Les nouveaux événements et les rêves

Heyyo everyone,

This recent unscheduled update is just "in fond memory" of several recent happenings with me, which I just happened to recall just now (or more accurate 31.41 seconds ago ;) # ) So..... Here they are (in no particular order [or in 28 % random, 19 % unsorted, 34 % unidentified and 26 % unnamed order for the genius folk]) -

[The aforementioned things are truly fictitious and any resemblance whatsoever to any event, dead or living, is purely co-incidental (or a plot by my enemies to defame me).]

"Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology. Scientists believe that everyone dreams, but people tend to forget them when they naturally pass out of sleep in the traditional sleep cycle. A person who is awakened during REM sleep is much more likely to remember the dream.

Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is high. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable. Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes.

Dreams are a connection to the human subconscious. They can range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can often at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration. Dream imagery is often absurd and unrealistic, and the events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming. Dreamers are usually not self-aware in their dreams; thus the dreams may seem very real to them while asleep. Dreams can vary from frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic to adventurous."

As you may have noticed, this above quote is from Wikipedia (The free encyclopedia [And no, this is NOT an advertisement for Wikipedia. Just making sure I have the full name, just in case I am sued for making fun of their name by using partial names]) and if your IQ is anywhere above 30 and below 180, you may also have realized that I would be going to talk something about dreams.(People with IQ above 180 are excluded because people with high IQ tend to think in complicated ways and thus may also have found a dozen other reasons for me to give the quote. Any argument to the contrary is highly appreciated and welcome. In the Spam section.)

Back to the topic, I recently have been having a tad bit too many dreams (Or if Wikipedia is to be believed, my dreams are breaking during REM more frequently) recently these days and thus I thought of sharing them. (I just now found out that "everyone" has dreams, and not only those who move while sleeping, as I previously believed. [The previous argument can be redefined now as "Mainly those who move while sleeping remember their dreams"]) I personally, have been having very bizarre, weird and highly complicated dreams and a few of them are shared here -
* The most common feature I found in my dreams was that even with weird things happening, my mind always tries to connect them in some way or the other, even though the connection may be totally absurd in real life.
* Shouting in your dream can actually wake you up in real life!!! (Happened to me once)
* Things that are around you usually creep into your dreams. For example, I was once talking to Ugesh Sarkar in my dream when he suddenly starts talking business stuff. Turned out that Dad was seeing some business channel on TV just near me then. :P
* It is possible for you to realise that you are dreaming. While still in your dreams. (Has happened half-a-dozen times to me)
* It is also possible to break your dreams whenever you want. Even though you are dreaming.
* Our worst fears and biggest wishes are the most common dreams that we have. For example, my sisters have thrown me from buildings for years now. (And that is not a wish ;) )
* We can even recall real-life memories in dreams, if we try to.
* And finally, our thought process during our dreams can become very very complicated too.

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Now for the other things......


* Havent made any progress on the book I was about to start yesternight. Lets see when I read it now..... (I try to get as much time I can while reading so that I can complete the book in one shot. [In another interesting counter-example, I found out that the books that influenced me the most were the ones I read slowest. Wow!] So 3:14 in the morning ;) is not a good time to start the book, though 8 pm is. For any book. Except "Lord of the rings" {where 3 pm would be a lot more appropriate. If you wanted to finish the book by the morning.}.)

* Have been thinking of learning French and lockpicking (But not French lockpicking :P ) for quite a time now. Did make some progress in both and thought that I was actually near to accomplishing both these goals, but have lost the momentum again. As usual. Need to get back to them....

* Found out that my typing speed is currently 45 WPM. Nice :D But need to improve on it to prove a point to two of my friends... *Furious typing in the distance*

* Meanwhile, my friends from Kota are back again for their Diwali holidays..... Which means more action is about to come up on that front ;) Be prepared (No pun intended) Hoping for a lot more fun here. (Would be a great new way to kickstart my dull life these days) .....
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# The wink is for those who can understand why the wink is there at all. ;) You know it if you know it. ;) (Just reminds me how much I like talking in double meanings, code-words and puzzles. If you happen to just re-read my previous updates, you might be surprised to see the number of seemingly normal [or nonsense] looking sentences that have another meaning with them. That is, if  [A big if involved here ;) There can hardly be 1.608 people on this planet {Another mysterious wink ;) }who understand all my words. Excluding myself. {Wait. Even I am unable to understand all my words, sometimes. :D }] you manage to crack them. In case anyone does crack any such sentence, do leave a comment)

INTP et al #

:D "Khush toh bahut ho rahe hoge......"

