Author: ArChaNaR
•6:14 PM
Its been a while since I updated my blog ... just wanted to pen down my good moments of this year before the New Year dawns! .. my achievements , good times, bad times yada yada yada....

This year 2005 has been promising & challenging to me in a lot ways!

To start off ...we moved from Michigan to Callifornia in April .. Initially I neva liked the idea of moving to cali... 'coz I spent 2 years in michigan .... the memories with that place is still fresh in my mind...

.... I used to tell uday.. 'let's move to cali' ..n the next min i would say .. ' nah! let's stay in MI ' .. It was cofusing though.. but finally made a decision to move to cali.... " If you dont travel now , then when would you? " - that's our policy! ... The road trip to cali was memorable one! That was our first road trip from coast to coast ...say roughly around 2,450 miles .. wow!

On the education front.. The first time they rejected my application ...I got depressed .. and that continued for almost 2 months. Uday coouldn't see me getting depressed and he decided to get a job for me ... IT no way! I used to fight with him ' Who would give me a job in that field'..
But he would console me and say " its going to be fine! " .. which makes me feel so comfortable and forget about worrying!

To my surprise I applied for Marketing Assistant to 40 companies, out of which only 20 companies liked my resume and responded to it. You neva fair well in your first interview.. n so was I. After a good 3-4 interviews I became confident and knew how to answer confidently.. I nailed the rest 16 interviews and even got a job as a Sales Representative at a company called San Francisco Marketing(SFO Marketing)!!! ...
The remarks from everyone interviewer was... "
#I had a lot of confidence in my voice
#The way I present myself
#A firm hand shake! ...
#My eye contact with the interviewer is simply great!!! "

wow!! That's the best remarks I ever got!
Wondering what happened to the rest 15 ? well... all of them were ready to appoint me ..but none of them were willing to sponsor my H-1 visa .. even the SFO company initially said .. they would sponsor my H-1 ... but for that I have to work as a volunteer form 4-5 months... if they really like my work then they would file for a H-1.. That was the smoothest way to say .. ' NO we don't!' ..

I was never dissappointed .. 'coz I knew that I would get another job somewhere else and that no company in the marketing field for a 'Sales Rep' would sponsor H-1 .... so I decided to join the community college n finish the bridge courses!

That was quite an achievement in the job front though !

Later in june... I started blogging.. started out with some simple poems ..daily musings.. and me and uday started a blog Word of the Worlds . With some publicity and word of 'email' :), it soon grew to become a collaborative blog of 80 registered users...thanks to orkut :) !!

It all started when I received an e-mail from my school buddy.. an invitation to join Orkut [an online friend network] Boom! that's it! I started to spend more time on the net, talking to different people .. Now every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is check my orkut account n see if there are nE new scraps!! ... but must say.. I really made some great friends through orkut ..Recently I added a new person ... his reply was.. "what's the reason for adding me??? do you want to be the orkutian with highest # of friends? " well i don't know... all i know is I want to make new friends and keep in contact with everyone of them!!! ... that dosen't mean that i would forget my old friends!... forgetting is not a world in my world![ not a movie dialogue .... its my own ;) ]


On the fun side , comparing to last year, we travelled to [ & through :) ] a lot of places this year..
Indiana ....
.... Illinois ....
.... Iowa ....
.... Nebraska ....
.... Wyoming ....
.... Utah ....
.... Nevada ....
.... all the above 7 states was part of our road trip excluding MI n CA

St. Louis for my cousin's marriage ....

Los Angeles ....

Seattle ....
.... Vancouver , B.C [ Canada] for our visa interviews {part business part pleasure}

Virginia , to meet my aunts ....
.... Washington , D.C {merry-go-around in my aunt's car lolz !! }

Phew! that's a big enough list ;) ..

On the whole .. it's been a great year for me and I am hoping that the coming year would be much more challenging and fun!

And If you ask me what's my New Year Resolution : I would say... Neva make Resolutions unless you really stick to it!





Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy n Prosperous New Year!!
Author: ArChaNaR
•5:50 PM
Its the 5th day..n i'm still suffering with this throat infection.. Initially I thought its just a common cold..(its the flu season.. so be careful) what really made it worst was on the 1st day i had 2 ice-creams! didn't know that it would create sleepless nights and disturbing uday n my neighbours with my horrible cough! And guess what ..the phone kept ringing all day when i really didn't wanna scare ppl with my husky voice.

But I made someone laugh with my sexy voice!! yea it was uday... man! he was making fun of my sexy voice.. repeating to what i've said.. lolz! he even mis-understood the words! damn it was fun! I got really annoyed, but even i started making fun of my voice.. making funny sounds, coughing like an old lady! blah blah blah. It was around 10:00 in the morning and it was time for my meds.. yakk! i hate meds.. but i had no other choice! After a while everyting looked double. 2 tables, 2 laptops, lolz! even 2 udays! I got confused ... did i take the drowsy tablets? .. nah! I took the right meds.. non-drowsy tablets for sinus! Thanks to uday! he knows the reason! since i took the sinus tablets.. it was soothing the sinus area(the eyes) ! and thus making me feel dizzy, floating!

how would you feel before fainting? everything looks dark, dizzy..right? yep n it was just the same feeling!

Funny part was ..i was walking n talking like a drunker!.. hit myself a couple of times to the wall, bed! *argh* and finally reached my destination! .. the bed! lolz! I slept like a baby for 6 straight hrs..uday couldn't stop looking and laughin at me! It seems that I was making funny faces.. talking something to myself!! lolz!!!

It was a funny day though!! oops! guys... the meds started working.. and everything is looking double.. gotta go n crash.. aka sleep! ciao!
Author: ArChaNaR
•5:44 PM
Same blue skies, the same sun, same city, same people around you, then why does everything look different and new to my eyes? I don't know why.. but today i felt so different... nah nah! not 'coz it's friday! ... It was just another working day.. Today at 11:00 a.m, I had to drop my car at the service center for a 30,000 mile service... Later after finishing the paper work, we got a ride back to our home.. had lunch and uday was off to work.

I cleaned up my room.. and was back to my laptop checking mails and was reading my friends blog. after reading a couple of other blogs, I decided to watch a movie..a hindi movie - Deewane Huye Paagal..the comedy is fine.. you can watch it once. Time passed by and I got a call at 4:30 p.m from the service center that my car is ready and that the shuttle is on its way to pick me up. So i rushed, got ready and was waiting outside. I was walking around.. suddenly my attention drew to the trees. Must be wondering what's with the trees.. you see them daily...big deal! ... [...]
Author: ArChaNaR
•4:13 PM
was going through an interesting piece of research work on coding guidelines by an avid slashdoter here when I bumped into the original pictures of the “Thatcher effect” (he used this as an illustration to build his argument on software coding guidelines).

The ever rolling wagon that I was, my curiosity turned to optical illusions and I came across some interesting compilation work by Michael Bach, who has done a fabulous job in putting together around 60 of the popular illusions, along with their origins in some cases.

I began developing an interest in illusions that are simple and drive the point home easily, without requiring that the viewer break his head to decode it.

Here are my favorites. :
Author: ArChaNaR
•3:17 PM




Directed by- Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

Ben Stiller .... Alex (voice)
Chris Rock .... Marty (voice)
David Schwimmer .... Melman (voice)
Jada Pinkett Smith .... Gloria (voice)


The Dvd was out last week...
Fabulous Film! Is all I can say. I watched a lot of animation movies and there are times when I really got bored while watching the movie. I thought this movie too would be the same but to my surprise it was very funny right from the begining till the end with witty scripts.

