Blogger gets back at me

Now that's called perfect timing. Most blog users who moved to Wordpress from Blogger would agree that the one of the foremost reasons for the shift is the lack of threaded comments in Blogger. I was about to move too but somehow never got around to doing it. As such I don't get too many comments that I cannot manage, so it really didn't bother me as long as people who wanted to comment could do so.

Then, sometime around last week, I came across a blog on blogspot that had a reply button embedded to each comment. The blog owner was kind enough to let me know her secret and sent me the link - (http://www.spiceupyourblog.com/2010/10/add-reply-button-to-blogger-comments.html)- that would enable me to do the same. I hurriedly and excitedly followed all the instructions, did some tweaking here and there, and lo! behold, I had the reply button affixed to each of the comments I received- a la-Wordpress style. Only, of course, the did not translate to being threaded comments- just a html code added that automatically added an "@ commenter's name" with the link to their blog, if any, opened up as a separate comment box. Nevertheless, I was happy with the new template I had discovered since I fully comprehend the "beggars cannot be choosers" line.

And, exactly two days later, I discover this:

http://buzz.blogger.com/2012/01/engage-with-your-readers-through.html 

If you are too lazy to click on the link, read below:

[Engage with your readers through threaded commenting

 You may have noticed that we’ve rolled out a number of improvements to Blogger recently. The folks over at Technorati referred to it as a “rampage”. Call it what you like, we’re definitely having fun giving Blogger the makeover it’s long deserved, and we appreciate all the positive feedback we received at the recent BlogWorld expo.

If you follow us on our Buzz blog, you’re aware that we publish surveys from time to time. They are one of several methods that we use to collect your feedback about what we can do to make your blogging experience better. A top request on the wishlist is improving Blogger’s commenting system, so we’re happy to announce that we’ve done just that.

Blogger now supports threaded commenting, which means that it is now much easier to differentiate between whether someone is making a general comment on the thread, or responding to another comment on the thread.

What do you have to do to enable this on your blog? Nothing! If you have Blogger’s commenting feature enabled, “Blog Feed” set to “Full”, and are using “Embedded” comments, then you’re ready to start a discussion with your readers. To check, or change your feed settings, select: “Settings > Other >, and then “Full” from the “Allow Blog Feed” dropdown:

To check your current form setting, select: “Settings > Posts and Comments, and select “Embedded” from the “Comment Location” dropdown:

Visit the Blogger Help Center for additional information.]

 

Now, for all that effort I took!
But, good to know that Blogger is improving and improvising. So, this is to my blogger-loyal friends out there, who are not aware of this new feature; you just have to follow the above steps.

P.S. My nit-picking habit doesn't leave me and I realized that when the follow-up comments (you still need to click on the subcribe by email link on the bottom right corner of the comment box) come into your Inbox, you still are clueless as to which comment is a response to which commenter (though the blog shows it) unlike Wordpress.

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My first award and a tag

Yay!!! Aparna conferred upon me the Versatile blogger award. It's my first award and am so glad!
Thanks a ton Aparna!!!

ETA: While, I had nominated Nancy for the award, I later found that she had simultaneously done the same. Thanks again Nancy!

The rules of the award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award- done.

2. Nominate 15 other bloggers and inform them of the same

3. Share 7 Random facts about yourself

And,

4. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post- done.

I think, I am the last person on this Blogosphere to be nominated for this award. At least, most of the bloggers I know are already proud owners or are already nominated. Hence, I nominate:

Radhika- she does not post very frequently but her posts have variety and some good poetry too!

Purnima- She has become a proud mother of a beautiful daughter, so I doubt she'll take this tag up in the near future. Yet, she qualifies for the award.

Sahana- She is truly a master with words. Her posts will most definitely leave you with a smile. She's already a recipient of this award, but I guess that's ok.

Bhargavi- Again, her posts are full of humour

Nancy- a very popular blogger and also a long-time recipient of this award. I love the way she writes. Nancy, this is a punishment for not taking up my earlier tag, if you remember :-P. Anyway, since, you must have done this tag long ago, I request you to take it up once again..:-)

I can only come up with these many names!