As usual, since the past 4 days, my life has been up to many tricks and things of the sort on me. Lets just go through a "Brief History of Time" [no pun intended] till now.

Just the night I wrote this blog, there turned out to be another happening. Something so unexpected and great that I could hardly believe my eyes. Find out what it was here. :) After you have answered all the 72 questions and come back with your results, click here to see who you are. ;)

When I saw my results, I was utterly "shell-shocked". (Now I owe one of my friends HA [who told me about this] a big one. Thanks dude :D ) Among other things, the test result was a scientific confirmation of three things, which had been conjectured by many to be true-
Firstly, I am an antique piece. (Almost everyone I have ever met believes this to be true)
Secondly, I am mad. (This is said to be believed true by those who havent even met me too. Was supposed to be Euclid's sixth axiom but scrapped during the final publishing as this one was known to be universal.)
And finally, I am a genius. ;) (Now this one is slightly arguable, but Yup. This is true too :D )

A real hats-off to the two men who, for the first time since Merlin (Merlin is a legendary wizard from the Harry Potter whose name is used by wizards in a manner the word "Mary" is used by Muggles around the world. In the current context, Merlin also refers to something very very old.) [or for the Muggle readers, "since I was an Irish rat"] that somebody has understood me so comprehensively, completely and consistently. What makes it even more wonderful is the fact that I have never met these men. (As far as I can remember. No, I dont have Eidetic memory, but I still consider my memory to be very sharp. But then again, I may have been Obliviated.) And yet, all my life has been just compressed into four letters - "INTP". (Ah. Now I realize the worthlessness of explaining myself for hours to the close ones near me, when I could have said four letters and that would have been "be all and end all". Data encapsulation at its best.)

Meanwhile, my schools started after the Puja Holidays(There is a festival called Durga Puja [and another called Dusshehra which falls on the same day] {and another 9-day festival called Navratri, which again falls just around the same time} here which is quite huge, in a manner similar to what Americans might consider Easter. One that continues for 10 days. The very same period also happens to co-incide (*sigh* Yet again.) with half-yearly examinations in the country. Which means we get an extended period of 20-30 days right after our exams as Puja holidays.) for a week and then ended before the Diwali holidays, which will continue for 9 days now. (Diwali is unarguably the biggest festival of India and we have loads of fireworks in it, in short.) Its like we are continuously shifting from holidays to school and back and forth. (Wait a second. That IS the case here.) So no wonder I was still in the holiday mood (By holiday mood I mean sleeping at 5 [am not pm] and waking at 12-2 [pm]. But since this luxury of waking at 12 was not allowed on school days, I made up for it during Physics classes at school ;) {Once I even woke up during Physics class all of a sudden and asked a question to sir!! Before going to sleep again} ) this past week and hated going to school. But this was not a place where we got any choice. :| Anyways, I am glad that it is over. For now.

Meanwhile, holidays again have begun they way they should have, bringing something new to me right from the beginning. For now, I have just finished "The lost symbol" by Dan Brown yesterday [another record for me. Finished it in a night. At least most of it. I think I had done around 100-200 pages the previous night and then finished it from 8-5 {pm and am respectively ;) }. The last time it was "Angels and Demons", another one-night-stand.] The book is good, but definitely not a Dan Brown classic. I would prefer "Da Vinci Code" or "Angels and Demons" over it. The book seemed to be quite predictable and also had more than a few loose ends. But still, its final message was a blow from the blue for me, as I never expected Dan Brown to do a Paulo Coelho. Even more startingly, I had been discussing and backing the very same stand against another friend in a chat conversation recently (which, amazingly, lasted only 271 minutes {Beginning 5 am ;)}) Was good timepass btw. Hope to be starting (and ending) another book today. Only 531 pages (Any guesses on which book it is? Or will I complete it tonight? We'll find out.)

