state in Pakistan. Chandni is a self-proclaimed cynic and prefers to be called C. An orphan brought up by her domineering grandmother, a.k.a. The Broad, C is rebellious, quick-witted and stunningly beautiful.

When Taimur, a.k.a. Alpha Male, enters the closed universe of the haveli, he is smitten, but he’ll never admit it.

The stakes get higher when the father, who had so cruelly abandoned her at birth, returns and C’s dream of reuniting with him becomes a reality. But now she has to choose between her father and his hand-picked groom on the one side, and Alpha Male and The Broad on the other.

My Review:

Thanks Indireads for offering me this book to read and review :)



Cover: Simple pleasing illustration!

Paper and font: BIG FONT :D

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and the mind.

Why did I choose this book: Something about the cover and 1970's Pakistan caught my fancy.

C or Chandni is a 20 year old growing up 1970's Jalalabad, Pakistan. She is a product of the times and upper class society - rebellious, sarcastic, and cynical, with a sense of humour. An orphan she was brought by her strict matriarchal grandmother who isn't ease to please. She rebels against a betrothal arranged by her grandmother only to find that she is attracted to the guy.
While she's figuring all of this out, the father who had abandoned her as a child turns up to reclaim her and her affections but not alone. He brings along with him another suitor for her hand. Who will C choose - her grandmother or her father?

When I think about joint families, extended families, old school families or matriarchal families I think of old houses, sprawling old buildings and havelis that were as much a part of the families as the people who lived in them. From that point of view the title makes sense. The cover is a simple pleasing illustration but I couldn't make out the haveli in it. As for the blurb, it was definitely captivating and interesting, it was what got me to read the book.

As I read Haveli I was reminded of a lot classic romances but being set in 1970's Pakistan makes the plot feel new. It has the classic conflict of beautiful girl and dashing boy who start off on the wrong foot. The boy is so mature that he can see through the girls immaturity and goes about wooing her is a weird tangential way while the girl is smitten but doesn't see it and fights it to the end. In the midst of all this throw in a long lost father, a matriarchal grandmother, a conniving suiter and an extended family and you've got multiple plots playing out.
Chandni or C as she prefers to be called, is in the middle of all the drama as protagonist and we see it all unfold through her eyes and mind.

Set in 1970's towns of Jalabad and Cholistan in Pakistan, Mahal does a good job of describing the life of upper-class highly-educated society. From the clothes to language, I felt transported to that time. I was so reminded of old time serials, set in that time, that I had watched as a child.

Haveli has a fair number of well drawn out characters - Chandni or C, Bi Amma or the Broad, Baba and Bua, Taimur or Alpha Male, Chandni's father Shen Jahan and more. Though there are a lot of characters all of them seem to have a motive to being in the story, however not all characters complete their individual stories. I was left wondering about what happened to a few characters like Faisal,Shen Jahan and his wife at the end of the book.

C typical to her nature gives most of the characters interesting names from classic literature and switches around the names - from Heathcliff to Mr. Darcy - on based on her mood. The throwing in of character names was fun in the beginning but towards the end it was a bit of a drag.

On the whole Haveli isn't all that bad but towards the end it feels rushed and incomplete. The build-up to climax and the final union of the lovers left me with questions. Characters hanging in story loops with no conclusion in sight. I would have liked to hear about what happened to Shen Jahan and Faisal now that their plans are thwarted.

That said I did enjoy the romance between Chandni and Taimur. Taimur is so the suave gentleman who can set a woman's nerves tingling. And Chandni is that silly nitwit who has a great wit but loses her head in tight spots. They make for a good couple and story.

The story being told by Chandni lends an insight into the life and mind of a 20 year old affluent girl in 1970's Pakistan. The language is a good mix of the Hinglish we speak here in the subcontinent and the English we try hard to speak, it made me laugh sometimes as I could almost here the words and accent in my head.

Mahal keeps a good pace for two-thirds of the book, then suddenly it just jumps forward and closes, almost as if Mahal was suddenly reminded she was writing a novella and was running out of words.

Overall a good book. I enjoyed the peek into the 1970's and Pakistan but I do wish Mahal had closed all loops and told the whole Shah Jahan story. If you are someone who likes old world stories, you'll enjoy reading Haveli. It's worth your time!