Now, comes the tougher part, the random facts. Well, lets see:

1. I loath lizards. I am also completely terrified of them. I am brave around roaches and can send them to heavenly abode in a jiffy but when it comes to this sluggish creature, I can turn numb with fear and disgust. We have been fed with some superstition that one should not kill a lizard. Don't ask me why, 'cause I have never got an answer. I am not sure I believe in the superstition but I cannot still muster courage to kill one. So, that leaves me with only two other option: To either co-habit until the monster decides to quit the house or somehow drive it out of the house. Both the options leave me in a state of utter misery till the exit of the cause, so I try to block the chances of its entry in the first place. I have observed a couple of them lurking near the main door, hence each time I open the door, I make a complete and thorough scrutiny of the frame and door to satisfy myself that the dreaded creature is not lurking camouflaged waiting to furtively enter the house. Of course, the dear husband thinks this is just one other side-effects of my mental imbalance.

2. I have a sweet tooth. I crave for a sweet especially after lunch. ANY sweet will do.

3. My face mirrors my thoughts. I cannot behave as though all is hunky-dory if things are not so. Also, I cannot scheme and conspire behind someone's back while being sweet to them on their face. If I do not like somebody, I avoid that person but will never say something I do not mean.

4. I can cry easily. My eyes moisten up even at the stupidest sentimental dialogue of a dumb movie or (worse) a T.V. soap. I try to be discreet, though.

5. I once went to a professional studio and got my voice recorded for a folk song in a advert. It was along with one more female voice and a male lead singer. I don't even know if the ad and the song got released. That's my closest brush to stardom so far.

6. I once slapped a boy when I was around six or seven because he insisted that I was six years old dand not seven which I refused to acknowledge. Oh! the age of innocence (am not referring to the slapping bit, though). Let anyone tell me now that I am not in the age I am and I'll be walking on the clouds!

7. I have acquired an annoying habit of cleaning the surface of the gas stove even while cooking to ensure that nothing falls on its surface or if something spills, it is cleaned pronto. Yes, I am quite crazy.

Phew! I was struggling to come up with more than five but really enjoyed doing it. Thanks again Aparna!

p.s. Nominees, if you see my post before I can come and let you know, please come and collect it. I'll be doing the informing part shortly..:-)

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A novel after a loong time.

Finished reading a complete book after months. The last I read was Preeti Shenoy's "Life is what you make it". I completed that one in a record time of two days. This time it is Jane Fallon's The Ugly Sister. Best catalogued under chick-lit, fiction, I picked this up on a fancy to read up on my Kindle. The Kindle was languishing without getting its rightful due and I thought it is high time I shrugged off the tardiness and randomly downloaded a couple of novels.

I had never read any of the previous books by this author and to be honest, had not heard of the author's name too. Though, of course, I am not a voracious reader and me not having heard of some author cannot and does not mean anything. All am trying to say is I had no preconceived ideas or expectations from the novel.

The story is about two sisters, Cleo and Abi, who have inherited entirely different set of genes albeit from the same set of parents which makes them stand apart not only in the physical quotient but also emotional. Cleo, is the elder of the two and is the superior one in the looks department, while Abi is the plain Jane but one who is endowed with brains. Life for the two sisters take a major diversion after Cleo, at the age of sixteen, is suddenly discovered by a modelling agent and is frisked away into the glamourous and mysterious world of fashion and beauty. Cleo reaches the pinnacle of success and has all that a person would dream of- a dream career, a lovely house in uptown London, two kids and a loving husband. Abi, on the other hand, has struggled her way through life and is just about making ends meet, dealing with being a single mother to a teenage daughter, Phoebe. Although, the two sisters share a strained relationship, Abi is hopeful of setting things straight if and when the opportunity so presents.The opportunity comes in the form of an unexpected invitation from Cleo asking Abi to spend the summer with her family in London. The story then unfolds about how things go from there on. Will the relation between the sisters improve or will there be more misunderstandings?

The pace of the plot is swift and keeps you engaged up to three-quarters of the book. The characters are well-developed and you can relate to them. But, after all the detailed planning of the characters, the end seems very rushed and abrupt. Somewhere, I felt the plot ran out of steam and the story was suddenly brought to its end. Just as you would have liked a more detailed and logical conclusion, the book ends leaving you feeling cheated.

So, although it makes a good read overall, the end leaves you a little frustrated.

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R speaks

Long time since I updated on R front. He is talking nineteen to the dozen now- stringing in words he knows to combine sentences that make sense and some nonsense thrown in liberally.

(P.S: Apologies to the non-speaking tamil readers. It is difficult to translate every phrase, so kept it as it is. But, hoping the gist won't be lost.)

