Calling the Call Centre

So, my internet went dead this morning. I waited for a solid 5 hours (usually it fixes itself by then) - before I picked up the phone to call TalkTalk internet help line.

After waiting in queue to extremely annoying music (seriously, do they pay someone to choose these tunes?), and a few very helpful people whose primary job role is to transfer customers from one person to another, I finally got Daniel who started addressing my problem by asking me some basic questions.
Name- Address- Phone number
Usually by this point the person on the other end gets quite excited. I usually get the 'are you from India' or 'are you Bengali'. After an affirmative answer to either or both, and the fact that they know where I live and have my number, they get more enthusiastic about the query.

Daniel on the other hand, took his enthusiasm to Red Bull-gives-you-wings level.
All my answers, apparently, were either fantastic or fabulous.

'...what is your operating system - windows XP..?'
'..yes..'
'.. ooooo fabulous..!'

'... is the light on your modem green...?'
'...no - it's orange and flickering...?'
'... oooo fantastic...!'

At the end, he could not restore my internet connnection. But even that could not crack his spirit.
'... Madame, I can confirm that I cannot fix your problem, but I am extremely happy to tell you that I will be escalating your issue to level 2 technical support who will deal with it as a matter of urgency. I will give you their toll free number and you can call them in 10 miutes. So, do you have a paper and pen ready..?'
'... err yes...'
'oooo FABULOUS...!!!!'

aaaaaarrrgh

REC

I was forewarned that this was 'scary shit'. I was forewarned again that the last part 'was freaky stuff'. With all this in mind, I watched it - all prepared to be scared.

It lived up to all the warnings! Finally a POV movie that actually masters the concept. Starting with Blairwitch and more recently, Cloverfield - POV movies work very well with horror, getting the audience totally involved. I was watching it on my macbook, on my lap - I could not get MORE involved!

Some horror cliches, some jumpy moments - but all very well exploited to create some downright 'scary shit' and 'very freaky stuff' indeed!

myTunes

I have recently, very kindly, been given the use of a macbook pro by a friend. She was not using her's, and since I lost my laptop to a virus, I was happy to... well... lap it up.

Of course, the macbook had all her files, including her iTunes populated with over a 1000 songs.... her songs, that she had copied, downloaded, bought... it was HER collection.

I remember almost obsessively compiling my iTunes on my Mac in Manhattan. Every song had a story, a memory. I could recollect the time and the place and possibly the frame of mind I was in when I had heard every one of them for the first time.

I almost feel like a tresspasser listening to the songs on this macbook. I am sure she has spent special moments in time choosing, compiling and enjoying her list. But most of them don't mean anything to me. There are obviously overlaps, but the tunes just don't seem to... well... belong to me anymore like they used to!

In general, I am not such a fervent discoverer of songs/music like I used to be. But what would I give to listen to Morrison chanting An American Prayer from my iTunes, on my mac, in MY Manhattan, just one more time......

Yes, No and Uhmmmm

I was trying to figure out the lyrics to David Lafore's song Petit Oui when my ex fling/ unsure friend (now non fling/ guessing friend), told me it was about the vagueness of 'Yes' in a relationship.

It was ironic. This coming from the vaguest person I have (not) been with. In fact, while having the most intriguing chat with him regarding the implications of yes and no - he came up with his (in)famous 'uhmmmmm'. When I was (not) with him, I think I understood his 'uhmmmmms' much more than his 'yes-es' and 'no-s'.

Let's take an arbitrary situation. You asked someone you really liked out for dinner and s/he said 'Yes'.
Does that mean s/he
a) is interested in dinner and that's it
b) is interested in dinner and more
c) just hungry

If s/he's said 'No'.
Does that mean s/he
a) is really busy but interested
b) is not interested and not busy
c) is interested but does not want to seem too keen.

But - if the answer is a delicious 'uhmmmmmm' then, at least, there is a definitive possibility!

BOX

Completely heartbroken last year, by one of my closest friends/ intermittent lover/overall mind fuck of 9 years, I was the ultimate embodiment of a damsel in distress. Then with help of dear friends, self help books and the Pink Panther (with Steve Martin), I got myself out of the funk.
I was, in fact, 'supercool'.

He had not tried to contact me either, which was very helpful to my zen healing process. I was getting on with life, wine and cigarettes just fine and moreover, my brain space had slowly but surely started to be taken over by someone else!

And then one fine day.... BAM. He initiates a chat through a completely unexpected source (he was blocked on all the known ones). Always a man of deep thoughts and a few words, his opening line - 'sup?'

I had put all the cherished memories I had shared with him in a box, kept it in safe place and lost the key. What I had not expected was the unforgiving barrage of the bad memories to come charging at me.

Anyone who has seen the episode of the IT Crowd when Aunt Irma visits the office, will understand (and sympathize) with the state of my emotions. Livid doesn't even start to describe my feelings. It was time to close my eyes and breathe.

Life is strange. I could almost hear a voice in my head going 'ha!'. Swirling recollections of the past came flooding back. I was expecting to find myself scrambling for the key, opening the box and then losing the key so that I would never have to shut the box ever again.
But instead, all I wanted to do was box his ears.

There it was again, that voice in my head going 'ha, HA'!

(dedicated to Mo for coming up with the title of the piece)

Why Blog?

Is this yet another hackneyed saga of an almost thirty single woman? An epiphanic diagnosis of self ? A petition to injustice? A profound look at the world around?
Or possibly a celebration of life through the orchestration of all senses. And cherishing life through the purity of the brief silences.

Photoshoot for a Cafe

These pics (amongst many others) were taken to be a part of a photo montage for a cafe in Kingston. It was so much fun raiding a cafe and taking random pics! Watch this space for more images....

roopabee