A little kingdom I possess,
Where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find
Of governing it well.
~ Louisa May Alcott

...that more or less describes my situation!

 
It’s the season to be merry, it’s a season full of joy, it’s the season when the heart grows happy, though it knows not really why! :) (ahem, I’m in a ditty mood)

It’s that time of the year again and like every time, it brings a smile to me. I happened to bump into the Capricorn characteristics (by the way, I am keenly interested in astrology!) on a page on MSN, and one of the things it said about a Capri was “A Capricorn loves nothing more than holidays such as Christmas that bring people together with a variety of activities". I would have to admit it’s true.

Talking about fun activities—me and my colleagues planned a Secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas. I love playing Secret Santa; for one, I love giving and receiving gifts, and two, I love solving mysteries! Even so, I never expected it to be as enjoyable and exciting as it turned out to be. The very day we drew names, there was much guessing about who is whose Secret Santa. The next day, I got a mail from my Secret Santa (from an email ID called Secret Santa!) giving me a clue about his/her identity. My excitement knew no bounds! I was also told I would be given a clue every day, till the day of the official gift exchange (which was the 21st). When I told the others in office, there was more excitement, and from then on till five days later on 21st, the first thing we did in office was to read my mail and try to decipher who my Secret Santa could be based on the latest clue. The grand finale on 21st turned out a huge surprise and a really nice one at that!

I guess all of us like the idea of a Santa out there, who brings us gifts and makes us happy. I guess, in a way, God is also something like a Santa figure—one who we can pray to, and who will make our wishes come true. The other day someone was saying, that as kids, they would hang stockings at night and find them full of gifts in the morning—they grew up to realize it was their parents playing Santa. But what are parents if not Santas? (though they’re not always jolly like the good old man!). hmm…there have been many Santas in my life too in that sense…and am feeling like thanking all of them…for bringing the gift of friendship, good cheer, happiness, warmth, and all those goodies that are far more precious than the material ones…into my life.

Wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a wonderfully bright New Year! :)
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 5:33 pm 0 comments

 
The CD-DVD drive of my laptop conked off recently! If one knows me a little, one would know that this is a calamity of no small proportions for me. I palpitate to think of what may be wrong, why did it go wrong, who can set it right, and will it ever be right—I guess it's called fear of the unknown :(

My affinity with electronic items is extremely weak, to say the least. My friends however say that I only pretend, because I have some of the most "hi-fi" electronic gadgets (they say). I would only so far agree that when I "do" go for some electronic thingie (as with anything for that matter), I do buy the best there is in the budget I have. It's nothing to do with hi-fi-ness or anything—because, frankly, I use only the most obvious features—but more to do with ensuring am buying good quality (like I said, if it conks off or something, I shall suffer mini heart attacks till it's back on its feet).

I am waiting for my poor dear laptop to come back from the Service Centre now...

Been reading Frueud's Psychoanalysis and Feynman's Surely, You're Joking. Interesting, both.

I read about a phenomenon in Psychoanalysis that I had never delved into before. It's the "slip of the tongue". What it says is that a slip of the tongue is in most cases not a meaningless act; it has meaning and indicates a parallel thought process. I found this intriguing, though when I think about it, and even when I analyse the slips of tongue I make, I find it difficult to be convinced that "most" of these cases are meaningful. Most times, I can detect no connection or thread or meaning or cross intention.

I can think of one kind of slip that I usually make or stop myself from making at the very nth minute. It is that sometimes when I am going to mail a person or ping a person, I may accidentally (slip!) write the name of the person I'm right then thinking of, in the To field, instead of the name of the person I am intending to write to. Here the conclusion is that while the conscious mind intended to write to person A, the subconscious mind was ruminating about something related to person B, and I type the name of person B which is contrary to my conscious intention.

Hmm...It does make me wonder though, if certain slips one makes, and which one absolutely cannot relate to consciously as one's subconscious thought, can actually be residing in one's subconscious? A bit scary to think of...what if someone said kissed instead of missed—does that mean they were thinking of kissing someone while talking of missing the bus? (all unbeknown to themselves!)
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 10:00 pm 0 comments