SEMI-FRIENDS ONLY
Although this journal was once 'Friends Only,' half of the things I shared for 'friends' were things I probably could share with most people. Things haven't changed much, but I think the term 'Friends Only' is really strong.

A majority of my personal entries will be kept friends-locked. However, other things, namely my domain updates, game 'reviews,' education-related rants, etc. will be available to everyone's eyes. If you are interested in reading more than just my fandom, education (read: why I hate 'x' class and 'y' experiments), and media posts, comment here. I'm not too picky about friending, but I will ignore your request if you really creep me out. But no hard feelings - you can't be friends with everyone in the world.

Bad news of sorts, folks. My laptop has decided to combust, yet again. More specifically, the monitor has died. Replacing it doesn't seem like the best option, so I'll likely be buying a new laptop. Thank goodness for the holiday season - I bet I can snag a decent deal on a new computer.

Right now, I'm using my mom's laptop. While it's okay, having only one laptop to use has become a tad inconvenient for the both of us. All of my site files, homework files, and whatnot are on my broken laptop's hard drive, and the HD is thankfully functioning. I'll have to get that hard drive out, but I don't have a hard drive sleeve handy. Shitttttt (but at least I have the hard drive).

On an unrelated note, here's a funny music video. It has Spongebob and an item song from Billu! Yaaaay?

As a wise old gingersnap said (because I'm hungry but well over my daily caloric requirement), time is money so spend wisely. Work now, play later.

Well, let's just say I'm on the reverse locomotion here. Procrastination bites, yo. It bites like that one old lady's kitty. I have a shitload to study for but don't know where to start. Erh, this is where I insert some emo tears and boxcutter fun... right?

In other news, I don't have a theme song yet. Breakfast went horribly because my bread developed this oh-so-lovely green fungus on it. I used my mom's favorite Oatmeal bread crap to make French Toast instead. The result? Hmm, typical, I suppose. I think white bread tastes better than wheat bread in recipes, although I still like eating wheat bread on its own better (or with some nice butter and jam).

Oh, oh, and there's this one lassie holding a little fling in a week or so. I would go, but it's on Diwali. Speaking of which, I am soooo excited about Diwali. Even though you can't go all-out on Diwali in the states, there are quite a few things to look forward to. For instance, my wonderful package of sweets from Rajbhog that'll be at my doorstep in a matter of days~!!!

Hidey-ho, folks! I haven't been updating in a while, neh?

Well, this is not really a big update, but here's a pre-Xmas wishlist of sorts!

The many things orthoflame wants to buy but can't, part I:
- An arcade stick. I'm currently looking into getting one particular stick (but isn't going to be in stock for a few months)
- Tekken 6 because I'm just that cool. Or maybe because I like the series. Oh yeah, and that there's a pretty active (albeit small) scene in Pune, and I'm planning to go to India during winter break or something.
- Animal Crossing for the DS; darn you, yeerk!
- Pokemon Heart Gold for the DS
- That Final Fantasy game that's coming out in Spring 2010
- Maybe a Dreamcast to relive the old school gaming days? Meh.
- Gift Saber figure; chicks with swords > all
- New Yamaha flute
- Monty Python Killer Rabbit Slippers, to showcase my utter coolness
- Yoda backpack, see above.
- A Facepage because I'm cool to the tenth exponential
- More brainsmarts, because I lack it
- Better focusing power
- The fire ring in Captain Planet. Well, any ring except for the heart one works for me.
- LADY FRIENDS SO WE CAN HAVE GIRLFRIEND-O NIGHTS!!

This winter, I am soooooooo going to sit on Santa's lap at the mall. Well, given his thigh bones don't break in the process... Oh shit.

ZOMG THE SEMESTER IS OVVEERRRRRR!!!

So yeah, semester is over. Can't say I enjoyed the semester overall. I had a mixed bag of professors, and even the good ones weren't that great. Whatev, at least it's all over!!

Once I get my new credit card in the mail, I'm going to pre-order BlazBlue and Tekken 6. I'm also going to be on the lookout for good game sales so I can, liek, get some games. I think I might have some money left over from bills to get myself a PS2, but we'll see. On that note, anyone know of any good games for the PS3, Wii, or DS? I have a couple games in mind. I also learned (the not-so-hard way) that I don't have the attention span for RPGs. Not even Pokemon. BTW, I miss my almost perfect HP-Ice Jolteon...!

Some more memes. I'll come up with more substantial posts when I get my normal sleep cycle back.

( Tagged by icysnowdrop )

( Tagged by nenena. Let's go, EXCALIBUR!! )

Doing a meme I got 'tagged' by icysnowdrop (more like I opted to participate). Fun, yesyes?

1. Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with.
2. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

icysnowdrop gave me KnK, web designing, Futago Hime, Chemistry, and Indian culture and politics. So, let's go!

( Are Praful, ghadeeeeee! )

Eh, so I translated another Bollywood song. This time, it's the female version of Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai. This is much shorter than the original song; I think I like the original better. Still, it's pretty nice.