Meanwhile, i finally performed the last rites of my previous cell phone handset after an accident (namely keeping it in my pocket and allowing it to be washed in the washing machine) proved fatal for its battery and ofc, its other components too, thus silencing it forever. Or at least until someone invents a time machine. Or hands me one. [Wait a second. I've already done that. Got to work on it "NOW"] Which means that I have lost all my contacts (Very bad that I don't have eidetic memory :( ) and am trying my best to retrieve them all from all sources. And it also meant that I was phone-less for a week or so (very painful days, I must admit) before I finally got a handset.....

Meanwhile, Dad bought a BB and everyone was literally shocked at that. (My mouth would still had been open [even though it happened yesterday] had there not been so many mosquitoes around the house) What a surprise it was. But, on the bright side, I got to take his E63 until I take my own cell. (For which I am patiently and eagerly waiting and saving, FYI. So it seems the E63 will be with me for a while now. [BTW any suggestions for the new handset? Please do suggest some. Although I do have some models in mind, a few suggestions wont hurt.  Leave a comment after this post ;)])

The books for today-
* "Ways to live forever" by Sally Nichols (An amazing and quite an emotional read. A great book to pick.)
* "Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (A complete classic. The master of all thrillers.)
* "Karl, aaj aur Kal" by Cyrus Broacha (A total laughathon. An awesome read for people of all ages.)

The songs for today-
* "Viva la vida" by Coldplay (Another of my all time favorites. Heard it only a millenia of times.)
* "Wheels" by Foo Fighters (Completely awesome)
* "Kun faya ku" from Rockstar (a softer choice in Hindi, but awesome anyways)
* Fade to black (transcribed for Piano) by Norman Vesprini. (The best piano or synth I have ever heard. Totally amazing)
* Dexter (TV series) theme song. (Totally sinister looking and freakingly catchy)
* "21 guns" by Green day. (The second of Green Day's best songs.)
* "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams (No comments)

The movies for today (decided to add another column for the movies too :) ) -
* "Dasvidaniya" (An awesome choice for Hindi movies. A soft choice again.)
* "Inception" (A complete mind-boggling journey that takes the mind on a whirl-wind)
* "Behind Enemy lines - Colombia" (Another "food for the mind" kind of movie. Action cum thriller. Deadly!)

In the other news, my blog has now recieved exactly 199 views from 8 countries spread across 4 continents. :D Cheers!!!

Thats it for today, I guess. Do stayed glued for the next update, which, I assure you, will be soon.

Take care,
The Original Soni
22nd October 2011, 9:18 pm (IST)
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# Note that et al is a term meaning "and others"

Return of the Soni

Friends, readers, well.... readers; Lend me your ears. (Or maybe not such a good idea at that.Nobody prefers donating their ears.) I have come here to talk rubbish, and not to say anything useful. (I never bothered to find out about the lines after that, although have been quiting these lines so very often :P) [Just in case you did not get the reference, the above lines were the (slightly changed to meet the purpose of the occasion) opening lines of Mark Antony's speech in "Julius Ceaser" (the play by William Shakespeare) Act 3 Scene 2 "Friends, Romans, countrymen... "]

Finally I am back. Finally and completely. Got the time to finally start writing my post for the blog again after so many days :) Feels so nice (Not that I did not have time before, but dared not write anything because there were so many things to type. So many things have had happened these days. But then finally decided that I will start typing anyways, and see where that goes.) In the words of Shinchan Nuhara, "Welcome back" (In the background, his mother says "Welcome back nai, I'm back bolte hai Shinchan" [Translates to "Its I'm back and not welcome back"])

So. (Now that I look back now [no pun intended] , I seem to be repeating so many phrases in each and every sentence that I use. And "So" seems to be an evergreen all-time favorite. And I dont even know its intended usage, except the fact that we use it when we have nothing to say, and need to start a conversation on any topic.)

Here are some snippets of my life that happened in the past few days -

*My six year old nephew made a facebook account!!! And if you believe me, he is already addicted. (I'm sure of that.) Now he has his own fb, gmail and yahoo email ids. And his own laptop as well as a playstation. Wow!!!! It seems that the next generation has already overrun us obsolete folks. Whats more, he was asking me to open a facebook account (Now this is something you dont listen to everyday. Would have been a thing to be ashamed about had I not already had a facebook account, which was lying de-activated.) Plus, he is already reading "Khushwant Singh". Gosh!!! Some people are growing too fast, it seems.