About the Author:
Zeenat Mahal has been writing for as long as she can remember. She has an MPhil in English literature from Government College Lahore and is currently doing an MFA in creative writing from Kingston University, London. She is currently working on her next novel. You can connect with Zeenat on her Facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon

* Quote Credits to my good friend Garima for saying it so brutally straight. :P

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Book Review: Done With Men by Shuchi Singh Kalra

Title: Done With Men
Author: Shuchi Singh Kalra
Paperback: 109 pages
Publisher: Indireads Incorporated ( February 14th 2014)
Genre: Chick Lit
Read: ebook
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon
Summary: (Goodreads)

Travel journo, Kairavi Krishna (Kay) has had it with men. After a series of disasters (losers, philanderers, leeches, mama's boys and possessive psychos), she is all too tempted to walk out on the prospect of ever finding love. Accompanied by her best friend and flat-mate Baani, she sets off for Goa, hoping to get away from her miserable love life and vowing to stay clear of the male species.

Goa however, has a host of surprises in store for her. Ricky, her pesky ex-boyfriend, is busy painting the town red with his hot new girlfriend. Now what is poor Kay to do other than overdose on vodka, smoke pot, get an outrageous tattoo and fall off the hotel balcony? She wakes up in the hospital to the tender ministrations of Dr.Vivian D'Mello--young, suave and handsome as hell. Will Kay stick to her guns or will she fall for his ridiculously sexy charms? And what's up with the mixed signals he's giving out?

My Review:

Thanks Shuchi Singh Kalra for offering me your book to read and review :)



Cover: Simple, bright and eye-catchy!

Paper and font: So large, I had to manually reduce it :)

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and mind.

Why did I choose this book: Really needed some light reading and a book on a girl done with men seemed perfect for that :D

After her most recent heart-break Kay jumps at the chance when she gets an assignment in Goa. She hopes that the distance from her ex and the Goa carnival atmosphere will ease her heart and heal it. But in Goa she bumps into her ex, which leads to a night of debauchery, which in turn lands her in the arms of a rather hot doctor. Oh Kay, what will happen of you...

'Done With Men' are words I've said and heard innumerable times after a break-up but they are rarely final, somehow love does happen again sooner or later. Looking at it that way, the title is appropriate for a book where the heroine falls out and then right back into love. The cover caught my eye with a simple illustration of a woman sitting alone by the beach by herself and the blurb was interesting enough to make me want to read the book.

The plot of heart-break followed by finding prince charming is an old one but Kalra spins it well and it almost feels new. The book revolves around the life of Kay and is true to life in that Kay almost makes a fool of herself at every bend of her love story. It's something we have all done when we were young. A simple story without any major sub-plots or complications.

Mostly set in present day Goa, Kalra uses the carnival and Goa's party scene to set the stage for her story. That's about all it does, it's that hazy backdrop with not much detail or clarity. However this one is forgivable as Kalra focuses in-depth on Kay and hey, it's a novella.

Though Kay is the central character, there are quite a few other supporting characters. There's Baani, Kay's best friend and flat-mate, Ricky, her ex, and Dr.Vivian D'Mello, Kay's love interest among others. All the characters have a role to play and they all tie up neatly in the end. I liked most of the characters too, but I wish Vivian had had more spine, he seemed a bit of a sissy (for want of a better word).

The first half of the book is fast and gripping, especially when Kalra hints at some girl-on-girl action, but she veers away all to soon to chase the man and there it gets a little dull. I could have done with more drama there. However Kalra ties up all the loose ends and pairs up characters quite neatly at the end.

Over all this is a good, quick read in-between larger books.

About the Author:
Shuchi Singh Kalra is not just a writer, but also an editor and blogger. She has been published in a large number popular magazines over the years since she started writing in 2005. She is also the owner of Pixie Dust Writing Studio, a writing and editing firm and the Indian Freelance Writers Blog. Shuchi lives with her army husband and toddler. You can connect with Shuchi on her facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon

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Is that the New Year?

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="491" caption="Is that the New Year?"][/caption]

The last couple of months I haven't been able to blog much. I thought of writing often, there was after all so much to say but with all that was happening it was almost impossible to sit down to write. Let me give you a gist of all that happened in November and December.