At the begining of the movie where Marty is running in an open field jumping around, birds chripping and suddenly Alex comes in front of him and says 'Surprise!' Marty falls back and says :' Alex don't you ever disturb me when I'm day dreaming!' That line just cracked me up[...]
Author: ArChaNaR
•9:22 AM

20th October :

I was so excited to visit Seattle and so, I started packing our luggage bags 4 days ahead ( yea that sounds silly ;) ).. counting every day ... when would 20th arrive. And at last! the day arrived.

We decided to drive down to the san jose airport and park our car in the long term parking. It was thursday evening, we started early so that we could reach the airport within time(cannot trust the trafic jams in california)... but we were quite early. Our flight was at 8:06 p.m .. n we checked in at 6:00... 2 solid hrs.. n didn't know what to do... went around.. n luckly there was a restaurant and while we were having our dinner , the flight attendant announced that the our flight was delayed for 45 mins :o .. we just looked at each other faces..Great! now what do we do? How about a game of tic-tac-toe! ;) .. finally our flight arrived at 8 : 50(glad it finally arrived!).. we called our cousin to let him know that we were starting.. we checked in.. grabbed our respective seats.. ah! what a relief .. It was a 2 hr journey and we had lotssa fun solving a crossword puzzle from the in-flight magazines through out.

Finally! we reached the Seattle airport.. picked up our bags and we came out waiting for our cousin and his wife to pick us up. It was great to meet my brother and bhabhi after a gap of 3 years!! we kept them awake till 2 in the night with our banter !! felt like good ol' times !

To read more about our trip.. click here
Author: ArChaNaR
•2:08 PM
The fall is the most beautiful season of all.. just check the pictures below..





Its like driving to the heaven.. The most beautiful state I've ever seen .. with lush green trees and during the fall season ..its jus amazing..it's so colourful!! couldn't stop appriciating the mother nature.

Well i've got a bunch of them taken in seattle...but these are the 3 pictures i liked the most..I hope you liked them.
Author: ArChaNaR
•11:43 AM

Trouble arrives in measures,
and we stack it up real high,
until we're convinced,
we have no reason to try.
If you feel defeated,
you're absolutely wrong,
for if you follow your dream,
you could never lose for long.
Ignore the minor set-backs
that pile up and trouble you,
or you will build a mountain,
out of the stones hurled at you.
The future holds great promise,
your destiny unknown,
but God is always helping,
and you're never alone.
Soar bravely toward your goal.
Let nothing darken the way.
You can change your tomorrow,
if you seek your dream today.
Author: ArChaNaR
•10:09 AM

Wishing you a Dussehra that’s a celebration of all victories in life!
Author: ArChaNaR
•11:19 AM

When things get tough, always remember... Faith doesn't get you around trouble, it gets you through it !!
Author: ArChaNaR
•11:13 AM

This is how the Niagara Falls looks in the night with the lights... awesome isn't it??? Its called as the horse shoe.. Y?--- look again... it resembles the horse shoe.. (the feet of the horse).
Author: ArChaNaR
•6:17 PM
Me n my husband decided to go to LA( a sudden thought) ,pamper ourselves and have some fun. We thought we’d leave on friday evening..but you know… we were jus lazy n tired and thought we’d cancel the trip.While going to bed we thought ..alyite lets just go[we didn’t even plan, just decided to go..lol :) ]The next day morning we got up @ 8:00 am and we were surfing on the net where to rent a car..
Finally!! we found that the Enterprise rent a car was close by to our place.. we both rushed to the store[ started @ 11:30 to pick up the car..lol!! we were damn tensed..what if the store is closed since it was sat..and the timings were 9:00 am to 12 noon :o ].. but we were lucky enough*phew*.. filled all the papers took the car n drove back to our home.. Ah! now starts the fun part .. we packed our stuff , got the directions to LA Universal Studio and…that’s it!! we were out on the road
Author: ArChaNaR
•4:31 PM

Dosti mein no sorry, no thank you – Maine Pyar Kiya (1988)

Saccharine…but teenagers loved this new definition of friendship. Friendship badges and stickers became a rage in schools, which was in itself, a completely new phenomenon in India

..cont
to read more about this... click on the Title Name


phulzzz dont forget to click on the Ads :)
Author: ArChaNaR
•4:15 PM

I was surfing the web n came accross this amazing car :o Dodge Viper RT/10 Roadster…
My O My!