He hates me sitting in front of the computer and immediately chants, "amma, keeya engu, book paikalaam" or "amma, va, inge okachi, bed maela okachi" or "amma, come, cheekam va..okachee"
"inda book paikalaam, anda book paikalaam". The chant gets louder and furious in tone if I don't comply soon enough.

He'd arrange all his cars in a row or semi-circle and call out to me to show, "amma paaru, wow chollu"!!

All of a sudden he'd barge into the kitchen and ask,"nee enna panrai??". No matter how I answer, he'll repeat for a few times till the time he tires out or I stop answering (mostly the latter ) :-)


"daesh epi ikku? nannaka? kannani paakalama?" - when he is dressed to go out.

He has preferences for the cell too. He would sometimes want only his appa's phone or sometimes only
my phone: "anda phone ta, appa/amma phone ta". And talks away to glory over the phone while walking about from one end of the room to the other:
"umm..umm..ok, papom, epi irukai? naa fine..ok, bye, chee u eving, cheeu tomorrow (see you in the evening), aapich paetuvaraen" (so on..in no specific order)

And, of course, his favourite word now is "maatain" ( which means "NO"). He may or may not understand the question but the answer is "maatain". Sometimes, even before the question is asked. I say "R..." and he says, "maatain" much like the anticipatory bill.

He knows his cousin S goes to Tree House. So whenever her name is mentioned by way of some conversation, he goes like this:
"S...twee housh,...four housh, fie housh, chix housh..and so on..till ten housh"

But this takes the cake. The other day, I told R, "I love you" and he replied,

"I davu too"!! I was so happy to hear that. Then he continued,

"I davu twee..I davu four...."

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Hair today, gone tomorrow..

Well, our crowing glory could have tales as well as tails. It depends on which part you focus on. This story is about how the tale of my hair became just a tail of hair. Once a upon a time, I had a mane that most girls would kill to get. Nature had bestowed it on me- shiny black, silky, thick and straight. Yeah, I could've been one of the models for a shampoo ad. Only, no one approached me for it :-( My hair used to be the subject of envy amongst a wide-known circle.

"Oh! what do you do to maintain it?", "please share your secrets"..and so on. My heart would swell on hearing these oft-repeated questions targeted at me by known and sometimes even unknown people. (There have been instances where people would actual touch and feel the hair to believe it is real). I attained almost celebrity status because of my hair during college. I always felt my hair made up for all the other superficial imperfections I might have had. So, I would secretly enjoy all the attention while maintaining a very modest demeanour.

Really, I never did much to maintain them apart from the routine washing and shampooing. Not even conditioning. But yes, I was rather finicky about them in a different way. I never combed my hair when wet. Always untangled them with my fingers first. And boy! I have given my mother much grief when she used to tie them into plaits when I was much younger. The plaits HAD to start at the same level on both sides of the partition. The amount of hair left at the end of the twin-plaits also HAD to match. Not too loose and not too tight. Gosh! am surprised how anyone could put up with such idiosyncrasies. Not that she had much choice in this matter. However, she was only too relieved and glad when I took it upon myself to do my hair at the age of 10. Yes, when I was in class 5 or 6.

And, how I can I forget the hair-cutting ordeals? Ordeals for others, that is. I would throw tantrums after the hair was cut and demanded that the hair be stuck back, pronto!!! Even much later, during late teens, I would reluctantly enter a parlour to get my hair styled, after much cajoling by friends to sport a different and contemporary look. But, I would always come home teary-eyed, for the lady would have chopped off more than I'd have liked and would miserable about it for days. I know, quite silly. 

But, all good things come to an end, someday, don't they? Things changed a whole lot after I switched cities post-marriage. The hard-water made my hair lose much of its volume and I couldn't do much, other than helplessly watching my best feature go down the drain literally. Later, work and home responsibilities left me with no idle-time to pamper or even devote decent care for my once prized possession. Post-pregnancy hormones only added more fuel to the already raging  fire and now I am left with just one-third of the original strength. The tale that was has been reduced to a tail that remains. Of course, am grateful of that, to say the least. Something is better than nothing. There has been some good out of it too. My attitude has undergone a metamorphosis of sorts. I'm no longer a slave to people's appreciative glances (not that there are anymore). I am open to having a shorter, manageable and fashionable look and have become bolder in my hair-cutting experiments. So, that's not a bad bargain, after all. What say??

 

Courtesy: google.com

Loved this quote...