But before that, Happy New Year to everyone who reads this. May 2014 bring you joy, peace and contentment. May all you dreams and wishes come true; may all that's best for you unfold in 2014. :)

Che and I had been searching for over a year to find a house that suited us and allowed us to bring our pack of five together under one roof before we saw a place, just after I got back in November. We liked the house at first sight; it had only one bedroom, one bathroom, no doors or cupboards and a high rent but there was a lot of space for the dogs. It worked well for them and we jumped at it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Big House but only G. Floor is ours"][/caption]

With that started the crazies. Living in a house we owned for over five years meant we had collected loads of stuff that we didn't use regularly and a lot of what we didn't need. Packing the house overwhelmed and drove me nuts. Thankfully help arrive in the form of my Mom and sis-in-law before I lost my marbles. Somehow over the month the house got packed and boxed before the movers arrived.

I still can't believe we emptied the house. It was a big lesson in letting go as I gave away a lot of stuff. Big lesson on not hoarding. I'm a hoarder but I hadn't realised how big a hoarder until the move. One of my life resolutions now is not to hoard, anything that isn't going to be used in the near future must be given away. Even if it is something small that hardly takes space, it's got to go coz I collect a lot of small things that then take up a lot of space.

Anyway we moved on 1st December and there started an all new battle - unboxing. This one am still fighting as we live out of boxes. More important than the unboxing though was getting the house ready for the dogs. Doggie doors had to be built, everything put away, beds and sleeping areas created, the list seemed endless and we went at it one item at a time until we kinda thought the house was ready.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="My favourite morning chai spot"][/caption]

Then came the logistics of shifting five dogs from one end of the city to the other. Three cars were needed along with three people to escort the dogs and in-between all of this we had to take them to the clinic too for medicated baths and vaccinations before they got here. While working out the logistics I thought the cars were the hardest part. Turned out the baths were the toughest. The big boys gave us no trouble at all but Cuckoo had everyone's ears ringing by the time we left with her Himesh Reshamyi rendition from the moment we reached to when we left.

I was so rattled and shook up after being around Cuckoo for three hours that I have to give it to all the stuff at the Cessna Lifeline Clinic for their patience. Special thanks to Pallavi and Lakshman for the awesome grooming job they did.

The dogs all cleaned up we left the clinic with all our fingers and toes crossed to see what would unfold when we put them all in one space at home. Miracles happen, I know coz I saw one that day the 19th of December. We let the dogs loose together and they didn't kill each other. They didn't become the best of friends in five minutes but they seemed to find the space to live and let live in that time and I couldn't ask for more. We all collectively heaved a sigh of relief and joy. It was a milestone in our lives, we had managed to bring our pack together under the same roof. Our family was finally complete and it was worth all the struggle, every bit of it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="442" caption="Here's what happens after I enter the kitchen in the morning :D"][/caption]

The rest of the month has just flown by in settling the dogs in, settling in ourselves, setting up a routine and what not. We've got a long way to go still but life's slowly getting into a rhythm.

Each day here is still an adventure with something crazy happening everyday. Sometimes its good crazy and sometimes bad but always crazy :D In all this chaos I hope to find more time to read and write in 2014. I have a lot of catching up to do and a lot of books due for review. Authors - Sorry if your book is pending review on my blog. I'm trying my best to catch up and should if all goes well :P

There's so much more to tell and share but I've gotta go now, the dogs are calling. I'll be back with more about the dogs, my life and everything else soon :)

What's your new year looking like? What plans for 2014?

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The Orange Tiger with a Red Heart

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="382" caption="Photo Credit: Chenthil"][/caption]

She had seen that tattoo before! If only she could remember where. There was something very familiar about it and yet every time she thought she'd got it, it escaped out of her clutches. She felt like she was chasing an imp in a gnarled forest filled with hidden places and a drifting mist.

Goddamn Imp! - she thought as he gave her the slip again. Maybe looking at the tattoo more closely might reveal something she thought. Trying to manoeuver crookedly over the basin she tried to get closer to the mirror, peering over her shoulder she squinted at her shoulder in the mirror trying to see something she might have missed before.

Trying to ignore the pain in her neck and strain to her eyes she stared hard at the tattoo. It was a simple tattoo, nothing flashy about it. No intricate designs, symbology or mythological characters. It was just the outline of a tiger filled in orange colour holding out a heart coloured red. Something about the tiger looked familiar, like it was a part of her life, something she saw almost everyday.