I coudn’t get mah eyes off from it. I started dreaming mahself going on a road trip driving that car..lolz!

To read more about Viper click on the title name 'Dodge Viper' or go to:

http://archie.lipsmusic.net/archives/2005/09/28/cars/2001-dodge-viper-rt10-roadster/

p.s: donot forget to check out the Ads :)
Author: ArChaNaR
•9:19 AM
Finally, I have come to know that half my friends on orkut and a majority of Indians that are into reading books have devoured this masterpiece in quick gulps.. Da vinci code [learnt that it is spelt as da-vin-chee co-de] !!

Check the reviews & prices out at amazon :


May be, because of the fact that this book contravenes certain popular papal beliefs or because it ended up getting so much press or because we are still a country that have not yet given up on faith and God, Da vinci code was such a run-away hit in our country particularly!!

It does not end there!! we have a hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks and Sir Ian Mckellen[lord of the rings - fame: Gandolf!!] , slated for a late 2006 release!!!
Author: ArChaNaR
•4:56 PM
I have been to the end of the earth.
I have been to the end of the waters.
I have been to the end of the sky.
I have been to the end of the mountains.
I have found none that are not my friends.
--Navajo Proverb

Though it's true
that I've found many
friends along life's road,
and many have brightened my life
and helped shape who I am,
no one has
touched my life like you.
You are my best friend,
and you always will be.

To mah sweetest friends..saleha n deepu..
Author: ArChaNaR
•10:16 AM
The other side of Mother Nature
Never seen those clouds that dark b4...looks so scary


Fishing!?!


To the right side of the freeway is the Saturn(car) company half submerged

It took more than 2 weeks to pump out the water in the city & remove the debirs.Now the whole city looks deserted, trying their best to clean the debris. The mark on the houses and cars showed till what level they were submerged.


Hurricane Rita was a Category 5 hurricane, the highest rating possible. Only three Category 5 hurricanes are known to have hit the US mainland, the most recent being Hurricane Andrew, which devastated south Florida in 1992 , is known to hit the coast of Texas early saturday morning with winds blowing 150 mph and 15 inch rain. The government has orderred the ppl to evacuate the city b4 it hits.

The oil prices are soaring high..Five percent of the country’s capacity was already down because of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. But an additional 22 percent of capacity is down at least temporarily as refineries in the path of Hurricane Rita ceased operations and released their employees. In total, capacity capable of producing 5 million barrels a day of petroleum products, including 2.5 million barrels of gasoline, is not available.

There have been a lot of natural disasters all over the world this year: earthquake in europe, south-east japan, monsoon rains in India, forest fire in south-west europe, the Tsunami in indonesia, then floods in Mumbai, pretty recent Hurricane katrina in louisiana, Texas.. and now hurricane Rita again!?!
Now that scares me ..reminds me of the movie "The day after tomorrow" ,where in the movie it shows that the whole land is submerged in water... the statue of liberty submerged ..all you could see is the head of statue of liberty.

Is this really happening!?!

Author: ArChaNaR
•3:38 PM





Isn't it COOL!!!

That car looks cool. its got some crazy stylingtoo.....but do you think its comfortable enough !?!
Author: ArChaNaR
•3:56 PM




God made the mountains
kiss the clouds
that we may look up beyond
our own small world
and strive to reach great heights.
He made the ocean wide and mighty
to remind us of the
greatness of his love
and the power of his strength.
He frosts the earth with
diamonds in the winter
to reveal the riches that
await us in heaven,
and he awakens the earth
with a profusion of lilacs and daffodils
in the spring to show us that
we've been given
the gift of eternal life.
He has created masterpieces,
and every one of them
are part of the circle of life and serve
some great purpose.
From the forests, to the valleys,
across the dales, and even to the
most distant twinkling star,
and the early morning mist that
creeps over the hills,
God has blessed the earth with
his talented hand.
So do you think that God could have
erred when he made you?
Of course he didn't.
You're perfect,
exactly what God intended you to be.
As the earth is reborn this spring,
remember that you're one of
God's great masterpieces,
a testament to his infinite
wisdom and perfection.