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The dirty picture

Haha, caught you! If you came here looking for the review of the movie or some equally masala-stuff. This is just about a mundane ritual that hits you like a virus and doesn't leave you until it runs it's course. Ok, don't rack your brains too much. I am talking about spring cleaning here. I am on the spring cleaning mode- ever since I came back from B'bay. Re-arranged the clothes cupboard, cleaned the kitchen cabinets, the fridge, cleared out the clutter; never felt so accomplished.
And, who says spring cleaning is done in spring? It comes in cycles all year through! Bah!!

It is amazing that the clothes cupboards get messy so much faster than you'd like them to. And that too when you're not re-filling them as frequently as you'd like to!!!. Also, it is interesting to note, how you find so much clutter each time you re-organize a closet even when you pride yourself on being the "non-hoarding" kinds. If not entirely unwanted, then there are lots of unused stuff at least. Of which, you are not ready to let go off, yet.  I am generally ruthless when it comes to cutting extra flab. But sometimes, there are things I cannot let go off too. Again, only till the next time, I get mad at myself for having to dig through piles of stuff to get what I am looking for. Then, there is no mercy shown. My maid is the most pleased person at the end of such sessions. She gets to keep the excess and am glad that someone gets to use the weeded-out stuff.

I just hate it when unkempt corners in the house surface one after the other with the sole intention of keeping you occupied somehow. Just as you'd like to sit back with a piping hot tea and book in hand, applauding yourself for the day's neat work, the layer of dust on the T.V stand catches your eye. You realize (not with any pleasure) that there are so many facets to a house, especially when you bring it upon yourself (and upon the unsuspecting maid too, of course) to get every part shining and bright. If the cob-webs are cleared, there are the windows and doors to be cleaned. Door-mats, bedspreads, curtains have an annoying way of gathering dust and filth in record time. Of course, hubby feels I am out of my thinking capacity when I announce that the dust-bins have gathered dirt and they are the next-in-line for the make-over. My friend's hubby once remarked that dust-bins are meant to get dirty, so what's the big deal about cleaning them???!!! Husbands all over think alike, I guess.

And of course, a house with kid(s) is best described below:

Courtesy: google.com

Hope you guys had a great weekend! 

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2011 in hindsight

Now, this is called being a tube-light. When everyone on the blogosphere was bidding adieu to 2011 in their own unique and interesting ways, I was having a serious writing block and couldn't think of how I should sum up the year, so I decided to skip the whole thing. Cha! who wants to be a part of the "I also ran" kinds. Sour grapes, I know. But, 4 days into the fresh year, and bling bling, the past flashes before my eyes. So, I thought I shall do a short re-cap before amnesia strikes again.

I started this blog in December last year. I started off jittery and sporadically. Somewhere around February, I began reading more and more blogs and before I knew it, I developed blogodiction (an addiction to blogging, if you're wondering). I discovered so many wonderful writers who also happen to don so many roles in their lives effortlessly- wife, mother, colleague, boss, daughter, and, so on. It is amazing to be a part of like-minded people's lives and share your worries, anxiety, joys and sorrows. No one's judging and you can be yourself without the fear of being judged. Writing started proving to be a catharsis of sorts for me. Glad to have discovered this medium of expression.

We finalized on our first, new, own house around March. It is a huge decision for us and after a lot of considerations, we settled on this one. It fitted our budget (well, almost...) and expectations (again, mostly..). We didn't want to move out of our current area and didn't want to over-stretch our budget. So, this seemed apt in the current scenario. The builder is not one of the famous ones (those are building houses for dacoits and NRIs, I think) but word of mouth says he is decent. We should get the possession by mid 2013, at the latest. Hoping that this will turn out close to what we have in our minds. 

Had a great time bonding with friends. Lunches and dinners thrown at one another's place every other weekend, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, kids' birthdays, festivals, we surely did have a lot of fun. There is a new addition to one's family now, work may take another off to a far-away location, so this year, may not be such fun after all, so all the more, want to cherish these memories.

And of course, the fag end of the year brought the whole family together for the much-awaited cousin's wedding at Bhubaneshwar. Hubby's sudden developments at work that needed him to go to the US in that very month and all of the story at Mumbai and Bhubaneshwar is all there for you to read, if you wish, in the December 2011 folder..:-)

R kept me occupied and entertained throughout the year. He is growing every month by leaps and bounds and again, am glad, I have been able to capture most of the precious moments in this blog. I'll definitely love re-reading them in the coming years and refresh my memory.
  

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