The randomness returns…

** It is funny how, when something is on our mind, we find connections to it in everything around us, both positive and negative. We find connotations for every little thing that we notice happening, in the same way as a hungry man notices tasty food everywhere he goes. He might have never bothered to give the food stalls on his path a look before, if he were well-fed, even if they had been throwing out an aroma fit enough to please the gods!

** I have been reading Books, Baguettes And Bedbugs by Jeremy Mercer, also published as Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn At Shakespeare & Co. in some countries. An ex-investigative crime journalist’s memoir about the time he spent at the world-famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., it has been an interesting read so far, though a tad depressing at times, too.

** I have also been reading Adriana Trigiani’s The Shoemaker’s Wife, a light read that I had wanted to get my hands on for quite some time. I am just a few chapters into the book yet, and it has been a good read so far.

** This recipe for lemon cake was tweaked a wee bit to make a plain cake with honey glaze for the OH’s nephew’s birthday. It turned out to be a super-duper hit, so much so that I didn’t have a piece of it left over to taste myself! No, I am not complaining. I am thrilled.

** The MIL has the habit of bringing kilos and kilos of fresh fruits to our house whenever she visits. The latest in this series was a big bag of juicy apples. A couple of them were converted into apple crumble yesterday, an experiment that turned out to be quite tasty!

** In spite of all that is ugly with the world, I realise that there is a lot of beauty out there too, every single day. Especially Bangalore. How can quiet lanes lined on both sides with trees full of bright orange flowers not look pretty when bathed in the kind of sunlight that fills the day just before it is about to rain?

** I read somewhere that you cannot lie to yourself or pretend at 3 AM, even though you might be able to do so all through the day. 3 AM is the time when you are at your most vulnerable, at your truest self. What do you do with your 3 AM thoughts and fears? Keep them closeted off in a section of your mind that you never unlock during the day? Go about your life as if these thoughts never existed? Or do you let them take over your life, till you find a resolution to them?

** The pots of mint and strawberry plants are placed next to each other in our small apartment garden. Both of them have flourished over time and become full-fledged creepers, growing out of their respective pots and into the next one. The other day, I noticed that they have set roots even on the edges of the pots and comfortably spread out as they wanted to. Did I think that by putting my plants in pots, I would be setting boundaries for them? It might be a small thing, but it made quite an impression on me.

** ‘Foreign chocolates’ still hold the same appeal for me as they used to ten years earlier, I have realised. A sweet cousin of mine visited from the US of A and, thanks to her, our refrigerator is stocked with Hersheys, Toblerones and Lindts. The OH and I are having the time of our lives hogging them. Thank you, cuz!

** I am trying to get accustomed to reading books online, just because some great books that are way too expensive otherwise have reasonably priced e-book editions available for sale. I do want to read these books, without blowing up all my life’s savings on them. Hence, the transformation. I can’t say it has been an enjoyable process so far, but I am glad to have access to these books this way. Breaking of old habits does not come easily, I say!

** Any of you had a chance to have the Mexican pizza at Taco Bell? I tried it recently, and fell in love with it. Such a yummy and light snack!

** Have you tried the Lebanese rolls at Domino’s? I have been wanting to sample them for a long while now!

** Have you ever noticed the eyes of a cow? I am never not amazed by how beautiful they are.

** I love baking my cakes in an old aluminium dabba that has been a part of our family for years now, and chopping my vegetables on an old piece of wood left over from the days when our house was being renovated, before we moved in to it. I love making my dosas on the old, thick iron griddle that we bought in Trichy a week or so after our marriage. The OH and Amma have tried to introduce non-stick tavas, fancy cake tins and modern chopping boards into my kitchen, but they somehow don’t hold the same charm for me. As I prepare the day’s dinner or lunch every day, they make me realise how old-school I really am.