Welly well well...a white christmas indeed and then some! The snow has been a wonderful ongoing surprise, the more it snows the more surprised I am. Even though its only been about 7-8" worth of it so far, its still awesome. Alright gonna fall back on Thanksgiving style log with dates and such....
Saturday 12/28/2002:
Geelpi my mainest man come on over to my Jersey digs with his uncle. Much Blitz 2003 was played and the night of this Saturday December 28th, 2002 will be yet another to record in the annals of Keyurdom. I managed to round up god pimp Frank, Mr. Niren, Mr. Samir and Ms. Sumita to join the Shlep and I for an expedition to the city. Everyone except god pimp Frank met up at my place and we all crammed into the minivan to head down to Journal Square where god pimp Frank was to meet us on the platform. We were delayed but Frank hung in there. So we set upon a quest to find the mythical Cafe Ferrara and eventually after a bit of walking we did. Spiked coffee and spiked hot chocolate along with some pastry desserts I can't remember were had inside a very cramped but cozy and warm sitting area. After this Dionysian celebration we headed out to bum around in Little Italy where Shlep picked up a NYC shot glass for the apartment collection. Things sort of went down hill for a couple of really long hours as we tried to figure out where to head to next. We were looking for a lounge but something on the cheaper side of things. We put trust in god pimp Frank who led us to a place by the Port Authority Bus terminal. However the old POW veteran types sitting inside scowling at us sort of killed that plan. We were rather surly by now because we'd been beating random pavement in Manhattan and not getting to a decent watering hole. We decided to head back to the village and try to find the Village Lantern but my memory failed me and out of sheer frustration we decided to just crash into the Red Lion. This place had a hoppin' band but was so crowded that we didn't even have room to put our arms down by our side. Just as we were abandoning all hope and going back to the tried and true MacDougal's Sumita came through with some standing room at the bar. This is where our night began. To keep the money situation simple we decided each of us would get a round of shots. It began with a Buttery Nipple and then it was Lemondrops and Kamikazes and Jaegerbombs and Purple Motherfuckers and a Tequila round. By the time the Tequila came around we were all happy! We decided to head over to MacDougal and wind down the evening before heading back home. Somehow I got talked into another round of shots, this time of Vodka, neat. I was rather toasted by this round. 7 rounds of shots are always a party. We were all way out there, except god pimp Frank who seemed so serene. We shared many stories and made a memorable phone call thanks to Sumita. I had begun rehydrating myself in full force to be well enough to drive the gang back, but it took a lot of water. The walk back to Christopher St. station was super sweet. Shlep and Samir kept the beat going with some mad accurate recitations of Ludacris, Wu-Tang and other various hip-hop lyrics. I was very proud. The train ride back was very quiet and the drive home was even more so. Thanks to Samir for having the energy to stay awake and keep me talking. Getting home at 4a is very cool indeed! It was a great night. Big slump between the coffee and Red Lion but still an amazing night all the same.
Sunday 12/29/2002:
Woke up really late and had a late breakfast. Played a lot of Blitz 2003 with Shlep only to realize after a certain point that together Sheelpi & I are unbeatable, even the cheating computer can't break us anymore. Our defense suffocates and our offense just blows everyone else out of the water. Those who play us had best be very sure about their egos. That evening was spent at Indian parts of Edison doing some basic grocery shopping and then ending the day with some fine dining at the one and only Andra Palace, the best South Indian (Hydrebadi style) food in America.
Monday 12/30/2002:
Did a lot of chore running errands with Shlep and mummy in the morning. It wasn't very exciting but it needed to be done. Very uneventful day, just played more Blitz with Shlep and continued to prove dominance over cheating computer player.
Tuesday 12/31/2002:
A fine bagel breakfast was had in the morning. And then before I realized it was time for Mr. Shlep to head back to NY. Sadly he had to leave sooner than I originally anticipated because of sudden gelling of plans to head south to see family. After Shlep left mummy and I did some frantic packing and then dad got home around 4p and we were already on the road by 5p. We drove through the night into the New Year which was noted just outside of Salem, Virginia on Rt. 81.
Wednesday 1/1:
Got to my uncle's (Pappa's younger brother) place in Anderson, SC at 5am. Hastily greeted the eagerly waiting grandparents and immediately dove back into much needed sleep. Woke up in the pre noon hours to a full house of much missed family. It was really good to see my aunt and uncle and grandparents not to mention my favoritest cousin of all time Ms. Reema. Shes 10 years old. I can't believe how much shes grown. I still remember the day she was born and my uncle came to get me from school and he just told me dryly that his wife had just delivered a baby girl. That May in '92 seems rather far away now. None the less Reema is a lot of fun. Pictures to follow once I'm back in Austin.
Thursday 1/2:
Day began later than usual and we had lunch at a faux Greek place near Clemson University before hitting the road for Atlanta. It was hard to say good bye to the grandparents and Ms. Reema. I'll see them again soon though so thats good. Drive to Atlanta was too easy. Made it in less than an hour and a half. Rest of the day was spend dillydallying at a cousin's place where everyone had congregated. Big thanks to Bella and Rekha for the cake. Rekha sorry Miami lost, it wasn't pretty with the botched calls and all.
Friday 1/3:
Started driving north on Rt. 75 from Atlanta at around 12:30p and kept going until dinnertime in Cincinnati. Good Punjabi food was had in the heart of riverfront Cincinnati at Akash Indian Restaurant. The drive to north Dayton from the restaurant was easier than the drive from Anderson to Atlanta. The hotel room was small but warm, the night had grown massively cold. The cousin and his wife unit pulled in around 2a. I was sleeping hard by then, dad told me times next morning.
Saturday 1/4:
Explored Dayton. The Dayton Art Institute and Riverscape are neat although not very crowded. A quick restaurant dinner and then another jaunt to the Riverscape for the nighlights capped out this day. It was painful watching the Packers misfire, but Atlanta deserved it.
Sunday 1/5:
Sunday began way to early and it was way too snowy already. We were on the roady by 7:45a but driving through salty snowy slush with large semis and still falling snow will never be fun. Dad drove all the way from Dayton to Exit 12 on Rt. 76E and from then on it was my turn. Visibility was optional, traffic was plenty with abundant semis thrown in for good measure. Really all I can is when we got home at around 7:30pm it was a very happy feeling.
After coming home time has just been spent taking care of the little things before I head back to Austin this weekend. I can't believe that yet another Christmas break is over.
For all of you who actually follow Apple I am so glad I can publicly drool over the new Powerbooks and Apple's X11. I have no comment on Safari. Oh how I love thee Apple, let me count the ways....
I've been dogging writing here, partially because of the awful internet connectivity brought to me courtesy of a phone line. I've got much more to say if you can believe that. More of it will be poured out upon my triumphant return to Austin this Saturday. Until then hold your breath all of you. No no, just kidding!
Quoteses:
"Keyur my man I see why you've got the kids hoppin'." - god pimp Frank