This is one of the poems I like a lot
~my Grandpa sent this.

Author: ArChaNaR
•11:00 PM


Happy Vinayaka Chavathi to all!

Did you know that Ganesha is known as Aumkara, because his body mirrors the shape of the Aum, the elephant god is thus seen as the embodiment of the cosmos. His elephantine head symbolizes the intelligence and beatitude of the elephant, powerful, yet gentle. His vehicle is a mouse, (mooshikam)and this symbolizes the intellect, small enough to find out any secret in the most remote of places. It also signifies his humility, that he espouses the company of one of the smaller creatures.

He is the god of luck and fortune, of doorways, of the household, and of writing. He is the remover of obstacles, and as such it is normal to invoke him before the undertaking of any task with such incantations as "Aum Shri Ganeshaya Namah."

May Ganesha bring good luck n fortune to you all.


p.s: the ganesha in the picture is made with wheat flour.. u can even see the rat :D
( I made it :) )
Author: ArChaNaR
•12:47 PM




It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of the deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
--Psalm 18:32-33










Author: ArChaNaR
•12:23 PM

Every day can be a beautiful day.
Just take a look around you
and think about all of the
wonderful things you have
to be thankful for...
the sunshine,
the flowers,
laughter,
close friends,
family,
music,
and beautiful dreams.
The storm is never
half as bad as it seems.
Don't let the rain ruin your day.
When the dark clouds move in
just smile,
because the good times
are on the way.
Author: ArChaNaR
•11:28 PM
A study has found that coffee contributes more antioxidants - which have been linked with fighting heart disease and cancer - to the diet than cranberries, apples or tomatoes.

Fruit and vegetables have long been known to be a good source of antioxidants, but the new findings are surprising because it is the first time that coffee has been shown to be such a rich source of the agents.

However, the study did not prove that coffee was good for you because high levels of antioxidants in food did not necessarily translate into higher levels absorbed by the body.

Nevertheless, the research - which was funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute - indicates that at least where coffee is consumed in high amounts, the beverage could be responsible for relatively high levels of antioxidants in the diet.

Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close.

The study found that both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee appeared to provide similar levels of antioxidants. Antioxidants help to rid the body of harmful free radicals, destructive molecules that damage cells and DNA. They have been linked to a number of health benefits, including protection against heart disease and cancer. Studies have associated coffee drinking with a reduced risk of liver and colon cancer, type two diabetes, and Parkinson's disease.

In Britain, where people drink about 70 million cups of coffee each day despite the country's reputation as a tea-drinking nation. More than half of the American population are daily coffee drinkers. Although coffee consumption may be lower in the United Kingdom, nearly half of the British population regularly drinks instant or ground coffee.

Professor Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, recommends that people should drink only one or two cups of coffee per day. He added that it was important not to ignore the benefits offered by fresh fruit and vegetables. Unfortunately, people are still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, which are better for you from an overall nutritional point of view to their higher content of vitamins, minerals and fibre.

The research showed that, compared with other foods, dates were the richest source of antioxidants. But since so few dates are eaten by people, they only contributed a small amount of antioxidants to the average person's diet. Cranberries and red grapes also contain high levels of antioxidants.


* BENEFITS

> Can increase alertness and improve short-term recall.

> May reduce the risk of cirrhosis of the liver among heavy drinkers.

> May postpone muscle fatigue.

> Contains caffeine-related compounds (theophylline) that can alleviate the symptoms of asthma in some cases.

* RISKS

> Increases blood pressure among people who already suffer from high blood pressure.

> Causes insomnia, anxiety, and irritability.