Shreya Ghoshal is a pretty good singer; not my favorite current singer, but not too bad either. I think she did a nice job singing this song.

UPDATE (4/8/09): Added the transliteration along with the lyrics translation. Enjoy...?

( It's like a response to the original version, lyrics-wise. )

This song is the title song for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, a not-so-impressive movie. But the song rocks, I swear. I'm not a big fan of romantic songs, but this song is so heartwarming, especially with its simplicity.

Sukhwinder Singh is not one of my favorite singers, but this song and Haule Haule make me see him a new light. If I had to rate this song, I would give it a full 10/10.

UPDATE (4/19/09): Full transliteration up. Any edits after this will probably be just translation corrections and whatnot.

( Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai from Rab Ne Bana Di Ghod- I mean, Jodi )

And while I know this is my LJ and all, would anyone like to see more of these? Next up on my list is probably the female version of this song and Haule Haule. Think I might write up a longer review of the movie too.

Gah, I don't want to lose my precious Hindi skills, dammit!!

Yeah, I saw Billu last night with my mom. I'm not going to do a full-blown review since I doubt anyone will be interested in it, but I might as well write a blurb or two on the movie.

( Billu Bayankar~ Billu Bayankar~~!! )

Oh yeah, already mentioned this on Twitter, but... HOW IN THE FUCK did Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi manage to do better in the US box office than Fashion and Delhi 6?!?! I haven't seen the latter, but Fashion is totally 1000x better than that lame excuse of a movie. Grah, are people on happy crack these days or what?

Youtube is really awesome. I found episodes of that one old Hindi cartoon adaption of The Jungle Book! It's not as good as DVD or VCD release, but at least it's a good fix to nostalgia, right? I still wish Zee TV would air this instead of those crappy Kekta serials...

In addition, I found clips of Disney songs dubbed in Hindi. I think my favorite Hindi dub song yet is Reflection from Mulan. The translation is surprisingly accurate, and it manages to keep the original spirit of the song. Just Around the Riverbend and the other Pocahontas songs are also done well, but I think the small amount of 'Hinglish' in Colors of the Wind doesn't fit well. Still, it's awesome stuff. I might even try my hand at translations one of these days (but the songs accurately translate the original English lyrics, least as far as you can with English -> Hindi). For any Sonu Nigam fans, someone uploaded the Hindi version of A Whole New World. I cracked up when I first heard it, but you have to admit Sonu Nigam brings his own charm to the dubbed version (well, maybe that's because I like his voice).

I'm really tempted to buy the Mulan and Pocahontas VCDs that are floating around. I also found out Lilo & Stitch, The Emperor's New Groove, and Treasure Planet got Hindi VCD releases too. The VCDs themselves aren't too expensive, but most of the stores I've found that sell them are based in India. That can only mean one thing - shipping, shipping, and shipping. Although I have a relative's friend from India visiting the states in March, I don't feel comfortable asking them to buy me Hindi-dubbed Disney movies, you know?

More later.

So, how's life being going? 'Tis time for a list.

- My laptop's hard drive recently passed on. I think it was because I bashed my head on the computer when that one CSI Miami clip wasn't loading (it was for a class assignment - don't ask). I gave it over to my distant uncle come 'computer guy' (aka, a lame geek who thinks he knows about computers but, to my dismay, doesn't) who didn't realize the hard drive failed until he consulted a computer expert, even though I specifically told him my laptop was giving me the 2100 error. Yeesh, what a pain.

- On the previous note, some of my site plans have been backlogged. I saved anything and everything that's moderately useful, but some of the files for my Kanon, Shirou x Sakura, and Rin fansites are now gone. I guess it's time to start from scratch...

- Speaking about sites, I'll be logging domain updates on sulfaria. I'm still going put up site updates on the index pages themselves, but I think having a separate community to pester bring attention to certain updates will be nice. This will be my last effort in using an LJ community for site feeds and shit.

- I found an old Indian tiffin + insulator in my 'garage.' How awesome is that? My mom helped me clean up the tiffin compartments and insulator. It's a 3-tier set, and did I mention it has an insulator. Gosh, imagine the food I can put in for lunch...

- Chinchpolki to China is awesome. The pilot was disappointing, but it picked up pretty fast. Since I'm on it, I'm thinking of making a review site/blog of sorts. Anyone support the notion? (As in, would anyone read it without throwing pizza bricks at me?)

- Happy Valentine's Day! Erh, well, to anyone who supports it. Funny enough, I didn't remember it was Valentine's until the receptionist at the fitness center told me so. Hah, it's just like last year. Oh well, everyone knows the day after Valentine's is better than the actual day itself. I mean, you can find those overpriced stupid kissing bears for less than buck on the 15th!

- I made flax seed muffins and faux hash browns (spaghetti squash) this weekend. I'm skeptical about the muffins, but the 'hash browns' came out rather nicely, especially since I've never dealt with squash up until now. I'm tempted to try my hand at butternut squash and faux fries...

More to come soon. I have a 'backlog' on memes, haha!

