it's all going digital

the past few days have been kind of disheartening. I have come to the realization that GM and free television are dying. I don't care so much about GM, but being forced to buy a new TV in the coming years does not ring well with me.

Here's what will happen: by the end of 2008 (?) everything will go to HDTV. now, for the majority of the public, this makes no difference bc everyone subscribes to cable. but for people like Guddu and me and perhaps some other holdouts, our TVs will no longer pick up the analog signal from the antenna.

So, we will have to get some type of converter for the signal. Perhaps the government will subsidize the price. i am not too concerned about the price, etc, but more because i realize i am getting old bc i feel such a resistance to change!

perhaps guddu and i will not watch much TV by then. we could just listen to NPR and use the internet. but there is something nice about the evening news, and, as Michael Powell put it, being FORCED to watch Walter Conkrite (or Tom Brokaw/john siegenthaler, etc.).

Sister in the Band of Brothers

in case you were wondering, this is what i was really doing this summer.

the heat is on...

... and i can hear our bank account emptying.

Guddu and i toughed it out for one night of frost advisories sans heat, but had to turn it on last night. i don't even want to know how expensive this will be. we thought, hey we can do Indian winter without heat, so why not here? except it doesn't go below 35 hardly ever in Delhi!

other not-so-news: GM is a big inflexible bureaucracy.

i'm going to see Michael Powell of the FCC (aka son of Colin Powell) speak tomorrow. I imagine him to be short. If you have met my grandmother recently, there is a good chance that she told you a story about how she met Colin Powell and his lovely wife. We have not verified this to be true, but she has told so many people it might as well be true.

potato: off the couch and into the oven

guddu has taken up (with great zeal) two new hobbies the past 2 weeks: baking and running.

Baking. This required getting acquainted with two items very unfamiliar to most Indians (especially Indian men from villages): the oven and yeast. Now, upon our marriage, Walt tried to introduce us to both of these concepts while we were still in Delhi. He gave us a beloved toaster oven and some yeast. I have no clue what happened to the yeast, but the oven was greatly appreciated during the winter time when we wished to make litti and the occasional pizza or chocolate cake.

The baking passion was driven by Guddu's love for pizza and oven-roasted rosemary potatoes. He started experimenting (often following his cousin Anand's cue)-- garlic roasted cauliflower and potatoes, pizza with homemade crust, carrot cake, spaghetti squash, baked apples, mustard-stuffed eggplant, and wheat bread. The breads required yeast, which made our kitchen smell like the house that hosted the kegger the night before.

Running. Guddu used to exercise daily when he lived in India. In the village he did a lot of manual labor and in Delhi he did morning calisthenics that looked like a cross between pilates and old-school gym class. In the US he lost a lot of motivation. All of a sudden, however, and I don't know why, maybe it is the temperate weather, but he has ran over 30 miles the past week. i think this will last until the temp dips below 50F. or when he develops a stress fracture.

Williamsburg, a first-world Johannesberg?

Excessive migration to urban centers from the countryside has been a recurring problem for many countries, especially in Africa and South Asia, because the influx of poor strains urban infrastructure, looks bad, and causes growth in the informal sectors of the urban economy. How to fix this problem?
1) close off the cities to migrants?
2) fix the root of the problem-- rural poverty
or, my favorite
3) create suburban "townships" or camps where migrants can stay at night so they do not form slums or dirty the city landscape. Prime examples: Johannesberg, South Africa and Williamsburg, VA

what to wear?

i am going to my mom's cousin's daughter's wedding in 2 weeks. i think it is outside. what do i wear? i'd like to get something new. but i guess my black suit-pants and a nice top would work? or maybe a fall-colored dress? i'm going shopping with jessie (c'ville, red-head, leggy, ex-roomie jessie) on sunday, so maybe i will see what i come up with.

thank god for free verizon mobile-2-mobile and night & weekend minutes. we'd be cut off from the rest of the world without it.

the groom search for guddu's sister is going well. we now have 2 potential suitors: a civil engineer in delhi and a bank officer in patna. i'm partial to the engineer. hopefully guriya will be getting married next may or june.

Aliquippa

Guddu and I went to visit my Dad this weekend in Aliquippa, PA. Aliquippa is a suburb of Pittsburgh and the hometown of Mike Ditka (who dated my Dad's cousin, fyi). Western Pennsylvania is known for its declining steel industry, distinct accent, and affinity for Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, etc. We had a good time and Guddu would like to move there because it reminds him of his childhood in Sikkim.

Here's some political news: I am confused about who to vote for for Governor. I agree with Tim Kaine on more issues, but I feel he plays dirty. But I suppose Jerry Kilgore plays dirty back, so he is no better. Right now I am leaning towards Kaine, even though he put his sign in my yard without my consent. kaine and Kilgore (who has a fondness for red bulls) debated last night on Channel 12. Larry Sabato from UVA moderated. Would someone PLEASE tell Sabato to just remove the toupee???

Sneaky campaign tactics

When I got home yesterday there was a "Tim Kaine for Governor" sign stuck in one of our bushes. I thought, "Maybe Guddu put it up. But he is more of a Republican, so why would he do that? And he can't even vote..."

When Guddu got home, he didn't even notice the sign in our front yard. He said he didn't put it up. So who did?

I think Tim Kaine's campaign is kind of dirty; his ads are all stupid or kind of mean towards Jerry. So I don't know how I feel about keeping his sign in our yard.

no more nose ring

i took out my nose ring. there was a bump next to the hole that was not going away, so i hope it will now disappear sans ring.

yesterday i was 15 minutes late for class because i HAD to go buy coffee. it was obvious i was late for coffee. but the prof was from ethiopia, and i have a theory that profs from former communist or developing nations are a lot more laid back than domestically raised professors. so all was well and i enjoyed my coffee ($1.50??!!).

intelligence, caffeine, and a lesson in resilience

Yesterday Guddu and I went to DC. We got to hear Chuck Robb talk about US Intelligence failures before the war in Iraq. see me in the pics?

Chuck Robb looks like he would be really boring and dull, but he was actually a really nice and kinda funny guy. He also, poor thing, either has adult ADD or is just getting old. his mind really wanders when he speaks, but that was ok since mostly what he said was interesting.

Guddu and I went to starbucks TWICE yesterday. wallet is hurting. both times i got a cafe au lait (aka "misto" aka "poor man's latte") with soy milk. for dinner we had julia's empanadas. can we get empanadas in richmond???

sad news: winter has arrived. last night i got my first i've-been-out-in-the-cold-wind-too-long headache. i want to relocate all my family and friends to miami or southern california.

oh-- for anyone who has ever lost anyone close, listen to this interview: A Year of magical Thinking...