An Update (of another kind)

Harry is in the middle of his second year at Hogwarts and is hearing ominous voices in the passages. The Chamber of Secrets has just been opened and Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, has been petrified.

Mikael Blomkvist has just stepped into a double homicide of Dag Svensson and Mia Johansson - two people that were working on a story for him. Lisbeth Salander is wondering why people are stalking her.

John has been visited by Julian Mantle after his sabbatical in the Himalayas. Julian is just about to start sharing the wisdom he has gleaned from the wise sages of Sivana that he encountered while there.

Bertie and Jeeves are in the United States. Jeeves has managed to extricate Bertie and his friends from looming disasters yet again. Tuppy Glossop from a potentially ruinous financial deal. And Wilmot from the blazing reproaches of his mother, Lady Malvern for letting the evils of the modern city ruin him and landing up in prison.

Claire Bennett is trying hard to be a normal college-going teenager with her new roommate, Gretchen. Noah Bennett is dealing with the dilemma of whether to start his old profession again. Sylar has resurrected from the dead yet again. Hiro Nakamura is dying and has just teleported himself to Peter Petrelli's apartment - apparently, only he can help him now. Samuel has finally found a new recruit in his circle of outcasts to replace his dead brother, Joseph.

Don Draper (or Dick Whitman) has just started his own agency with Roger Sterling, Bert Cooper and Lane Pryce as partners, after a coup against the British management of his former agency, Sterling-Cooper. His divorce is imminent and he's bracing for it. Coupled with this are his stresses of getting and holding on to new businesses for his new agency.

Vic Mackey is being forced to retire from the Barn and he's trying his best to hang on by forming an alliance with David Aceveda, the councilman. Claudette is desperately trying to keep the Barn from being shut down. Shane is still the enemy.

Jack Bauer has saved the world for the eighth time obviously after paying a huge personal price. Chloe has allowed him to escape by ordering Arlo to shut down the drone's video feed.

An Update

It's been some time. Again. I don't know why these slips happen. Probably, most likely it is because of work pressures.

Who am I kidding? I spend hours doing nothing. In fact I sometimes wonder if I do any work at all. Actually that's not true. I do some. But the truth is that time is ultimately about priorities.

So why isn't updating the blog a priority? Good question. There isn't any simple answer to that.

Most likely reason - I haven't been in a particularly expressive mood lately. There are things on the mind which cannot be shared. And nothing that can be shared is seemingly worth it.

Have been reading some and viewing some. Saw an old Agatha Christie classic - And then there were none. Remembered a dear friend (who I guess misses me at times) who is also a fellow fan of her work. So Dear Friend, if you read this, know that I thought of you - and that wasn't the only time. Just to spoil it for you, the movie ends differently than the book, but the killer is the same.

Read the first of the Millennium trilogy of Steig Larsson. Also about a third through the second one. I must admit that the first fifty pages were pretty tedious and needed a bit of plodding away. But once the book kicks in, it is amazingly good. After a long time, came across interesting characters and complex plotlines in a thriller. Someone whose literary taste I respect suggested The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Will probably pick it up sometime in life. Just another addition to the long list of things to view/read/do/visit.

Coming to another book that goes through like a breeze - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I had bought the entire set of the 7 books - hardbound box set about a year back. I removed the shrink wrap a couple days ago and have almost finished the first one. Plan to read the entire series again. It helps that I have forgotten quite a bit and Rowling's imagination and storytelling never ceases to amaze.

Caught up with an old friend after years. That was a lovely evening. Had dinner - Copper Chimney Chops. Friend had simple Daal-Rice. Discussed about this and that. Discussed about the book she's writing. If only she would put her nose to the grindstone and get it out of that head of hers, it would be an amazing piece of work. So Old friend, if you're reading this, you know what to do.

Otherwise life has been going on normally. Some fights, some distances, some reunions, some movies, some books, some music, some work, some party. Diwali cards sessions were all pretty ruinous in terms of winnings. So also on the waistline.

Need to go and meet my grandmother. She's not coping well with the loss. But she hurts more when people come to meet her. That's no excuse I know, so will drop in and see her over the weekend.

Looking forward to the Manila trip over Christmas and New Year. Lots of fun with lots of dear friends. Hate to start all the visa proceedings though. Can't delay it any further if I really have to go.

The year is fast hurtling to an end. Life just flies by. And I get the feeling these days that it is all too overwhelming. But this too shall pass.