Running to stand still

How can someone come up with something like that? Ever since I've heard these four words, I have been asking myself this one question. How can someone write words like that? Then it strikes to me that this work could only be that of the masters: U2.

From the time I've started to explore U2, they always came up with a new all-time high, be it through the guitar of The Edge, Mr.Clayton , or the beats of Mr.Mullen Jr, or different octaves that are distinctly Bono-ic or most importantly for me, the lyrics. Bono is truly a genious. He writes so well, sings through his heart and soul and you can feel music. That is what I consider truly marvelous. You have to feel music. That's what I say. It is universal, so is Love. And when it's U2, you have music and love. And then it forms a masterpiece. Period.

I'll like to talk more, even though you might argue that there are better bands (for which I say "okay. For each, his own"). I'd like you to listen to the songs sung by these artists. They are of top quality. And it just makes me wonder sometimes, why I wasn't aware of this earlier, why I wasn't there to see these men perform live. That's just me talking, talking. But coming to the point, you have to give yourself time to feel their music. Initially, I was attracted only by a few songs. It was only when I started listening to the others more carefully that I found how much I missed them. Everytime I listen to them, listen to a new song of theirs that I haven't already heard (Yes, I haven't heard all of theirs), I feel a new surge of emotions within me. Some of which I haven't myself found till now. Their music talks. Even the guitar talks.

Thank you U2 for opening a world full of possiblities to me. A world so full of Love and beauty. A world full of music.

If there's anything above the level called "fan", like being a worshipper, then I am that for U2. And I am sad that I find fewer fans, here in India.

The answer between saying Yes and No

Yes. There is mostly a way or two when you don't want to answer that troubling 'Yes' or 'No' question. Ofcourse, it depends on how well you handle the situation. If you are a novice, you still need to read that thin line between when to tweak things, and when not to. Simple or stupid as it may sound, the answer is this: Change the topic. Yes. It works, and it worked a number of times for me. Whenever you are faced with this question, try shifting the conversation to another topic which is well related.
Unless you are good at it, try not to change the topic abruptly. Mostly, good one-liners are a great way to change the subject. That solves most of the questions and gives you enough time to come up with a good answer, or better yet, lets you escape while the other person is still laughing because of your witty reply. I just make sure that I don't lie unnecessarily. Sometimes one-liners just pop out of the head. Sometimes you hear something but you change it to suit your style, your way, and then you might use that somewhere.
A word of caution. This is only for situations where you have to really get out of. Where you really don't want to say a 'yes' or a 'no'. In case you use that often, it would be paradise lost. And better not cheat. Broken hearts spell doom to your relationships and it costs a lot. Plus you'll be hurt too.

Did I say I want a leave ?

Considering that I thought I would be learning to take leaves, as a part of my "Equipping oneself with Real-time Job-Experience", a book that I once thought of writing as a part of all the drama's I'd have done, I can now say that I haven't been close to even being in the vicinity of "Being Successful". Sad. Pathetic, in fact. Coming to think of it, when I once took leave for the Telugu new year (Ugadi), my PL even commented "New year comes every year. But this project won't". And I knew it would be a tough time for my book. That I've taken that leave for the new year, is another point. But the thing is, falling down from keeping my regular health and mastering "The Art of Losing", my whole perception of taking the leave has changed. Too bad. I haven't thought that my plan would back fire right from my first place where the whole origin of the thought is challenged. Anyway, I had to take sick leave of almost two months which made my whole set of leaves to zephyr, saving the sick leaves that come in every new quarter. And now, I have got a transfer of location, the basis of which was that I have committed "not to take leave until 3 months", the period which is going to end soon, and the reason for this blog entry.
Right now, my job profile is so good that I hardly want to take leave. Being a point-of-contact for a team which uses a software product that fails as often as the power cuts that used to occur in Shakkarnagar during the 90's, really is a challenging, though not intimidating job. And I tell you the frequency of power cuts was really high.
Enough now. I think I'll rethink my strategies, and change the title of my book to "21 Proven ways to pretend you're working". And hey, this is not about being idle. It is useful for that too but the purpose of this one would be to tell your manager that you are working when you are really, seriously working. Yes, there are managers who think you don't work even though you do. And it all depends on how you tell it. As for me, I have already got appreciated from my Delivery Manager within a period of two-months-odd-days of joining the project. A task which I myself used to consider tougher than reading Garfield. You don't know, I hate that silly cat and strongly believe it is a meaningless piece of crap. No offense. But really all that boring cat with its bulging eyes does is watch an ant move from one end of the panel to the other until you feel so irritated that you might go to your boss and say "You're fired". By the way, did this comparison go right ? I guess it doesn't matter anyway.
Salud.

The era of Songs

Most of my life can be viewed as series of era's of Songs, mostly intermittent. The thing is, I become attached to a few set of songs, and mostly from one singer, for a definite period of time and anytime I listen to those songs, I'll be reminded of the period of my life when I used to sing them. And I sing these songs until I get ones that I didn't listen to earlier.

Right now, its U2 that I am humming. Man, you should listen to some of their songs. You see their lyrics are so vague that most of those who listen to them feel that they are written especially for them. And that is considered one of the reasons why U2 is arguably the best band around since long time, the 80's. They have such beautiful beats and The Edge is wonderful on the guitar. Do you know this guy is so good at guitar (Electric guitar) that he experimented playing the electric guitar with a magnetic pic. You know, the effect of magnetic field over electric field, and all that stuff that we learnt in our Plus 2.

Clash of the Titans

Yes, I know its exaggerated. But it was Liverpool vs Arsenal played for the third time in seven days, and looking from my red tinted glasses, I found only happiness when we(Liverpudlians, aka the Kops, aka The Reds) thrashed life out of Arsenal. I know this is going over the top, but hey, Arsenal played wonderfully in the first half. But then we do come back from the dead too often. And this time, we struck in the last 6 minutes of the game and the gunners had to go home disappointed. But you guys really played well, I mean the whole season ofcourse. So as we gear up for the upcoming semi-final against Chelsea (BTW, this is football that I am talking about. Coming from a cricket-fanatic nation, I had to say that. And this is Champions league that I am talking about). Hopefully, we'll meet either Barcelona or the Red Devils (Man U's) in the final and I sincerely hope it would be Man U that we thrash.


I am not a crazy Liverpudlian as such, but I just love the way Gerrard plays. So as I am still trying to manage life, I find relief in watching these matches.
Hail Football. And don't call it Soccer. It's football always.