Nothings that are somethings
I'm returning to my blog after a long time. This period has been marked by happiness, sadness, his and lows in my health and mood swings, stressful times and a lot of nothings :)
Well lets see what I did all this while..
Books :

I was too tempted to start with the books because I have been finishing them at an amazing speed. Almost one everyday despite the long stressful hours at work.
A few years ago, when I started reading novels, I had this crazy urge to finish all the novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner. And I did read about 60 of his books over 3 months. As all my other short lived interests, that too waned. I notice a similar pattern of late with Sandra Brown. So here are the books that I have read of late.

1. Thursday's Child - by Sandra Brown. Rating -3. One of those M & B types- I would say better than a typical M & B. All her books that I read after this follow a similar pattern - the man and woman have a hatred towards each other that slowly gives into passion and then unimaginable ever lasting love. However I think she matured into a better writer. Her earlier novels lack the intensity and the urge to complete the book. Most of her books run into a 200 odd pages. So one can started reading them at tea time and comfortably finish before dinner.

2.Angels and Demons - by Dan Brown. I can go on forever about this book. Its a classic novel. I have suggested this book to many of late. Though it was published about 2 years back it shot into limelight again because of the latest book by the same author - "The Da Vinci code". Angels and Demons has a lot of architectural details of the Vatican city and Rome, the details about swearing in of a new pope, the election process. Once you start reading it is very difficult to keep it down until completion. A highly recommended book for reading. No mushy details, no love affairs, no broken hearts and yet interesting -s o there definitely is something in it.

3. The Da Vinci Code - by Dan Brown. This is the latest one by Dan Brown. If you've read Angels and Demons this can be a lil boring. It is more of a factual book tracing the history of paintings by Da Vinci, tracing the history of Christ and so on. What I liked about this book - the significance of Phi, what Mona Lisa stands for , story behind the sarcastic smile on Mona Lisa's face, virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and Christ, the Last supper and the woman sitting beside Christ...well I can go on and on. Oh yes and the details about the Louvre.

After reading the "Angels.." and "Da Vinci..." my urge to travel to France and Italy has all the more intensified. My passion for travel is at an all alltime low now however :(

4. Instant Millionaire - by Nora Roberts. I would say she falls in the same league as Sandra Brown. But if one is expecting the passion between the characters in Brown's novel, Roberts characters definitely lack it. Her descriptions are more straightforward and factual that lack fantasy. Both Roberts and Brown are authors of New York Times, have best sellers around the same time. but apart from that I don't find a striking chord.

5. Honor Bound - by Sandra Brown

6. In a class by itself - by Sandra Brown - I loved reading this one. Will not go into the details but I found some instance that I could co-relate to :) and smiled at myself that we were not the only ones to experience what we did :)

I'm reading a few more books now. will add them to the list in a few days when I'm done.


Movies

1. Mystic River. Rating -0
Starring Sean Penn and directed by Clint Eastwood, this was the most depressing movie I have seen in the recent times. Yet another movie that got rave reviews luring cinema goers into watching. Now I realize what a fool I had been to get up early Saturday morning and book tickets over the net anticipating it would get sold out soon. It had just been released. I'm not surprised now as to why the hall was not full!
It brought back some unpleasant memories of childhood and I strongly suggest don't see this movie. The acting and direction were phenomenal but the storyline wasn't. Human life is a joke that can be taken away at the shot of a gun! Faith - it is unheard of by the characters in the movie.

2. Philadelphia - Rating -5. I know this is a very old movie but I saw it only recently. No wonder Tom Hanks bagged the Oscar for this one. He is a class by himself. Somehow I end up comparing him with Aamir Khan. They don't have any striking similarities in appearances but yes both of them are way above their contemporaries in their portrayal of the characters they play. Both star in a movie once a year, are choosy about the roles and it almost always a runaway success.

3. Bang Bang you're dead - Rating -5. I'm sure its not a very well known movie. Its playing in showtime now. This play originally premiered in Arizona in 1999. Since then it has apparently been downloaded myriads of times at colleges. I simple love the movie and adore the character Josh. I even went to the extent of jotting down a couple of dialogues that impressed me. Can't find all of them now...there is one here - " Sometimes I hate being alive but I'm afraid to be dead". Its about the story of a kid who has to prove himself for being accepted everywhere - at home , at school, at play. He does his best and yet does not get acceptance. In the process he loses his own identity and shows to the rest of the world that it is HATE that the world understands. Parents pressure, peer pressure changes a kid so much that he will never be the same for the rest of his life. I'm sure somewhere each one of us can find a striking chord to our adolescent days.


People

Will not take names here. All I'm going to say is I have a met a few interesting people and a few disgusting ones. Rather not talk about the disgusting ones and spoil my mood. Looking forward to meet more of the interesting ones and know them better. The past few days, I have also started understanding why certain people behave the way they do. Why they act differently in the presence of someone, and differently when alone. Which is their true side. There is a streak of selfishness in everyone that forces them to behave the way they do. It could be anything from not losing the job to drawing someones attention to getting credit due to someone else. Its not a fair world after all. Best to keep ears and eyes open!


Oh well...thats it..Its a beautiful Sunday and am going to laze again :)