Sunday, October 4, 2009

My bucket list

Bucket list - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/

Basic idea: Create a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket and start crossing items off your list. Btw, the movie is a 'can-watch-once' category. It's not great unless you are actually able to relate to things that they want to do.


My bucket list (included only the 'personal' desires, conveniently excluded the professional desires) :D

Visit Himalayas (esp Mt.Kailash)
Create cartoon strips
Play Pachelbel's Canon in D on the piano
Visit CERN
Write a movie script (inspired by the great Sujatha)
Learn to fly a plane
Visit Egyptian pyramids
Sky-diving
Learn to swim
Para-gliding
Get license to fly a plane


Will keep adding items to this list. Have you started creating yours? :)

Rocky balboa & Paul Graham

My friend Hari suggested this scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5OookwOoY

Amazing dialogue:

Rocky Balboa: You ain't gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here.
[taps on the inside of his hand]
Rocky Balboa: I'd hold you up to say to your mother, "this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid's gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew." And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilige. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain't gonna have a life.



Make a list of occasions when you said "I would have been -- , but for -- ".



Another interesting read is 'How to do what you love' by Paul Graham - http://paulgraham.com/love.html

I liked this section especially -

A friend of mine who is a quite successful doctor complains constantly about her job. When people applying to medical school ask her for advice, she wants to shake them and yell "Don't do it!" (But she never does.) How did she get into this fix? In high school she already wanted to be a doctor. And she is so ambitious and determined that she overcame every obstacle along the way—including, unfortunately, not liking it.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Alice in wonderland

Some of my favourite quotes from this book -


“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where-” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “-so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

Curiouser and curiouser! -Alice

"Well, in out country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else -- if you ran very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

`I know what you're thinking about,' said Tweedledum; `but it isn't so, nohow.' `Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.' - Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"

Pretty loaded! :)