Dude, I feel so bad for not getting knocked out of winter break withdrawal early enough. I now have six damned research articles to read and a long paper to write before tomorrow, and I haven't even started on it. Thank goodness I bought some tofu shirataki, miso soup powder, and soy sauce (can anyone say faux ramen?).

It's going to be a loonnnnggg night...

I caught up on my Nordic Lit class. Speaking of which, my Nordic Lit prof ranted a full five minutes on Twilight. It was kind of funny, especially since I started reading a bit to see what the fuss was about. Every female I've 'eavesdropped' on in my Forensic Bio and Exercise Phys class LOVES the series. Keep in mind these lovely flowers are in their twenties. Yikes, the idea of our future healthcare providers and forensic people scares me.

So, about Twilight. HAH, I couldn't read any more of it after chapter four. I've read worst, but this excuse of a novel doesn't even deserve its hype. Besides the mediocre writing (not like my writing is any better, but at least I'm not making a living on it), the Science/Bio stuff she stuffed in made me laugh really hard. I mean, vampires knowing about the *oooh* Kreb's Cycle and little miss protagonist identifying mitotic onion root tip cells? As Saif Ali Khan would say, "WOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!"

( I'm not taking sparkly vampire stories seriously. Honestly, I'm not. )

Outside of that horrible vampire book series, I've started the trend of making my own lunch. I hate cooking (love eating, though), I'm getting sick of frozen meals, and my mom is very liberal in her cooking. These past couple of days have gone well, but I would really dig having this tiffin box to carry lunch around in. I instantly fell in love with the idea of tiffins after that one scene in American Desi, but it wasn't until now that I actually want to try using one.

I have a crudload of shit to do this weekend. I swear my mind will blow up if I have to memorize one more mechanism.

Waterlily
I think I can say my Umi fansite, for the most part, is complete. To be extra spiffy, I present you a list of changes:

• New name (Sapphire Waters -> Waterlily).
• A new layout. I got rid of the version system thing I had going on for a while and went with something simpler to handle (I can't think of having a version thirty). This layout reminds me a lot of the one I made when I launched the site...
• More visual 'aids' in information sections.
• Cleaner writing, perhaps? I tried not to lapse in a passive style of voice, but it's hard (doh, I just did it!). Well, I got rid of any apparent spelling and grammar errors, and I'll probably proofread everything again when I get the time.
• Added a couple 'new' screencaps from the TV series. They were on my HD, so I figured I might as well put 'em up.
• Not a major point, but fixed coding errors. One of the dumbest ones was me forgetting my footer php include at the end of the document.
• New link buttons (yay?). I still find them a pain in the ass to make.
• And much, much more! As in, anything I haven't covered here.

( Extra details. I feel so much like an old timer these days. )

So anyhow, please enjoy what I've done with Waterlily! Feel free to leave any questions, comments, concerns, laments, and anything else you can think of.

So, some of you might know I sometimes make icon textures and put them up on my icon journal and DA account. I also might get odd urges to write things that now seem almost as random as my high school Physics final to me.

With that said, I've made a new deviantART account. This is because my old DA account got mixed up with icon texture sets and mediocre creative writing. I haven't done much to it yet, but expect to see a few (icon) texture sets up. I might even throw in a brush set I've been playing around it for a while too.

As for my writings, I think I'll stick to storing things 'secretly' on my external HD. I might go back and do a mass purging on my old DA account so the textures/brushes aspect of the account will once again be emphasized more, but I'm not too sure yet. I forgot the password to that account and to the email address said account is linked with, so we'll just have to see.

BTW, the student union at my campus was packed with people since Obama officially starts his presidential term today. I'm all for the new president, but his legion of fans was a horrifying sight that made finding parking and getting lunch all the more difficult. Bleh.

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope your 2009 is going well.

I had a bit of a movie marathon this week. Besides Yes Man, I saw a couple new recent Bollywood movies, which is rare of me to do. The lucky four were Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Fashion, Dostana!, and Ghajini.

( Mini-reviews )

1.) My right hand is hurting like hell. I'm just lucky I can type rather nicely with only my left hand (too bad I can't say the same thing about writing or JF inputs). I also officially have two calluses on my fingers...

2.) My work schedule for this week sucks.

3.) I have to read 100+ pages worth of dry info on Gandhi and terrorism (different classes, of course, haha). Thank God I never opted to get a History major/minor.

4.) Princess Party and the princess subdomain in general combusted, which is weird since the moon subdomain works fine. I'll be investigating the issue as soon as my schedule starts looking prettier.

5.) My hand... GARRH!!!

Whoa, so liek, I haven't updated in a while. I'm having a case of work withdrawal... yet again.

I'll post up life updates most of you could give or take. In the meantime, I have a nifty icon meme. Too bad most of the icons I make these days are just for random icon challenges.

( Icon meme, tagged by nenena )

Can anyone say fad diet breakthrough? Thank you, oh great miracle known randomly searching crap on Google.

(And I laughed my ass off at the comment about Greek men. Oh, those crazy Greeks...)