* I had read an online book recently (although the book is still unfinished). "Harry Potter and the Methods of rationality". This book explores the possibility of what would have happened if Harry was a geek. :D Was an amazing book to read, according to me. Although the book became slightly boring in the latter half. But seriously, Loved the book. A real must read for all geeks. Especially for the Harry Potter fan geeks.

*  This is a speech by a scientist called Steven Johnson on TED. (No need for me to go into the details of TED or the scientist, I think) It talks about how ideas actually come up. He says that ideas, intead of being a "Eureka moment", develop for days, and maybe even years, before they finally come out. I totally agree with him on this very-well-rounded up lecture. (Its really a shame to call something of this magnitude a lecture. The word lecture is best suited only for the boring ones.) Do read it.

* I have been reading quite many new books and listening to new songs, and will be suggesting the same to you :) Hope that my suggestions are good for you. :)

Books suggested for today -
"The story of my experiments with truth" by Mahatma Gandhi - An amazing autobiography of an equally amazing man. To be pondered over deeply, especially for the "seekers of the truth"
"Alchemist" by Paulho Coelho - A totally amazing book that allows the reader to find himself. Has great insights, which are to be thought over deeply, and not just read to get the full essence of the book.
"Harry Potter and the method of rationality" by Less wrong (ebook) -  A complete KnockOut of a book, especially for geeks and Harry Potter fans (if you are both, this book is made for you). Contains enough scientific terms for one to keep on googling for hours.

Songs suggested for today -
"If everyone cared" by Nickelback - A great rock song with amazing lyrics and a very catchy tune.
"Wake me up when september ends" by Green Day - The best song I have ever heard. Amazing lyrics and very passionate singing as well as a great theme. Gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. Another rock song.
"Zombie" by The Cranberries (female version) - The second best song I have ever heard. The singer really put her heart and soul in the song. Could feel the effect every time I heard it. Gives goosebumps every time I hear it.
"Trouble" by Coldplay - I simply love this band. Really great tunes, really amazing songs and still amazing lyrics. This one is a touchy one from the band.
"Love story" by Taylor Swift - Great catchy tune and great voiceover.
 (Hindi songs)
"Sadda Haq" from Rockstar - Amazing song with an equally great theme
"Teri meri yeh kahani" from Bodyguard - A softer song but is still great, especially with great voices.

* Meanwhile I have been waiting very eagerly for the movie Rockstar to release on 11/11/11. \m/ From the trailers and the songs, it will be a rocking movie about a rockstar revolutionary from soemwhere in Jammu and Kashmir. :) Am waiting for the movie to release. (Such a thing does not happen to me very often.)

Just in case you were wondering about the update to the previous chapters, it will be coming out soon. Although the probability of something of the sort actually happening, at least in the next few weeks, seems infinitesimal, which is the posh way of saying "next to zero". And the way my life goes, my life is sure to be crammed with hundreds of things so that I can never actually  do the updating. (That is, "unless" I have a time machine. Or as JK Rowling calls it, a "Time turner." But I would not be telling about my time machine in public. Therefore contact me at the.original.soni@gmail.com for a trial of the time machine#)

For your information, I went to an awesome science camp, attended many lectures and had great time. Then I prepared very hard for a science fair, but sadly failed to qualify for it. :( Then went on my school trip to Rajasthan, which turned out to be the best tour of my life. :) Yet. :) Had a lot of fun with my brothers, also learnt a lot of things (as it was an "educational trip". [Those who went in the tour would get the sarcasm intended ;) ]) and most of all, found a new myself during the tour. :) Hope to make good of my life.

And last, but definitely not not the least, my exams are over. And we have got our marks. And well about the marks..... "Aage dekhenge kya hota hai ek chote se beak ke baad" (We will see what happens after a short commercial break) ;) All I can say is "Next time se NO EARTHQUAKES BEFORE CHEMISTRY EXAMINATION"(Yup, there was an earthquake on the day before our Chemistry exam, but it was very very far away and we did not even feel the effects. But still, this was enough to divert my attention and stay glued to the news channel all night)

Thats it, I guess for tonight. Good Night, Shubh ratri, Shabbhakher and do take good care of yourself.

Cheers,
The Original Soni
18th October 2011
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