Hello folks. If you haven't seen it already...go and see Chicago. What a fantastic movie. I was just reading Tchao's blog and I must say...congrats on passing the test buddy! Check out this link...this will be your newest purchase. I can totally see you on that brother!

Have a good night folks...

hey folks. it's now sunday morning. i am sitting at the dining table, eating cereal, listening to CNN and staring out the window onto a sunny sunday morning in waukesha, wisconsin. i just caught up on a bunch of blogs - tchao, chooey, karen, craig, nick, christine, julie, kev, tai. it had been a while since reading what all my buddies are up to. it's great to hear that everyone is well. some randoms...

Christine - I totally understand how you are feeling and what questions are going through your head. Introspection is a good thing but at times, it can really get to you because you start wondering what if, what it, what it
Nick - Corporate life ain't the best. I am trying to find the silver clouds. Not sure what's going to happen...but we shall see.
Chooey - Congrats on the promotion...that is fantastic. What new roles do you have now that you are a manager?

Introspection seems to be a trend in a lot of my friends lives. At times, I thought I was the only one but I think that times such as the ones that we are in today bring it out in everyone. What can we really do I suppose? I guess just concentrate on what is important to us and what makes us feel good. Like friends and family. I spoke to my parents and brother yesterday (we three-wayed: Toronto, Milwaukee and London). It was pretty good. Oh yeah, if you didn't know...my bro got a new job in London and moved there this week. It's pretty cool so we'll have to see how that progresses. I can't wait to go and visit.

India lost the World Cup of Cricket to Australia this morning by quite a bit. Australia was far superior and it wasn't that close. Indians everywhere were so excited that India was in the final. It would have been awesome had they won...but alas, what can you do? I hope though that the Indian fans are supportive when the team returns in a day or two. The worst would be if a mob mentality breaks out and the people start booing, yelling, screaming, etc. Somehow, I think that it won't be like it happens here when for instance Canada gets silver in a big hockey tournament.

March Madness has started (it's only been 3 days) but damn, it has been a lot of fun so far. Buzzer beaters and last minute triumphs. My bracket is pretty much done but that's cool...it's all in good fun. I still have a chance though as long as Kentucky loses to Wisconsin or Pittsburgh and I have a Kansas - Syracuse final. Then, I'll be laughing...and a whole lot richer!

Saw Bringing Down the House last night. Wow...that was not what I expected. It was quite politically incorrect and quite shocking at times. It had some funny times but overall, it was an interesting film. Don't bother with the theatre...you can wait for video.

So - here i my plan for the next little while, seeing as I've only got another 5 weeks in Milwaukee:
1) Study and understand my products so I'm not an ass when I start selling
2) Continue with my gym routine that has fallen by the wayside of late - and be good at it
3) Continue my cooking exploits...I've been pretty good of late
4) Watch my snacking in between meals
5) Burn a bunch of CD's
6) Update this website (Amisha, I need your help)

And that is it for now...
Off to watch some bball.
Lates.

I don't blog that often anymore but I will write right now. Not sure how long or short this blog will be but I'll just start typing and see how this goes. The war has started and that makes me quite uneasy. I totally don't like the idea of war and do not condone it at all. That being said, I struggle to figure out if there is a more diplomatic way of getting Saddam Hussein out of Iraq. It's scary to think that this is the only solution and only possible course of action for other countries in the world to take against this regime in Iraq. He's had such a long time (since the Gulf War) to actually control his actions and change his ways but over the years, things in Iraq and conditions for the people of Iraq have just gotten worse and worse. I see what countries like the U.S., England, Spain et all are trying to do. But at the same time, I see what Canada, France, Germany, Russia et all are saying too. That is why everything is so hard and confusing.

