I discovered a  new meaning for the word ‘jockey’ while skimming over this article over at the NYT.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — When this city of epic traffic jams started carpooling a while back, it inadvertently gave birth to an entirely new profession: jockey.

For less than a dollar, car owners hire one or two jockeys to gain access to stretches of the city’s “3 in 1,” high-occupancy lanes. The jockey is essentially an extra passenger who helps commuters circumvent carpooling rules, making the ride into central Jakarta slightly less slow.

Quite innovative..the human species are..don’t you think?

Speaking of innovation..the crew at Google UK has a pretty slick office…I think I’m most impressed by the Hulk being one of the staffers!

Without Warning
David Brooks

My father spent most of his adult life
working for the Commonwealth Public Service, shunting files
from one end of his long desk to the other.
When he died he left half-written
a History of Australian Immigration,
only half-joking when he willed that I should finish it.
Why didn’t he tell me
how little would ever be completed?
letters left unanswered, accounts not settled, promises
never fulfilled, the parts of that motorcycle
unreassembled, lying ten years
on a concrete floor in Westgarth St, people
dying without warning, mid sentence,
taking the next words with them.

From: Walking to Point Clear: Poems 1983-2002
Publisher: Brandl & Schlesinger, Blackheath, 2005

Courtesy: 3QuarksDaily

We Wear the Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,–
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Paul Laurence Dunbar

“I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

Hit me like a ray of sun
Burning through my darkest night
You’re the only one that I want
Think I’m addicted to your light”

‘Halo’ by Beyonce Knowles

Echoing off the walls of  heavenly white apartment walls and its too-good-to-be true dark brown wooden floors–Beyonce croons to her man in her new song called ‘Halo’.   Songwriters, Evan Kidd Bogart, Ryan Benjamin Tedder and the singer herself, Beyonce, pulled off a fairly tricky analogy in this single–and made it work. There was a chance that the reference to an almost divine, angelic lover would sound tacky–but  the allusions to light and even the halo are tastefully done.  What the listener does get is another opportunity to sample Beyonce’s incredible range and the softly sensual spirit of the track.

These days I listen to the song at least 3 times a day!

softly softly…the back beat carries you away…twirling your senses into a flurry of glitter and spring breeze…you are now moving faster and slower all at once..and your feet cannot stop tapping.

 This description brought to you by the musical experience that is ”Tere Naina” by Shankar Mahadevan and Shreya Ghosal.  It was one of the songs I missed while watching the rather annoying ‘Chandni Chowk to China’ movie.

“…I’ve made my own yogurt nearly every week for more than 10 years, beginning with a starter given to me by a friend from yogurt-loving India, and using the last spoonfuls of one batch to make the next. It’s a satisfying ritual of continuity and caretaking. And the yogurt is less expensive and better than anything I can buy. It’s free of stabilizers, sweeteners and waterlogged fruit, and it’s fresh tasting and tart, not sour. I start every day with a bowl of it…”

The Curious Cook in today’s New York Times

cuz i breathe poems

and

live songs

dance silently

at the oddest times

smile often

for no good reason

find rhythm

in your laughter

feel alive

when it

rains or shines

—

i am.

I really want to draw out all that is coursing through by brain…into my veins..across the vast confusing expanse of my mind..

and i think a some charcoal pencils and sketchpad will do the trick.

Daybreak

I have finally decided to  list 3 beautiful things on a daily basis. I am inspired by Clare’s Three Beautiful Things project!

1. Getting the time to apply the new tea-pink nail color-finally! Its been weeks!

2. Cracking the spine of my oh-so-new book–’Burnt Shadows’. Signed by the author as well!! (long story-next post)

3. Finding myself admiring a topaz pendant in the middle of the bustle of Liberty Market–just minutes after work! I loved the excitement and release of the ‘unexpected’!