If "things" in life were like Instant Noodles

There I was working and a text msg buzzed on my cell, it was from a friend who had updated a status msg that they had lost track of the instant noodles they kept having. That's what triggered this thought, what are the other things in life that we wish were like instant noddles? I guess each of us will have our own list of things, here's mine.

In absolute random order they are;

1. If hair straitening/re bonding could be instant, same goes for highlights and all hair related treatment. I know this sounds petty but ask any woman who has sat through a hair re bonding session and she will agree.
2. Tidying the room and dusting, if only it would get done at the touch of a button.
3. If my cupboard could be instantly arranged it would save whole lot of time but that is probably next to impossible.
4. If relationships would come with the "Directions for use" and with a timer read period of time which you needed to spent in order to get it just right.
5. If my job was like Instant noodles.. then I would believe that GOD truly exists. So that I didn't have to slog like a Dog for 10 hours a day 6 days a week. I know everybody does but wouldn't it be just perfect if it could be instant :)

But just like Instant Noodles which really Never ever takes only 2 mins to prepare, everything else could come with the instant tag and still take time. That's the fallacy of Instant noodles and Life too, nothing you see, can be instant you will have to go through the steps to finally have the noodles you want to have. And after you have had it you will complain how disgusting it is. That's the other truth about life, and us, nothing ever reaches our expectation, and the moment we get what we want, we find it is not sufficiently good for us.

That's my philosophy lesson for today, equating our Human existence & life itself with Instant Noodles.


:)

5 Things to know before you buy your next phone

Yes, I have compiled my own list of 5 things to know before you buy your next phone after going through a harrowing time before n after buying a phone ... and this is all the learning of buying 8 phones in 10 years.

1. Research on the options available in the market, not just the specification and price but concentrate on the user review and feedback available at the touch of our fav. search engine. Of course I will also tell you however well you research there are certain things which will never pop up in them and usually those are the killers. But the research or too much of it can confuse you so talk to people you trust and take their opinion, remember, they can have their favs. but you need to decide your self. No one for eg: tells you how hard it is to type on a touchscreen if you have long nails or that your ear lobes can disconnect an important call at a single touch.
   
2. Decide on the most important use of the phone, yes, ask yourself what will I use this phone for? This is an important exercise because now a days phones have gone beyond being gadgets to make / receive calls. Break down the use to its most basic part.For Eg. I bought a QWERTY smart phone bcz I wanted to sms wit ease and my previous phone keypads were jammed with overuse.
3. Read up on the extra bundled "stuff" the smart phones give you, and see if you really need them, or are you just paying premium to get something which you will never use. This is important because eventually this will come back to haunt you. Like a LED / Xenon Flash is very imp to me, I learnt it the hard way, a 2 MP cam with no flash is useless when you want to capture the group at the party :) However, music changing option with a jog of the phone with motion sensor is absolutely useless.
   
4. Once you have narrowed down on the choice look at the price changes, for eg: certain brands have a history of downgrading their price, or launching cheaper versions of the same stuff. Trust me you will hate yourself when this happens becz the jerks around will carry a similar looking ph and ask you how much you spent on it. One of the Reason I don't like Blackberry ... Exclusivity is dead in today's consumer market.
5. Last and most importantly not for once imagine that this purchase will last you many years bcz it is expensive, a human beings span of excitement for something New dips very much like the Utility curve in Economics... it will happen may be a few months later or earlier as the case may be. So, be very sure you have checked your bank balance before making this committment, bcz like all material possession this too will loose its charm.

Best of luck with making the choice, for now I am happy with mine ... or so I am convincing myself :)

A Month of Horror/terror fest

Wikipedia has to say this about the difference between "Horror & Terror" .....

The distinction between horror and terror is a standard literary and psychological concept applied especially to Gothic literature and film. Terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience. By contrast, horror is the feeling of revulsion that usually occurs after something frightening is seen, heard, or otherwise experienced. It is the feeling one gets after coming to an awful realization or experiencing a deeply unpleasant occurrence. In other words, horror is more related to being shocked or scared (being horrified), while terror is more related to being anxious or fearful. Horror has also been defined as a combination of terror and revulsion.

The distinction between terror and horror was first characterised by the Gothic writer Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823). Terror is characterised by "obscurity" or indeterminacy in its treatment of potentially horrible events; it is this indeterminacy which leads to the sublime. She says in the essay that it "expands the soul and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life". Horror, in contrast, "freezes and nearly annihilates them" with its unambiguous displays of atrocity. She goes on: "I apprehend that neither Shakespeare nor Milton by their fictions, nor Mr Burke by his reasoning, anywhere looked to positive horror as a source of the sublime, though they all agree that terror is a very high one; and where lies the great difference between horror and terror, but in uncertainty and obscurity, that accompany the first, respecting the dreader evil."^[3]

According to Devendra Varma in The Gothic Flame (1966):

The difference between Terror and Horror is the difference between awful apprehension and sickening realization: between the smell of death and stumbling against a corpse.

Horror is also a genre of film and fiction that relies on horrifying images or situations to tell stories and prompt reactions in their audiences. In these films the moment of horrifying revelation is usually preceded by a terrifying build up, often using the medium of scary music.

My earliest memory of these two words was class in my graduation year where we were discussing Gothic literature, till date in my head both cannot remain separated they chase each other down. Yes, a good "scary" movie (for want of a better word) is the one that terrorises you as it builds up & then when the action takes place leaves you horrified. The best "Scary" movie is the one that continues to terrorize you after you have watched it, and mind you Aliens, Ghosts, Supernatural powers or Serial Killers can and have been turned into laughing stock by bad fil making, but there is hope, as there are some examples of really brilliant film making that gives you the scare that you deserve.

My plan is simple to go through as many Horror movies as possible this month - quite a change from my obsessive How I met your mother TV series. I have looked up the IMDB top 50 list and a few others and I am genuinely un-impressed. So I am going to create my own top 10- for now and may be some day top 50 .....!!!

I start of with a list in random order :-

1. Omen
2. The Exorcist
3. Psycho
4. The Blair Witch Project
5. Jaws
6. Pirahna
7. The Haunting
8. SAW
9. One Missed Call
10. Final Destination

Hope I can continue to update this. This does not contain a few of the most notable top 10's like The Shining or The Dawn of the Dead but that's purely because I haven't watched it.

More updates on the way!!