Subtle Aspirations

When was the last time you caught yourself “staring” at your desktop wallpaper?

Have you realised, despite the numerous “desktop wallpaper” websites that are out there, we hardly spend any time looking at the desktop while we are on the PC!

Well, if you have a knack for eye-candy, I assure you, you’ll get addicted to this nifty lil application that aspires to bring you by far the best designed wallpapers – yes, the ones that make you go “whoaaa… look at that!”

Enter “Desktoptopia”!

This small application sits in your system tray and refreshes your desktop on demand (or automatically if you set it to).

Quoting them:

Let Desktoptopia automatically update your monitor with fresh designer desktops like this one from our ever-growing master collection.

Why?

Because who has time to keep up with emerging design trends and fresh illustration styles? Let us do the work, and deliver inspiring desktops to you, as often as you wish. Go on, get inspired.

All you have to do to be amazed for a minute is right click on the icon, and hit “next background” and voila! You will be amazed :)

One of my all time favourite desktops from their library is this one:

Try it! You won’t regret it, trust me. And yes it’s free!

Head over to http://desktoptopia.com and start “loving” your desktop again :)

Here’s what my current desktop looks like:

I was on Facebook this arvo, posting a message on a friend’s wall wishing him birthday wishes.

I usually don’t browse through people’s Facebook, but he had a link to a YouTube video which caught my eye.

I must’ve watched this video on repeat for about 4 times since I first saw it – so here it is, sharing it with you guys.

It’s a clip from this new TV show in UK I believe called “Britain’s Got Talent” – and it’s this awesome impersonation of the evergreen pop star, Michael Jackson.

Whether you like MJ or you don’t – irrelevant of it, make it a point to watch this 2 minute video completely – I’m sure you’ll enjoy it :)

“An arbitrary incision was all that was required.

Put an unconcealed impediment to the flow of time, lacerate an unexpected scar, and let them both stand in silence, experience the loss of the pain together.

Most certainly the tables would have turned then.

Rather that than this… this distressing, excruciating agony of a wrongful deliverance, which seemed only natural at a given point in time!

Look what they’ve done. A flawless, scurried close to a teething moment of the roses’ budding.

Misinterpreted, misread, misjudged and miscommunicated!”

With that, he shuts his book, puts it on his side table and gets his glasses off. Weary of the stress in his eyes, he shuts the lights and pulls on the quilt for a comfortable stance on the bed. A few minutes later he wakes up startled. Hastily turns on the light, and picks up the book. Frantically he flips to the page he thinks he last closed it on, and realised how right he was. He never read that passage in the book.

It was his mind trying to console him with just one another possibility of the why and the how of the unknown, yet unacceptable conclusion.

The brightness of the flame enveloped her gaze.

She watched closely as the flame grew, encompassing every inch of the paper. She watched the fresh remains of the ashes in creation, as it lurched to wrap the unburned yet, with an insatiable quench.

As the flame made it’s transition to fire, she felt the ground slipping beneath her feet.  

She had changed her mind. She wanted to look at it once again, one last time, savour it. But the fire didn’t comply with her desires anymore – it had crossed the line of no return.

The tears kept flowing, in vain.

She felt helpless as she watched the last photograph she had of him, burn down and proselytise to frail ashes.

She didn’t have a choice but to bid goodbye.

—-

So I picked up the guitar after 13 years to play a complete song. It most naturally doesn’t sound even half as good as it used to then though.

So as rusty as it sounds – here it is: cover of “So Beautiful” by Pete Murray.

Found myself just the other day
In the backyard of a friends place,
Thinkin’ about you,
Thinkin’ of the crowd you’re in,
What you up too where you been?
(Just thinkin’)

And all the clothes that you wear,
And the colors in your hair
Shouldn’t change you
Now you tell me why it’s so
You bigger than mighty Joe,
(At lest you think so)

God my fingers burn,
Now when I think of touching your hair
You have changed so much that I don’t know,
If I can call you and tell you I care
And I would love to bring you down,
Plant your feet back on the ground

Throw my smoke down on the ground,
Turn my head and I heard the sound,
(That reminded me)
Of the days so young and sweet
Always so much fun to meet
(At lest I thought so)

Now you think your so damn fine

You can rule the world no not mine,
I don’t think so

God my fingers burn,
Now when I think of touching your hair
You have changed so much that I don’t know,
If I can call you and tell you I care

Now the scene that you’re in,
And the people that you been with
Just get to me,
But you think I’m not as cool,
As you are so beautiful
Well who you fooling?

Well I’m here to tell you babe
The game your in is just a game
So damn pretentious

God my fingers burn,
Now when I think of touching your hair
You have changed so much that I don’t know,
If I can call you and tell you I care
And I would love to bring you down,
Plant your feet back on the ground

You think you’re so beautiful
(So beautiful)

I came across this article a few months ago – I vividly remember how it made me feel at that time.

Then, as time has it’s way, I conveniently forgot about it.

Recently I re-discovered my Tumblr (I had completely forgotten I had an account there) – and saw the link to the article which I had posted there then.

It’s an excellent read on the process of “detachment” – titled aptly: “The Art of Giving Up” written by Dyske Suematsu.

Here’s an excerpt from the article which I particularly liked. The link can be found below for those who are interested to read the whole article :)

We develop attachments and we don’t even know it. Only when we are threatened by the lack or the loss of them, do we realise how much we are attached to them. If we lose our sight, for instance, some of us would probably consider suicide, but if we think objectively about many blind people enjoying their lives, it seems silly to even be depressed about being blind.

- by Dyske Suematsu

Click here to read the whole article – “The Art of Giving Up“

So I landed on Suzie’s blog this arvo to see if she’s updated and found out that not only has she updated, but she also had one of those tag posts and had tagged me.

It’s been a while since I’ve played this game. Last I remember was Iris (Urvi) who tagged me years ago titled seven.

So here goes – a tag about 4 things:

4 Jobs I’ve Had (in chronological order)

• Worked at a Pager (Beeper) company (MobiLink) taking messages from people who wanted to page, while I was in college (Bombay, India)
• Web Designer/Developer @ KAZ Technology Services (Syd, Aus)
• Marketing Manager / Creative Designer @ New Horizons Learning Centre (Syd, Aus)
• Retail Operations Exec @ A.C. Nielsen (Syd, Aus)

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over

• Superman I (1978 version with Chris Reeve in it)
• City of Angels
• Pirates of the Silicon Valley
• Bunty Aur Bubbly (Bollywood flick)

4 Places I’ve Lived (in order)

• Santacruz, BOM-IN
• Chatswood, SYD-AU
• Burwood, SYD-AU
• West Ryde SYD-AU

4 TV Shows I Like

• Smallville
• Friends
• My Name is Earl
• Brothers & Sisters

4 Favorite Foods

• Pizza (who doesn’t love pizza?)
• Porterhouse Steak :)
• Twix Chocolates (Mars come a second close)
• “Vada Pavs” (has a link to Wikipedia for those who don’t know what it is)

4 Places I’d Rather Be

• Bombay
• Venice
• A planetarium
• In a 5-star luxury hotel room by myself just relaxing and indulging in simple pleasures :)

4 People I’m Tagging

• Ritesh
• Urvi
• Macademia The Nut
• Sathya