Getting stood up

I got stood up for the first time ever. May be not the first time ever, but I can not instantly recall any prior occasion where I was left staring at the walls and noone showed up.

Btw, just to be clear, I am ranting about how no one showed up for my workshop today on IEEE, INSPEC and ACM. Usually I get a decent crowd for my several workshops but the attendance this quarter has been extremely bad. Even the LaTeX workshop (which has had 30 odd people in my previous sessions) had a very poor turn out of just 6 this time. All the time and effort I put in preparing for the workshop went waste. I hope things improve at work soon.

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Bending down for Natalie Portman

She is shorter and smaller than I imagined, I really had to bend down for the picture. I wish I had taken my camera instead of my cellfone!


I was glad to meet her since she is also involved in a lot of environmental stuff among other things.

We talked for few minutes - discussed the climate change, Darfur, the policies of Obama & McCain, and of course her movies. She even asked me if she could recommend me for a role in her "in-the-talks" movie / docu-drama about climate change. Unfortunately I had to decline since I am focussed on getting my PhD. So we exchanged our numbers and agreed to meet after she is finished with promoting her upcoming movie.

Of course, I am now eagerly awaiting "New York, I love you" and "Brothers".

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Hectic Fall

I really need to get organized, or remove things off my plate. This quarter is again being over-hectic and I seem to have taken more commitments than before.

• My French seems to be getting back on track. I do need a heavy revision on my vocabulary and the tenses (beyond the present and simple past). Have become pretty good at typing in French, thanks to the Composition and Conversation course that I am taking. Still looking for someone to practice my French.
• Walking the homecoming parade was nice. Since it was also the first one that I attended, it was exciting and compensated waiting 1.5 hrs for the parade that lasted for just about 45mins.
  

Lots to do by Friday. Will probably update on other stuff soon.

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Reading List Woes

Not that it was deliberate but reading books have taken a lower priority of late. Somehow I currently have quite a few books that I have either started or checked-out for reading but am not finding the time to finish.

The last book that I finished , Q&A by Vikas Swarup, was a major disappointment. However, I can imagine how it could be made into a stylish movie. Hopefully "Slumdog Millionaire" with the immense hype surrounding it will not be a let down.

I am currently finished with 1/10th of Atlas Shrugged. I agree (with K) that the gap between the "Fountain Head" and this one seems to be keeping the book interesting. I guess Ayn Rand's way of over-emphasizing things can get annoying beyond a point. I haven't reached that point yet.

I am also halfway through "Dynasties of China" which has been an interesting read so far. Unfortunately it seems to have brought back my old habit of underlining sentences in the book.

Also added "The White Tiger" to my ever-growing list. Will get to the rest of the books soon, I hope. In the meantime, do not recommend me anymore books :)

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