'Gawd, first imps, now tigers, all this running around is tiring me out', with that thought she slowly slid to the floor and leaning back on the door she stared at the pot. 'Where did that black spot come from?' she tilted her head puzzled. 'Ah! The goobe had decided to change sides when putting out his cig it seemed'. One mystery solved her mind went back to the tiger while her eyes bored down on the spot willing it to disappear.

Orange tigers, where had she seen that. Tigers were supposed to be yellow, were they also mellow? Her mind went down a tangent, as she contemplated the poetry sprouting from her mind. Where did the mellow come from? Was the bathroom with its colours of orange and ivory that was brought out the word mellow. Was this bathroom mellow. Is this what mellow meant. So many words in her head that was just descriptions from a dictionary, now one had real meaning. But was this really mellow, could orange be mellow.

'Ah, orange.' She was thinking of something orange before going down the mellow road, what was it. Then it came to her, an orange tiger, there was only one orange tiger she knew - Hobbes. But what the hell was Hobbes doing on her back and that too holding a heart. Where was Calvin?

Knock, knock. 'Hey, you been in the loo a while, you alright?'

He he, talk of the devil. 'Yeah baby, all fine, just stoned.'

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

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Back to My Bed and The Masters of the House

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Photo Credit: Chenthil"][/caption]

I've been away from the blog for over a month now. Sorry for disappearing without notice. If you missed me, big hugs to you :) If you didn't miss me, then I guess a hug won't matter either :P

Over the last couple of years it's become a ritual that I take a holiday of my own every year. I take time off from the house, dogs and husband. This is my time and my space, completely; I love it and look forward to it.

This year things just fell in and out of place and a plan to see Historic Delhi emerged. Making a plan to travel to Mumbai to meet up with my travel partner and then head out to Delhi I booked tickets and that was that. I then got busy wrapping up everything here before I left. I almost managed all to-do's before I left but missed the blog :P

Cutting it, I made it to the train and was in Mumbai before I knew it. Mumbai is a city close to my heart. It's the city that has most of my family and over the years a lot of friends too. I love the pace, the people, the life, colours and smell of the city. It sets my pulse racing. A week in Mumbai and plans changed. Ms. Partner couldn't join me due to medical crazyness and I headed out alone to Delhi.

I had a blast in Delhi, but that doesn't even start to describe it. I immersed and soaked myself in history and architecture. Spent hours gazing at tomb roofs and running my hands on walls as I imagined the Mughals and Sultans walking these corridors and touching those same walls a couple of hundred years ago. The things the Syaid's, Lodi's and Mughal's built with just mud and stone, blew my mind. The symmetry in their architecture just left me in awe with my jaw dropping. More on it in the travelogues I'm going to write about my Delhi trip. It's been ages since I wrote a travelogue. Kick me if I don't get it done, please. :)

On returning hubby gave me four (yeah 4) hours to unpack and repack before we headed out on a week long road-trip with friends. After rock, mud and white plaster, I now soaked up the green as we wound our way to Chennai via Kovalam, Thenmalai, Kuttralam, Kovilpatti, Dhanushkodi and Pondichery. Oh boy was this trip fun, from F1 driving to beaches galore, it had it all.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Photo Credit: Chenthil"][/caption]

Truthfully I didn't feel like returning, but I think it's the dogs that brought me back to reality. I missed the brats through my trip and couldn't wait to get smothered by them. Back from the trip I promptly fell sick, I guess I should be greatful it didn't happen on holiday. But it did make the settling back in with the dogs also returning a bit difficult.

Present: I'm doing much better now, though got a few more days to go to full power, the dogs are back to being masters of the house and it feels great to sleep in my bed again after all this while.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Photo Credit: Chenthil"][/caption]

So much catching up to do, I don't know where to start. Got a lot of books lined-up to read too while I've been gone. Authors: If I have one of your books on my TBR and I haven't reviewed it yet. Please be patient I'll get to it soon. I promise before the New Year :D

This time off helped me a lot with clearing my mind and giving direction to my thoughts. I now plan to shift this blog of mine to a new domain [expect to get a reminder soon :D ], it's going to get re-done with a better layout, pages, etc. There's also a new series I'm planning. Got a lot planned and fingers crossed :D

If you have any suggestions for my blog, can help me with the gyan on moving my blog, working with wordpress and bloggy stuff please leave me a note in comments. I'd appreciate all the help I can get. These are uncharted waters for me :)

Ok, enough about me and my mysterious disappearance :P, it's going to take me a while to read all your missed blog posts. So, what have you been upto?

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