Yashas Mahajan's Blog, page 18
May 4, 2021
Word of the Week #266:
For some reason, I was led to believe that one’s range of interests diminishes as one enters adulthood.
Well, that turned out wrong, didn’t it?
I will admit that my interests have changed over the past decade or so.
Cricket is not as fascinating to me as it used to be. Yes, I still have an understanding and appreciation of the game, but I no longer have any intrigue left for it.
I haven’t played a musical instrument in ages. I wonder if I even can, anymore. Hell, I wonder if I could. If you ask my sister, she’ll probably say that I never could.
The kind of books I used to read has changed. But, well, my relationship with books HAS changed a lot, and I guess that’s a whole different conversation altogether.
More importantly, that’s not what we’re talking about tonight, right? No, instead, we’re talking about the new things that have caught my eye. Or, occasionally, the old things that I can see in a new light.
And the list really is endless.
Food, for one.
Basketball. Ah, how I miss it, during this lockdown…
Politics, in a way. Not like which party and which politician and blah blah blah… More about political concepts and the hopes and needs of the people.
I also want to travel, now. Admittedly, that is mostly just an extension of my interest in food, but I think it still counts.
And as I said, the list really is endless.
Each passing day, I find something new that I want to learn or explore or experience.
The world is interesting.
Life is fun.
Well, maybe not so much right now, in the middle of a pandemic, still…
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April 27, 2021
Word of the Week #265:
Ah… I’m tired…
I woke up tired, today, for some reason.
Maybe a quick shower might make me feel better.
It has been a long, heavy week. More push ups this week than I had managed to do since the beginning of the year.
I do feel bigger and stronger. It is a good feeling.
I’m tired, but I feel bright and ready to jump back to work.
This week is going to be fun.
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Word of the Week #264:
I love writing dystopian fantasies.
I think it is just part of who I am and how I function.
Writing about a few flickering lights trying to illuminate a bleak, dreary world feels… right.
But these days, when I look around me, that is the world I see. Bleak and dreary is what we do have.
We see the few flickering lights around us. And we can see them burning themselves out just to keep the world from plunging into compete darkness.
Maybe of them are the people we know and love, and we can see their own lights dying out.
A dystopia is no longer a fantasy, anymore.
Fun.
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April 6, 2021
Word of the Week #262:
Apparently, it has been 5 years since I started this blog. And since then, I have not missed a single post over the past 262 weeks.
Pretty impressive, right?
A lot has changed in the past 5 years.
I am sure my writing style has changed, as have the topics I talk about.
I think I have grown up a lot through my writing. I think I am able to express more of my deeper thoughts with greater clarity than I could when I was younger.
In fact, people close to me who do notice this change seem to grow concerned. They have grown so used to me handling everything with little to no visible strain that any expression of it makes them worry.
However, it is not that more is wrong in my life; I have just grown to be more expressive and communicative about what is.
And when you think about it, why should we suffer in silence? Why not talk about it instead?
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Word of the Week #261:
Long ago, when I used to be involved in dramatics, I used to have the kids do a simple exercise to help them understand the impact of emphasis on the implication of a sentence.
I never said you stole my money.
What does this sentence imply?
What all does this sentence imply?
If you stress any of the seven words, you can mean seven different things. Further, you could stress more than one of the words at a time, and mean something else as well. And the opportunities can be boundless in longer, more complex statements.
I wonder if, in a way, this elevates the medium of drama, movie, or even radio above books.
I mean, I could add emphasis through italics and such, but how often would I do that? How often can I, without it getting irritating to the reader?
On the other hand, the fact that we don’t force-feed the reader, the way we leave more of the details up to the reader’s imagination and interpretation, is part of the charm of our medium, right?
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Edmund Wilson
March 23, 2021
Word of the Week #260:
So, let’s take a quick look at how my plans have progressed over the past year.
Can I dance yet? Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it… Huh…
Do I have a chiseled body? Actually, I’m happy with how I look and feel, right now. Do I see room for improvement? Absolutely. Still, I’m happy.
Do I have a black shirt? Nope.
Is the pandemic over, though? Am I ready walk out of the lockdown full of swag with my hair bobbing to classic rock tunes? Maybe in a few more weeks. Let’s see.
Also… Is there a girl? Somehow, not even nearly.
This year did not go as I planned, did it?
Let’s try again next year.
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Word of the Week #259:
Do you remember last year when we thought we’d be done with the pandemic in weeks?
Ah, the bright-eyed fools we were…
March 9, 2021
Word of the Week #258:
As a rule, I NEVER make broad statements about anything in the world, ever.
That is something only stupid people do, and I am not stupid, so I will not do the things stupid people do.
Simple, right?
Life is so simple.
Fun.
March 2, 2021
Word of the Week #257:
What does it mean to be human?
Should we move closer to instincts? Or move farther away?
Should we become part of nature? Or should we seek to control it?
It’s complex being a human. Or is it simple?
I wonder…