> May worsen symptoms of PMS in some women.

> Can reduce fertility in women trying to conceive.

> Can cause heartburn and indigestion.
Author: ArChaNaR
•12:38 PM
In my garden
Author: ArChaNaR
•12:29 PM
On our way back from LA to SFO
The sun was just setting down and thought why not capture it.. was around 7:00 pm
All n all it was a beautiful trip!!



This is the best picture I've ever taken..It was a bright sunny day(around 5:30)
A duck from nowhere.. n kids playing..Just prefect!!
On a trip to Malibu beach.oh!btw if you are wondering whats to the top
right... thats my hand...trying to protect my phonecam lens from sun.. :)


Author: ArChaNaR
•11:33 PM

An old man walked up a shore littered with
thousands of starfish, beached and dying after a storm.
A young man was picking them up and flinging
them back to the ocean. "Why do you bother?"
the old man scoffed.
"You are not saving enough to make a difference."
The young man picked up another starfish and sent it
spinning back to the water.
"Made a difference to that one," he said.

~You make a difference, every day~

Author: ArChaNaR
•3:43 PM
How do you feel when you receive something from your loved one's ?
hmm...?

I'll tell you.. :)

Its so exciting, thrilling and you wait eagerly for the package to arrive !!! And once it arrives, you tend to attack right away and see what's in there(although, you know what's IN there).

It was just the same with me, I was waiting eagerly for the past few days(nah...past few weeks) as to when the package would arrive and...

Alas!!!!! Its here...right in front of you.

I signed the paper, gave back to the postman n said thank you(ah!! should see my face). My heart was pumping with excitment..I couldn't help myself to wait for another 1 sec.

As soon as he left...I rushed inside and attacked right away...and what do you see??
a BIG SMILE on your face....

____________888888888888888___
_________888888888888888888888_________
_______8888888888888888888888888_______
_____88888888888888888888888888888_____
____8888888__8888888888888__8888888____
__88888888____88888888888____88888888__
_8888888888__8888888888888__8888888888_
_8888888888888888888888888888888888888_
888888888888888888888888888888888888888
888888888888888888888888888888888888888
888888888888888888888888888888888888888
_8888__8888888888888888888888888__8888_
_8888__8888888888888888888888888__8888_
__8888__88888888888888888888888__8888__
____888__888888888888888888888__888____
_____8888__88888888888888888__8888_____
_______88888_______________88888______
_________888888888888888888888_________
____________888888888888888____________

which is priceless!!

Do everyone feel the same when they receive anything from their loved one's from back home..or is it just me ??? hmm???
Author: ArChaNaR
•8:46 PM

I asked for Favours and God gave me opportunities
I asked for Wisdom and God gave me problems to solve
I asked for Love and God gave me troubled people to help
I asked for Prosperity and God gave me Brain an Brawn to work
I asked for Courage and God gave me dangers to overcome
I asked for Nothing I wanted, I received everything I needed
My prayer has been answered.

-Unknown
Author: ArChaNaR
•5:58 PM
Entereign Nevada...I dont think these phonecam pictures do just to the beauty of Nevada ...and around....I was trying my best to get that shot..ain't that easy especially when you are driving!!
and alas!...I finnaly got it!!
Author: ArChaNaR
•3:16 PM

A mother is special.
She's as soft and graceful as a butterfly,
yet as strong and courageous
as a grizzly bear.
Her heart is large enough to hold
everyone's pain and joy.
Her hands are always gentle and soothing.
Her arms are always warm and tender.
She works hard to make a
home feel like home,
and she strives to make life pleasant
and comfortable for those she loves.
She never fails to go that extra mile to
make the holidays happy and memorable.
Her job is the most difficult and
demanding ever known to any human being,
yet she's fully dedicated to the task.
She's always there for her family,
guiding them and keeping them safe from harm.
She owns a magical way to raise
spirits and make everything feel better.
And her sympathy, unselfishness
and forgiveness are unending.
All that anyone is or could ever hope to be
can be attributed to a mother.
She instills the teachings
that will last a lifetime.
She sows the seeds of virtue and morality,
and in the process, she opens up love
and vast horizons.
She's always watching and hoping that
her children's goals will have meaning.
She always listens and tries to understand
even when it's difficult to do so.
She's a true friend in every sense of the word.
She's noble and sublime,
and holds all the beauty of a golden day,
yet even during the storms,
she always shines bright like an evening star.
Her name should be honored well,
for she's the closest thing to God on earth.


