Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Realizations We Can't Help But Ponder

This time I'm going to do something different. Rather than write a paragraph, I decided to add some humor to your day. Anyway, enough about me, here's what I really meant to write about.

Steven Wright, is a famous ​scientist/comic who once said: " I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff ​had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." ​Here are some of his tweets, collected from various sources.

1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.

3 - Half the people you know are below average.

4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

6 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

7 - If you want the rainbow, you have got to put up with the rain.

8 - All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.

9 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

10 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend... But she left me before we met.

11 - OK, so what's the speed of dark?

12 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

13 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

14 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

15 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

16 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

17 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.

18 - I intend to live forever... So far, so good.

19 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

20 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

21 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."

22 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

23 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

24 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

25 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

26 - The hardness of the butter is ​ inversely ​ proportional to the softness of the bread.

27 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

28 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

29 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

30 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.

31 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.

32 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

33 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?


Monday, April 20, 2015

My Fair Lady: Movie Review + MSPDP Nationals



Before I do anything else, I would like to congratulate +Ria Pradhan +Esha Deokar +Shreya wêya +Pippa Hemmings and Ayush Gupta (can someone tag him?) on their achievements at the MSPDP Nationals this past weekend. You guys did amazing! I'm so glad I had the chance to debate on a team with all of you, and thank you for an amazing experience. Thank you also for all the time +Nayan Naik +Nidhi Kumar Kalra +Purvi Hazari-Naik put in to help us succeed. And of course, no one can forget Mrs. Toutem, the best teacher, mentor, friend, and debate coach we could possibly have.

Okay. Now here's what I really wanted to write about. I wanted to do something different this time. First of all, I'm going to write for you a movie review. Secondly, I'm not going to review a new movie, but an old one. My family chose to drive to Pasadena (for the Nationals) rather than fly, so it was basically six hours of eternal boredom for me. I decided to watch a movie. I was looking through the movies we had, and I found one called My Fair Lady. I thought I'd give it a try, and as it turns out, I don't regret it.

My Fair Lady
Reviewed by Riya Kalra

My Fair Lady (1964), directed by George Cukor, is about an arrogant phonetics expert, Dr. Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), who sees a poor flower girl with a heavy Cockney accent, Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), selling flowers on the streets and makes a bet with a new acquaintance, Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White), that Dr. Higgins will be able to pass the girl off as a duchess just by teaching her how to speak like one. The movie is about Eliza's struggles with learning how to be a graceful, polite woman in society and dealing with Dr. Higgins's conceited nature. She learns how to find her way independently and lives a happy life.

I loved Audrey Hepburn's performance in this movie; of course, we all know her as the epitome of timeless beauty and effortless grace. She portrays the character of Eliza in such a comical and perfect way, from her awkward ways to her hilarious accent. Hepburn makes watching Eliza transform from a flower seller on the streets into a respectable lady so much fun!

The movie won eight Oscars, three Golden Globes, and other awards. I haven't seen the version with Julie Andrews as the lead, but I can say that this movie is worth a try.

My Fair Lady leaves the viewer with a sense of contentment, compassion, and adoration for Eliza. This movie might be fun to watch as a family, but it's just as great by yourself.


Comment below to let me know how you liked my review and if you'd like to see more. Please suggest any movies if you'd like me to review them. DFTBA!




Thursday, April 9, 2015

Is It Just Me?

I don't know how to say this, so I guess I'll just say it. I'm crazy. Like, seriously. I am weird. But I'm sure there are a few things we have in common...


April 8, 2015

Everything Weird
100 Just Because Way
Yes, Seriously 12345

Riya Kalra
1213 Why Does This Happen Street
Please, Stop 10203


Dear Everything Weird,

          There are a few issues I would like to address here. This first one has been going on for quite a while, actually. My hair does not always look good. Actually, it rarely ever looks good. But sometimes I wash my hair. And do you know when my hair looks the best? Right. Before. I. Wash. It. You have no idea how this drives me crazier than I already am. It makes me want to yank my hair out (pun intended). Okay. And then there's the problem with dreams. People always say a dream is what you're thinking about right before you sleep, or it's your future or something. I beg to differ. My dreams are the craziest. There is no possible way that my dreams have anything at all  to do with my day or what thoughts go through my head. Please fix this. ASAP. And lastly, the internationally recognized problems with siblings. Mine absolutely refuses to do anything. Until I start doing it! Then he pushes me off the chair, piano stool, tree, cliff, wherever I am, and then guess what? He doesn't do anything. Seriously? How about when he actually does something? Like watching shows no one has ever heard of on his iPad? Or playing the piano? Or just plain old shrieking his head off? Well, then I better have soundproof walls and noise-cancelling headphones to tune him out. Please fix these problems, which ail quite a large population.

Your frustrated friend,

Riya


PS - I still love my little brother! I mean, who can say no to that face? But let's not forget the moments where he is the most ANNOYING person on Earth! Just keep that in mind.



Note: This letter says April 8, because that's when I actually wrote it. I edited it and added all these notes on April 9. Just saying. 






Sunday, April 5, 2015

Why Writing Blog Posts Is So Hard

My blog is a place for me to express my ideas and create a corner of the Internet that just screams "me".  And whenever I have an idea, I sit down at my laptop and start typing. But sometimes it is just so impossible to come up with ideas...

I'm not the kind of person who can come up with ideas when they need them. I don't find ideas — they come to me. And then sometimes those ideas go on vacation. For a really, really long time. They feel no pity for me, lying around, racking my brain for ideas. But they just refuse to return. Eventually, they trickle back into my head, and I start trying to choose between them. I realize how horrible these ideas are. They didn't deserve a vacation! But I have to choose one, so I do. And I write. And write. And write. Okay, so that idea wasn't so bad after all. But wait... ugh. Now I have to write a title. Google: Blog Title Generator. "Enter 3 words (preferably nouns) that your blog post is about." Well, how about "ideas", "books", "inspiration". 

Here are your titles: 
  1. Why We Love Ideas (And You Should, Too!) 
  2. What Will Books Be Like In 100 Years? 
  3. 15 Best Blogs To Follow About Inspiration 
  4. 10 Signs You Should Invest In Ideas 
  5. 14 Common Misconceptions About Books
Yeah..no. 

Why we love ideas? Hey, we do not love ideas. At all.  What will books be like in 100 years? Um, holograms? I dunno... 15 blogs to follow? Well, that's okay, I guess. But where am I going to find fifteen  blogs solely about inspiration? And who has that kind of time, anyway? Okay....why would I INVEST in ideas? Misconceptions about books...they are written by people who have actual ideas?

AARGH! There they go again. No more ideas.

Well, my rant is over. This is why I don't write so often anymore. No more ideas. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nada. 

Ciao for now!

— Riya

Picture source: serc.carleton.edu