This week has been long and I'm glad that it's not Saturday night and I still have another day tomorrow to just chill out. I have been in training all day for the past 4 weeks. Everyday at this place called the Education Centre, where we go through different training for our products, sales skills, negotiation skills and presentation skills. It's great and valuable knowledge but sitting in classrooms all day long for 4 weeks really takes it toll. I am not even ready for my job and in fact kind of scared of how it's going to go but I totally wanna get out and try it. I'm scared primarily cause I feel like I don't know enough to sell effectively. I think that it'll come with time though. As my experience goes along and as I work at this - I'll get better. It'll be like snowboarding or golf or any other skill I've acquired over the years. Starts out tough but you practice and work at it and can become really good at it. I know that I'm not going to be the best but I definitely think (and know) that I can be good at this career.

I watched John Q earlier this week. It was a pretty interesting story. I am definitely glad that the ending wasn't as sappy as I expected. And the story itself was good cause it really spoke volumes about America's healthcare system. Our Canadian system is said to be socialist (I believe that is the term that is used) so it's different from the American system. But, it also has it's problems. So, we have to figure out what the best system is. There's gotta be some way out there that citizens shouldn't have to pay for healthcare. If they are sick, they should get help.

I am watching tv right now and there is a special reports saying that "A U.S. missile may have mistakenly shot down British Aircraft" Damn, that is really bad - it's just like the Canadian plane that got shot down by American guns/missiles during the war in Afghanistan last year. War just scares me because so many innocent people are due to have their lives prematurely taken away from them.

This has been a deep blog...much deeper than I expected. I will write tomorrow about some other stuff - March Madness and Bringing Down the House (which I saw tonight)
Later all,

This weekend, Cristine and Florence have been visitng. It's been great to have them around here just hanging out. We went shopping on Friday and Saturday and damn, I haven't spent that much money in a LONG time. I got one long sleeve shirt, two stylin' golf shirts, boxers, khakis, jeans, dress pants, black dress shoes and a tie. All in all, I'd say that it was a pretty succesful couple of outings. But damn, my bank account will be feeling it shortly.

Last night I had a sushi party. It was absolutely amazing. I have this buddy named Sam here in Milwaukee. He is a Thai guy who is a sushi chef. He makes house calls. We had 26 people at this party last night and Sam makes Sushi for everyone. He makes everyone. All the appetizers like edame, spring rolls, and different sashimi (salmon, tuna, unagi, couple others). Then he also makes any roll you want (including hand rolls). And everyone just mingles, enjoys themselves and chill out. It's really a great atmosphere and the food is so yummy so everyone is happy. I was rolling some rolls at the end of the night...and they turned out pretty well. Guess that's what having some "rolling experience" will do, eh? I had a screaming tuna roll which basically had about triple the normal amount of wasabi. As you are chewing this roll, your mouth progressively gets hotter and hotter. It spreads down your through, up your nose and into your eyes. Man, that was a crazy feeling! The thing is though...you can't do anything about it and damn, it clears out your sinuses by the end. My favourite roll that he made was a fruit roll. Possibly going to be called the "Wisconsin Roll". It had avocado, cucumber, mango and kiwi in it. It was so awesome! A flavour explosion in your mouth.

I'll write more soon about other randoms throughout the week.

Hey folks. It's been a while since I wrote so sorry about that. I actually have quite a few updates for ya'll so where should I begin? I'll try and go in chronological order and see what happens. Last week, on Tuesday...I drove to Chicago for work...went to visit the Ultrasound department at Mercy Hospital (just doing a little job shadowing of an account manager while I was out there). It was cool to be in front of a customer and made me realize just how much I still don' tknow. Damn, I've got a lot of ish to take care of. That night - drove back to Milwaukee in a crazy snow storm. I left Chicago at 4:15 and didn't get home to Milwaukee until about 7:50. Damn! That was almost a 4 hour drive for what usually takes 1.25 hours. I decided to reward myself that night and had some sushi which turned out to me relatively yummy but it won't be anything in comparison to what I'm having this weekend (more about that shortly). The next day, training again but afterwards, I was on my way back to Chicago. Why you ask? Well, let me tell you.

