More Awards And A Tag

Since President Obama has not received any awards or prize during the past 2 days, I have some extra time on my hands. Therefore, I would like to accept the awards I have received.

These two awards (One Lovely Blog and I Love Your Blog) were passed on to me by Neha and RaMmY. Thank you very much Neha and RaMmY.





This award (A Fabulous Blog) was passed on to me by Nazish Rahman. Thanks a lot Nazish.



All three of them tagged me with the same questions. So here are the answers:

1.What is your current obsession?
Nothing.

2. What are you wearing today?
Black Pant and Blue T-Shirt

3. What’s for dinner?
Falafel on a Pita Bread, Piquillo Pepper Yogurt Sauce, Tomato Relish (My wife is preparing them now)

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
A California Lottery Ticket

5. What are you listening to right now?
TV playing Batman cartoon.

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Neha – If I ever have to face the law, I want her on my side as a lawyer as well as a friend for moral support.
Nazish – His postings are thought provoking. (PS: My own words. I did not copy from Neha.)
Rammy – Very likeable person. Read his “About Me”

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC.

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Money, to go on vacation.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Penang. It is a paradise on earth

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Spanish. In 30 years, it is going to be the official language of the United States.

11. What’s your favorite quote?
"Don’t get mad, get even”

Thirukural - Inna Seitharai Oruththal Avar Naana Nannayam Seithu Vidal (Do good to the person who has done you wrong. Let this be his punishment.)

“Who said nothing is impossible? I have been doing nothing for so many years.”

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
Someone I know. Do not want to give the name.

13. What is your favorite color?
Blue

14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own closet?
My dark blue Brioni suit

15. What is your dream job?
University Professor taking a class on Modern History or Current Events.

16. What’s your favorite magazine?
Forbes Magazine

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Go to Wente Vineyards in Livermore and buy couple of bottles of Merlot Nth Degree (2004).

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
No white after Labor Day (First Monday in September in USA). Bandana.

19. Who according to you is the most over-rated style icon?
Angelina Jolie

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
U.S. Marine haircut

21. What are you going to do after this?
Have dinner.

22. What are your favorite movies?
Nenjil Ore Aalayam, Thillana Mohanambal, Godfather (Part 1 and 2), Bridge on the River Kwai, Duel, Borat, Star Trek

23. What are three cosmetic/makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
Nothing. I don’t use any.

24. What inspires you?
When someone says “you cannot do this” or “you should not do this”. That inspires me to do that.

25. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
Be self confident, be positive, walk like you own the place.

26. What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
When I “have nothing to wear” I don’t wear anything. (That’s a joke. Please laugh)

27. Coffee or tea?
Coffee

28. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Watch TV

29. What is the meaning of your name?
King

30. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
I love visiting most of the blogs.

31. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Badam Halwa. Chocolate Pizza from Max Brenner in New York

32. Favorite Season?
Spring.

33. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
I will request my wife to cook and she will be delighted to. Any South Indian dish or Punjabi Dish or Falafel or Pizza with Pesto Sauce. She is an expert. I would request her to do the cooking because I want you to enjoy the food in our home. I will select the wine.


34. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
Just hit them back when they are least expecting. After that, they will avoid you….unless you love that person. Then, it is ok to forget and forgive.

35. What are you afraid of the most?
I am reminded of what John Gotti, the mob boss and a godfather said. I have the same answer. Who? Me? Afraid?

My own question: Why can’t you think of a question to type here?

The Honesty Tag

Here are the rules.

“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog’s content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”

“When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!”

Thank you Shruti for presenting me this award. I am honored.

10 honest things about me? I don’t know what to say. Here are 10 thoughts come to my mind at random.

1. I have lived in 7 cities in 3 different countries.

2. I had the best job in the world. My bosses thought I was a super hero. There is an Irish proverb: If you have a reputation as an early riser, you can sleep until noon. Therefore, I read Wall Street Journal for 2 hours and took a long lunch every day. I believe my job can be done in 2 hours time instead of 8 hours a day.

3. Even though I have lived in USA for most part of my life, I am a vegetarian. I enjoy vegetarian dishes from Indian, Mexican, Italian, and Chinese cuisine.

4. I love red wine, especially Merlot.

5. I do not decide anything instantly, either at home or at work. I take my own time to decide. But once I decide, I never change my mind. Even if it is a wrong decision. Sorry, I can not say “never”. Occasionally, my wife puts her foot down and makes me change my decision.

6. I believe kids should not be sent to school or day care center before they are 5 years old, if any one parent is able to take care of the family financially. Once they go to pre-kindergarten, those precious days of “kids at home” are gone forever.

7. I have been smoking cigarettes since I was 14 years old. Two years ago, one day, I decided to quit. Then, I quit cold turkey.

8. I am a news junkie. I can watch news channel like CNN for ever.

9. I am afraid to go in an underwater tunnel. We have BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) here to transport passengers. It is a computer operated train. Everyday thousands of passengers take BART to reach their destination (like the London Tube). I also take the BART. However, I never go on the BART between Oakland and San Francisco. Between Oakland and San Francisco lies the Pacific Ocean’s Bay. BART connects these two cities through underwater tunnel. As for as I am concerned, I like BART (Buses Are Reliable Transportation) between these two cities.