Author: ArChaNaR
•5:36 PM

acceptance without exceptions
It's boundaries without limitations
It's an exact measure of an imprecise proportion
It's something pure & deilcate

It's losing yourself inside one another
without asking questions or questioning who,
what & where
It's all these things & nothing else
But a little more of what you have inside to give.

It's giving without anticipation of receiving
It's selfless & helpless
It's vulnerable to impartiality
It's safety & security when everything else
around you is falling apart
It's making time when there is no time
For each other, for yourselves.

It's never really being alone
Just always being
It's together.

No manual, no how-to-guide
No rules, no gimmicks, its sink or swim
Love has its own life that outlives the
one who loves.

It's undying, destined to outlast
even Romeo & Juliet
It's an everlasting Love
That lives on & on
creating a new life on its own

..Love is creation
It's all around
Love is being a care giver
To the one whom cries out in distress
For the love desired

To fill an empty space
Love is all these things
But if you must ask
Then surely you need to find out yourself
'cause this defination of love is tied
to that which defines
..What is Love

Love is... Us
Author: ArChaNaR
•4:45 PM

This is one of the best movies I have seen in years. I took me to a new time and place. It was as though I was right there with Ray through his many trials and triumphs.

If someone had nudged me about 15 minutes into 'Ray' and asked what I thought of Jamie Foxx in the title role, it would have been time for a blank stare. After all, what is this (fictitious) person talking' about? That wasn't Jamie Foxx up on the big screen. That was Ray Charles. This is one of the best performances by anybody in recent years. Like the soundtrack, Jamie as Ray is flat-out brilliant.

The blind Genius of Soul (who took a revolutionary step of mixing gospel with R&B) died during production.

Kerry Washington and Regina King play the main women in Ray's life, one his wife and the other his longtime mistress. Both actresses match Foxx stride for stride. What takes him to a different level, though, is his deep understanding and uncanny impersonation of the great musician. The entire cast is effective, especially Sharon Warren as his headstrong mother and Curtis Armstrong as a music exec.

I was not a Ray Charles aficionado before 'Ray'. Apparently, the film has left out a lot, but this picture functions as both an old-fashioned crowd pleaser AND a dark investigation of a brilliant/troubled man.
Author: ArChaNaR
•10:32 AM
what would you do when you have a heart attack and you are alone but reasonably away from med care?

Apparently, the answer is to start coughing with 2 second intervals followed by deep breaths!!!

When you cough like you want to bring out the phlegm out of your throat with 2 second intervals of deep breaths, it squeezes your heart and enables blood circulation.

The idea is to keep doing this until you get the meds or until you feel that the heart is begining to function normally!

How do you know if you have one?
...A sharp pain in the chest that radiates out to your arm and up to your jaw!! You typically have 10 seconds to react before you go unconscious.....

Pass on this information to everyone you know...it may save a life!

Author: ArChaNaR
•2:44 PM

Three letters that make you feel
you are opening a seal
to a parcel of dread in your heart
Right from the end to the start
A feeling that's handy all the time
to wipe a tear or pump a mime

A smile surely cannot be replaced
A smile surely cannot be bought
But a smile can surely be invited
to bring joy into one's sad heart

Joy repairs sadness
Just like a contraption to a soul
On the quaint path to endless bliss
which occurs so rarely so less

Joy, a potion for the mind
that brightens up your life
and lets you sleep peacefully
for a while and whenever.