I went to one of the best concerts EVER. I saw Tabla Beat Science which was absolutely mesmorizing. Words cannot describe how spectacular Zakir Hussain is on the tabla...especially when you see it live and can totally aprpciate it. His hands move as fast as a swarm of killer bees around honey (okay, perhaps that wasn't the best analogy but my creative juices just ain't flowing right now). Karsh Kale was wicked on the drums as well and he dabbled with the tabla a bit too which was cool to see. The last time I saw him, he played a lot more tabla but I figure that with Zakir there this time around...he didn't bother attempting it as much. Dj Disk was sweet on the 1's and 2's - he and Zakir had some wicked compilation pieces, especially the ones where they would "battle" each other. I went with Ravo and his parents, who had a good time. The crowd was so eclectic...it was hilarious.There was the office crowd (in suits and ties), the pot-smoking hippies, the rastas, the b-boys, the gap kids, the rough necks and of course all the aunties and uncles (Indian mothers and fathers - my parents age).

I finally saw Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers on Saturday afternoon. It was a great movie. Again, the special effects were fascinating...and the scenery was great. The plot development was good and I like how they picked off where the first movie left off. All the characters were money once again. And Gollum (Smeigel) was really cool. What a weird and scary character at first but then, he grows on you but at the end, you are skeptical again so it makes for interesting times. The final movie – “The Return of the King”, should be awesome. It’s only 10 months away!

Saturday night, I went with my buddy Raymond to Madison, WI. We had a good time chilling at some bars and going out with some friends. Madison is totally a University town so it definitely felt like I was back at Waterloo partying with buddies.

Sunday came and it was just a lazy day. Cleaned the bathroom, did some ironing, went over my bills, some vacuuming – all good times for sure! Felt like Martha Stewart by the end of the day.

And then there was Monday…watched Guru. That was a pretty funny movie. Very interesting topic…that’s for sure.

The last thing I will write about tonight is my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. I really like all of these trades they’ve made. Getting Owen Nolan and Doug Gilmour up front is fantastic and Glen Wesley, Phil Housley on the point is sweet too. All of these acquisitions are old but still good. I like that Pat Quinn is actually making a push for the cup this year. We’ll see how it plays all.

Have a sore throat…gotta get some rest.
Good night folks.

Just watched an amazing show on 60 Minutes about IIT (The Indian Institute of Technology). It was really fascinating to see how much Indian students go through to be a part of this wonderful institution. Nehru's idea was to start this school as a way for India to train their brightest engineers post independance. It started out that way...but now, IIT is basically a feeding ground for the United States to hand pick the top Engineers. A stat was said that approximately 100,000 jobs have been started as a result of IIT entrepreneurs starting up in Silicon Valley. Very interesting outlook on the difference in education between India and America. One funny quote was a former student saying his son went to Cornell University as a back up cause he didn't get into IIT the first time around. Thoguht that was pretty impressive...

So long.

It's Sunday night - 6:00 pm. Sitting on my couch watching 60 minutes. They are talking about Mr. Hussein's assets and his ability to hide them around the world in false companies.

Anyway, that is not important at all. What is important is that I just had the most amazing weekend. I was in Minneapolis - St. Paul this weekend for a weekend of art, culture, music and poetry. It was fantastic. I went on Friday after work to hang out with Nikhil and Gurpreet. Or - as you may know them...Jugular and The Tabla Guy. These guys are absolutely incredible. I've known Nikhil since I was a kid and every time I see him perform...he is so much better than the last time. Gurpreet - is simply untouchable. I haven't seen him perform that much but damn, this performance this weekend was off the hook. You've gotta check out some of his tracks on his site...they are awesome. I also hung out with an R&B singer named Sumeet. She's originaly from London, ON and now lives/works in New York. Her CD will be coming out soon and damn, she has an amazing voice as well.

I must say that this weekend was fantastic. It was so full of energy and inspiration. I really enjoyed spending time with Nikhil, Gurpreet, Sumeet, Chamindika and Pradeepa. They are all artists in different mediums but they all share something very core to the bone. Passion. I've had plenty of conversations with many of you over the past couple of weeks and done a lot of introspective thinking as well. This weekend really helped me out and made me really think about what is important to me. I know what this is and I just need to figure out what to do with it now. I'll keep you posted on what I figure out.

Have a great week...