10. No offense to animal lovers. I don’t like pets. I don’t want them in my home.

And now, the award is presented to: RajLakshmi, raMmY, SiMbA tAgO

Please accept the award and the tag. Thanks.

Tag-o-mania

I was thinking of another subject for my next post. But I got tagged again by Insigniaji. This one seems to be quite light. So here I am:

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4 – “Sell to Open AAPL at Sep strike 175 for $1.40”. It is my options trading note book. AAPL is symbol for Apple, Inc. I do only covered call option. I do not go near naked call option.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can & catch air? – Oooh. I just gave a big left hook to my land line telephone and it fell down.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? – I have been watching for the last 15 minutes on CNBC a program called “Squawk on the Street”. This is a pre-market business show just before the stock market opens.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is? – 6:15 AM

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time? – 6:17 AM

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? – I can hear 3 things. Voice from the TV, Washing Machine sound, and my wife yelling from upstairs: Yane ivvalavu seekram ezhunthutale? Coffee kondu varatuma? (Why did you get up so early? Should I bring Coffee for you?)

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? – At 7 PM last night. Took the garbage can outside. Today is the garbage pickup day.

8. Before you started this Q&As, what did you look at? - My email.

9. What are you wearing?- Jeans and T-shirt.

10. When did you last laugh? – Last night. My wife was telling me what they do in villages to recoup the health faster for the women who gave birth recently. ROFL.

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in? – A big painting presented to me by my staff in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the time of my transfer back to USA.

12. Seen anything weird lately? – Oh yes. Last Sunday, at the Livermore Hindu Temple. Some (not all) young men and women came to the temple wearing sleeveless t-shirt and shorts. They looked like they were going to a pool party. Disgusting. Will they go to a church or a mosque like that? Young men and women born and/or raised here in USA come with pant and shirt (man) and saree/salwar kameez (woman). Only some FOBs (Fresh Off the Boat) come in shorts.

13. What do you think of this quiz? - I thought this was going to be easy. But it is not. Makes me tell about me and what I think, more than what I want other people to know about me.

14. What is the last film you saw? – The Time Traveler’s Wife, starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. It is one of those gooey romantic mind-benders.

15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy? - A brand new home in Dublin, California, with a bedroom for guests downstairs.

16. Tell me something about you that I dunno! - I had a life threatening operation 3 years ago.

17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? - Want to eliminate graft and corruption.

18. Do you like to Dance? - Yeah, give me a couple of glasses of Merlot and I can go until early hours of the morning.

19. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? - We have 2 kids. First is a boy and then a girl. Girl’s name is Jambakam. We and her friends call her Jammu. She does not like the name Jambakam because in her opinion it is too long and does not sound modern.

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him? - His name is Ganesan. We call him Raja. His friends call him Gan.

21. Would you ever consider living abroad? – Lived in USA for most part of my life. Yes, will love to live in India for sometime.

22. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates? – Hey, Welcome back. I have noticed you enjoyed your life to full extent. I am jealous of you.

Since the people I know have already been tagged on this questionnaire, I am not tagging any one.

Guilty or Innocent

This is just a straight forward tag passed on to me by Nazish.

The rules are thus…
RULE 1
You can only say Guilty or Innocent
RULE 2
You are not allowed to explain anything unless someone messages you and asks!
RULE 3
Copy and paste this into your notes , delete my answers, type in your answers and tag 20 of your friends to answer this.

Asked someone to marry you? Guilty

Ever kissed someone of the same sex? Innocent

Danced on a table in a bar? Innocent

Ever told a lie? Guilty

Had feelings for someone whom you can’t have back? Guilty

Kissed a picture? Guilty

Slept in until 5 PM? Innocent

Fallen asleep at work/school? Innocent

Held a snake? Guilty

Been suspended from school? Innocent

Worked at a fast food restaurant? Innocent

Stolen from a store? Innocent

Been fired from a job? Innocent

Done something you regret? Guilty

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Innocent

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Guilty

Kissed in the rain? Guilty

Sat on a roof top? Guilty

Kissed someone you shouldn’t? Guilty

Sang in the shower? Guilty.

Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Innocent

Shaved your head? Guilty

Had a boxing membership? Innocent.

Made a girlfriend cry? Guilty.

Been in a band? Innocent

Shot a gun? Innocent

Donated Blood? Guilty

Eaten alligator meat? Innocent

Eaten cheesecake? Guilty

Still love someone you shouldn’t? Innocent

Have/had a tattoo? Innocent.

Liked someone, but will never tell who? Innocent

Been too honest? Innocent

Ruined a surprise? Innocent

Ate in a restaurant and got really bloated that you couldn’t walk afterwards? Guilty.

Erased someone in your friends list? Innocent

Dressed in a woman’s clothes (if you’re a guy) or man’s clothes (if you’re a girl)? Innocent

Joined a pageant? Innocent

Been told that you’re handsome or beautiful by someone who totally meant what they said? Guilty

Had communication with your ex? Innocent

Got totally drunk on the night before exam? Innocent.

Got totally angry that you cried so hard? Innocent

That was great. Now I would like to tag:

Insignia
Varsha Shrote
A S
Sandhya