Happy Budday Ashish!

So, another year gone.
Some things I wanted to do, done... others, still on hold. No regrets. It's been eventful. And fun.
But just to keep it in perspective - a decade ago, I was eighteen, and walking into college.

Wikipedia:
It is thought that the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, which originated in Persia but was spread by soldiers throughout the Roman Empire.

The Happy Birthday Song melody is thought to be the most frequently sung melody in the world. Similar songs exist in other languages such as "Lang zal hij/zij leven" (and several others) in Dutch, "Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück" in German, "Cumpleaños feliz" in Spanish, "Sto lat" in Polish, "Lá Bhreithlá Shona Duit" in Irish, "Joyeux Anniversaire" in French, and "Tanti Auguri a te" in Italian.

It is also common for the "birthday boy" or "birthday girl" to cut the initial piece of the cake as a newlywed couple might with a wedding cake. If the knife touches the bottom or when withdrawn from the cake comes out dirty the Birthday boy or girl may have to kiss either the nearest boy or girl (Opposite sex).

A birthday is considered a special day for the person, and so the person will often get special treatment from friends and family. In addition to parties, people often get gifts on their birthday.

Author's note - I shall therefore shamelessly solicit gifts from my vast, noble, kind, and generous readers. Click here for the wishlist.
Back to you, Narcissism.

Libra is an astrological sign, which is associated with the constellation Libra, in the Southern Hemisphere near Scorpius and Virgo. The only symbol of the zodiac that is inanimate (it is not represented by an animal or person).

In mythology Libra is often associated with the Greek Goddess of Justice, Themis,^[1] the Greek mythological figure of Atalanta (meaning balanced), and Astraea (daughter of Themis), who ascended to heaven and became the constellation of Virgo, and carried the scales of justice, the nearby constellation of Libra.

Libra is also associated with the Greco-Roman goddess Aphrodite/Venus and sometimes also the goddesses Eris/Discordia & Hermione/Concordia, Hera/Juno, Ishtar, Freyja, and Frigg and the god Xolotl.
In astrology Libra is ruled by the planet Venus. The Indian equivalent of Libra is Tula, the Chinese equivalent is the Dog.
Many modern astrologers regard it as the most desirable of zodiacal types because it represents the zenith of the year, the high point of the seasons.

Individuals born under this sign are thought by practitioners of astrology to have a pleasant, clever, articulate, charming, charismatic, beautiful, outgoing, fair, artistic, social, refined, diplomatic, even-tempered and self-sufficient character. The Libra person is said to be co-operative, sees both sides, open-minded, just, urbane, partnership oriented, avoids conflict, balanced, graceful, debative, idealistic, and equalitarian.

Ooh. Don't stop.
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Googlisms.

The big day.
26th september is the european day of languages
26th september is johnny appleseed's day
26th september is not to be missed
26th september is tool day

Let's see what the world says about me instead.

ashish is gassing the forum
ashish is a computer scientist with the nasa ames research center in mountain view
ashish is a dashing opener for clcc
ashish is a genius
ashish is a dean's scholar
ashish is trying to rub aluminium to make it shining
ashish is excellent chess player and received best chess player award on all india university level
ashish is highly respected by patients and their families for his concerned bedside manner as well as the personal interest he takes in them
ashish is an intelligent and bright student of the school who has brought honour to the institution
ashish is getting fitter
ashish is currently a director of skyblaze ventures
ashish is an electrical engineer from iit
ashish is founder/director of exchangenext
ashish is the founder of bigtree entertainment pvt
ashish is not satisfied with being your regular villain
ashish is only one step short of the master black belt
ashish is well known as one of the original founders of junglee
ashish is late
ashish is the troublemaker of the house
ashish is also a part of who i am
ashish is a man of his word
ashish is the chief strategic officer for tavant
ashish is home and gets down to play the latest game that he?s got
ashish is a founding member of idiscoveri
ashish is obviously chuffed at the turn of events
ashish is a graduate of harvard business school and is currently the managing partner of think investments
ashish is a regular guy
ashish is perfectly okay
ashish is an associate at lehman brothers
ashish is a director of engineering at amazon
ashish is on his trail again
ashish is fascinated by emerging technologies and enjoys working at tblr where he can employ his previous experience and realize new abilities
ashish is really bright
ashish is the chairman of the board of bridium and collectionsx
ashish is responsible for strategic alliances and client interaction as it&t
ashish is relief kitchen supervisor
ashish is married and is expecting his first child soon
ashish is married to misha grewal
ashish is from india
ashish is correct
ashish is a phd student in strategy in the management science and engineering dept
ashish is a master therapist as well as a spiritual master and guides the author through the territory of his personal issues
ashish is the country head
ashish is neither a mathcad user nor does he intend to become one
ashish is accused of having murdered his brother
ashish is vociferous about this
ashish is the chairman of the board for bridium

Hehehe.

