Oh cho cute!

Kiva: Peer lending meets Micro-credit

A previous co-worker of mine had his birthday today. I took him out to this really awesome restaurant called La Boheme in Hollywood and had a great time.

When the check came, he wouldn't let me pay. I insisted. He said, "Well, if you have extra cash in your checking account, give some to Kiva."

With a puzzled look I asked him to explain what Kiva was about. And then after a 10 minute explanation, I was utterly fascinated.

You lend money (you do get it back) to Kiva. You select the project and person to lend it to. You get reports on what the money is being spent on and the state of the business and finally, when the borrower is able to pay back the loan, you get your money back. Kiva selects microlending partners in areas across the globe and acts as an intermediary to connect them to people who want to make a difference.

Learn more about Kiva here. Even Bill Clinton's on board. Take a look.

So, I put down my first contribution. $185 to a goat farmer in South America.

Look into my eyes...

You'll love this. If speed dating wasn't a bad enough urban fad, now you've got stare dating. Take a look.

Now I need to find a way to get into one of these eye gazing parties. Apparently, if I own a Prius and wear eco-cotton with natural dyes, my chances are way higher than say a loser i-banker or tech prodigy.

021401

Cupid had his automatic. We were innocent bystanders. He took  shots at us. At close quarters, it was fatal. There was no saving us. Tore right through our hearts.

Our eyes locked in surprise. How could this happen to us. Weren't we too young for this to happen. And then, as we took the fall, there was this moment of clarity, almost a divine calm.

It was all over. Just as it all began.

Cupid chuckled. His suit was malice. Valentine's day is no Christmas you amateurs! he shouted. And just as he had appeared, with those tiny little wings, he flew away. His sack of ammo still full. His list of heartbreaks still incomplete.

Watch out for him this Valetine's Day!

A little too much??

So I have nothing against body art. I actually admire tattoos and secretly have desired to get one. Even designed one for myself.

But a friend sent me this image via email. She wants to get a Microsoft tattoo. She works there and loves the place. I respect her decision, but isn't this a little too much.

Maybe she just drank a little too much of the kool aid they serve at MS101.

Om Shanti Om

It's an Indian movie that released last year. I got to watch it all over again on the internet at bhejafry.net; try it out if you're a bollywood fan.

One of the things that I have always admired about literature and cinema is its ability to connect on a personal level. Think of it this way; you observed something, a feeling, had an experience or a realization sometime in this life. Now when you read a book or watch a movie and another person, completely unknown to you, at another point in the time-space continuum makes the same observation or feels the same way you do, it reaffirms the common set of challenges that the human condition tends to present us all.

Getting back to the movie. There's a dialogue, when SRK, the lead actor makes a statement. He says, for some dreams, one lifetime isn't enough. It got me thinking. At 26, I have only about 49 more years to go, assuming average male life expectancy for an Indian male.

And there's so much to. So little time. And lately, for the past couple of years, time seems to be passing at a dizzying pace. It just seems like yesterday when I celebrated my 21st birthday.

So tomorrow, I will go to the Malibu temple to pop open a coconut at the sacred altar, to ask God for expedited service. It all needs to happen in this life time, I'll tell him. I'm doing my part, it's time he did his.

Om Shanti Om!

Flock you?

If you aren't flocking yet, check out the newbie guide to flock. It's been around for a while and people don't give it the credit it deserves, but having used it for a while, all I can say is if you haven't started flocking yet, this unified experience to manage your fb/myspace profiles and more will get you the social recognition you deserve to begin flocking.

I'm proud to say, I'm quite the flocker.

(Ok, enough with the puns, but you get my drift web2.0 people)

Secret Sauce

At breakfast this weekend, I saw two Asian kids. Two Asian kids having hot chocolate with whipped cream on top; an image of pure innocent childhood brimming with happiness and glee.

For a moment I thought of the Daffodils, and realized how Wordsworth must have felt when he saw those flowers on the lakeshore, dancing and fluttering in the breeze.

The secret sauce to a joyful life, as told to me, is to enjoy the simple things in life. So off to lunch I go in the wonderful California sunshine that I've been missing for a while.