Partying, LA style…

While I was in LA, two friends of mine invited me to accompany them to a party — so I can see what partying is like in LA. Being halloween it was a costume party of course. So my friends show up dressed in glow-in-the-dark afro wigs and calf-length trousers… both husband and wife were dressed as Mozart! Along with them another friend who was wearing a clown mask and a huge afro-wig. So when I stepped into their car at in the foyer of the Beverly Hilton, needless to say quit surprised! But my surprise would soon be outdone by the amount of time, effort people at the party had put into their costumes.

The party was itself held in a warehouse converted to a loft in downtown L.A. And from what my friends told me, the area wasn’t one to be caught in after hours. The loft/warehouse though was ultra-cool. Very open, minimal furniture, large Proxima projectors — talk about big screen TV. Very smply but tastefully done.

And this party was kind of like the party which kept on going… at first there was one room, which was large, but nothing surprising. But then, you walk into the back and it opens into a whole other area! And that wasn’t it, there was an open-air area too. By now I though I had seen all of it and then later in the evening doors to other “party-locations” seem to appear out of no where! It just kept going on and on and on!

The women at the party were literally drop dead gorgeous, especially dressed in their mostly skin tight and skimpy outfits! Ones which deserve special mention are: the one dressed as an FBI agent, one as Lara Croft, “the naughty nurse” and even someone who came dressed as a shower! But in my ook the award for the best costume goes to Superwoman and her sidekick the Superdog (or Superbitch?) both of whom were adorned in their appropriate costume. Superdog of course was an 8 month old german-shepherd mix — Maya (got the dog’s name, but not the owners!)– who was very friendly and was literally boogie-ing on the dance floor with everyone!

It’s been a long time since I went to a real party. In fact the last one that I can remember going to and having fun at was actually my own party back in Delhi which is the subject of an article in itself. Anyhow, it was good to finally get back into a scene which is totally full of fun and no restraints. I’d go back to LA just to go to another party like this. Definitely the highlight of the trip!

Post to Twitter

Searching for the end….

As each of us grow up we get exposed to what I can only describe as sturctured competition — competition where the metrics of success or failure are clearly measurable. You either pass or you fail. You either come first or you don’t. You win the game or you don’t. But in each case, the metrics are clear. They are well defined. The amount of time is well defined.

Say for example a video game, you have a fixed number of lives, or a fixed amount of time to rescue the good guys and finish off the bad guys. If you do it you win. If you don’t it is simply “Game Over”. If only everything was that simple.

More and more after having gotten out of school, I’ve encountered things in which the metrics are not well defined. There is no clear marker to signify that yes, you’re done. Because eveytime you reach that point, the markers moved a step further. A little harder, a little further, a little faster.

There have been key incidences which have helped to shape my outlook on competition. I am fiercely competitive — not in sports or doing stupid things, not for just doing things which I say I would like to do, but fiercely competitive for things which I have personally committed to myself to do. The competition is internal. It’s manifestation may or may not be external.

In sophomore year I was thinking a bit too much for my own good — similar to what I’m probably doing these days. Thinking about things which most people probably think about at a later stage of their life than while they are in college. I got to the point there that I had to literally pull myself out of it and realize that the things I was thinking about had no easy answers and in order to be able to maintain any semblance of order in my life, what I had to do was create milestones… short steps — the markers which signified that yes, this is done!

The first few markers were obiously academic – and in that effort I put in more time and more effort towards achiving those markers than I would ever want to again. Taking upto 78 units (26 credits in a single semester) and having absolutely no semblance of a life whatsoever. The next marker was to build a company — that marker was passed as well and it just moved on to a new position.

The problem with the markers of personal and professional life is that they move to easily… they are redefined to esily. I guess that is why I am tempted to go back into a more structured environment of academia… where the goals are well defined and there is an end — in most cases.

Post to Twitter

Traveling…

I’ve been in the SoCal area for the past week – and what I’ve learnt is that for people like me location hardly matters. Whether I’m in Pittsburgh or in LA or any other place — what I do pretty much remains the same — and a big part of it is still being on the Net a lot more than I should! 🙂

So here are a few small blogs while I’m on the road… still not a 100% into writing the more significant thoughts and stuff. The ambivalence is back. Will resume once it is suppressed again… hopefully.

New in Thought — caught in the act!* on Saturday, October 27, 2001

  • Things people do to earn a living… — “…the one good thing about the gullibility and the stupidity of the people is that it makes for a fairly easy profession that almost anyone can take up as long as they can spin a incredulous tale!”

    New in Rants and Raves* on Saturday, October 27, 2001

  • GPS is a good thing! — “in *every* case – all I did was punch in my destination without thinking… the Magellan GPS system did the rest. Finding restaurants, hotels and pretty much any services… all a breeze. GPS truly rocks. A huge thumbs up!”

    New in Eavesdropped!* on Saturday, October 27, 2001

  • FedSex — When you absolutely must get it overnight — T-shirt for sale in Venice Beach, CA

    Post to Twitter

  • Things people do to earn a living…

    Since I was in the LA area and had never really been to a beach, I decided to drive over to Venice Beach. The beach was prety much what I expected – sand, water, people, birds and all kinds of stuff washed up on the shore. What I did not expect however was the crazy things people were hawking along the sidewalk close to the beach – every other tent/stall was a Psychic, Tarot card reader, spiritual healer, chinese masage therapy from Dr. John all dressed up in a lab coat, tattoos and piercings, sunglasses and the list goes on and on. But the number of people claiming to be psychic far exceeded any others. I guess the one good thing about the gullibility and the stupidity of the people is that it makes for a fairly easy profession that almost anyone can take up as long as they can spin a incredulous tale!

    Post to Twitter