I share my birthday with...
1774 John Chapman [Johnny Appleseed], frontier nurseryman
1820 Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar father of Bengali prose (Exile of Sita)
1888 T.S. Eliot St Louis poet/dramatist/critic (Waste Land-Nobel 1948)
1897 Pope Paul VI 262nd Roman Catholic pope (1963-78)
1947 Lynn Anderson ND, country singer (I Never Promised you a Rose Garden)
1947 Richard Roth US, 400m swim medley (Olympic-gold-1964)
1948 Olivia Newton-John Cambridge England, singer (I Honestly Love You, Physical)
1948 Vladimir Remek 1st Czechoslovakian space traveler (in Soyuz 28)
1985 Shamu was born this day in Orlando, Florida. She was the first killer whale to be born in captivity and survive. Her place of birth was Sea World.

I don't have any reason to believe - or disbelieve in reincarnation; but it's interesting to see Daniel Boone frontiersman, dies in Missouri at 85 in 1820.

1687 Parthenon destroyed in war between Turks & Venetians
1824 Kapiolani defies Pele (Hawaiian volcano goddess) & lives
1950 Because of forest fire in Br Columbia, blue moon appears in England
1954 Typhoon strikes Kakodate Bay Japan, killing over 1,600
1955 NY Stock Exchange worst price decline since 1929
1991 A group of scientists, four men and four women began a two-year stay inside Biosphere 2, a sealed structure in Oracle, AZ. They had planned to have no contact with the outside world; to grow their own food and live peacefully together as future pioneers in a harsh and alien world. Unfortunately, the outside world had to intervene a few times; to get rid of an ant invasion, to pump in oxygen, to tend to a health emergencies, to bring in forgotten necessities like makeup. The scientific team managed to last out the term, but they were half-crazy and half-starved when U.S. marshals led them out two years later.

Music that topped the charts on this day -
Smoke on the Water - Red Foley
Jambalaya (On the Bayou) - Hank Williams
Hey Jude - The Beatles
Hush - Deep Purple
Drive - The Cars

Wikipedia delivers a nasty aside when I'm not looking -
Wednesday's child is full of woe.

That's it for now. Happy Birthday, whenever it is!

what not to do when alone on saturday night

The below activities are perfectly fine when taken separately but together make for a... memorable experience, and not in a good way.
1. Stock up on beer.
It's 8:45 and I decide to pick up some suds to generally relax and pass a pleasant sat evening
2. Don't check roomie's whereabouts.
Fucker has been missing and no clue when back... house deathly quiet... might as well start on my own
3. Download a massive collection of movies
I have 237 movies at the last count, some seen, some unseen but heard of, and it's playing on my conscience.
4. Get drunk
It's 11 PM and I'm fairly high. and bored. Maybe I should start watching some of my movies?
5. Of all the movies to pick, do not, repeat, do NOT select The Shining.
It's midnight, and the house - and the neighbourhood - is deathly quiet. My head slightly blurry. Jack Nicholson slowly going insane in a deserted hotel in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, while his son has this deplorable habit of roaming the hotel alone. Very quick cutscenes of chopped-up bodies. An extraordinarily creepy pair of ghost twin girls. What is it about twins? From The Shining to Ghost Ship, they've successfully creeped me out each time. Even in porn they creep me out.
1 AM, and I'm distinctly twitchy. Keep seeing half-glimpsed flashes of movement out of the corner of my eye but when I look, there's nothing there.
6. Get a 5.1 speaker system.
The music is awesomely creepy, right enough, but at this time of the night and in this state of sobriety, I do NOT need to hear faint ghostly whispers coming from precisely behind my head from the rear speakers.
Now officially too freaked out to continue. Everything's slightly out of whack. The shoes look too long. Beer cans too yellow. Open cupboard too hungry. Speakers too w-watchful. Boxes too full of something I don't remember putting in. Curtains moving in a... wind?
Wasn't that chair in the corner five minutes ago?
It's too quiet. Maybe I should put on some music and

OHSWEETMOTHEROFGOD

It's ok. It's ok. It was just the water coming in the open tap... but the last thing I need to hear at this stage is the sound of something uncannily like a throat being cleared noisily and violently at the end of a dark passage INSIDE the house.

Ok, need to watch something funny. Fast. What do I have? Open the movies folder.

28 days later
Alien
Communion
Constantine
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Dracula
Exorcist
Ghostbusters
Land of the Dead
Manhunter
Monster House
Monsters Inc
Nightmare on Elm Street
Predator
Primal Fear
Resident Evil
Saw III
Se7en
The Blair Witch Project
The Descent
The Fly
The Frighteners
The Machinist
The Sixth Sense
Underworld

I have a truly inspiring collection for times like this, don't I?

Have no clue what to do now. Help.