Welcome Tipsygrrl!

Here are PG, we are thrilled to welcome Tipsygrrl, the latest writer to grace the site. Tipsygrrl is a Philly girl who’s had a little too much to drink. But in a good way. We think. Not sure, we’ll let you know how that AA  intervention goes.

Well, yes. I am a bit tipsy writing this post. Cliche as it seems, a bit of alcohol helps loosen things up. Clichés exist for a reason. And there are many things I’m not that bad at after I’ve had a drink. Or two. (After three… well, see this James Thurber quote.)

Drinking alcohol is pretty widely accepted in American culture, and indeed, in all Judeo-Christian societies. In Europe even more so, where adults readily give their kids sips of wine at their 10pm dinner hour. Jesus is worshiped for turning water into wine (among other things). For Muslims, the Qur’an presents a journey of thoughts about drinking, starting with a note that “the sin is greater than the profit” and ending with a call to total abstinence.

Babysitter Slavery

My old friend (and former PG blogger) DonBito brought my attention to this interesting Craigslist ad posted on February 16. It reads:

“We’re also looking for a babysitter for a 6 month old boy…college student preferred so that you can study while he’s sleeping and keep up with your school work (similar to work study)…this is perfect for continuing education students or those taking evening classes or night shift workers…this is not for everyone and we realize that so if you are interested for guaranteed pay on a weekly basis then contact us…days/times would be between 8am -6pm – Monday through Friday in our home in a secure building in Center City…but will vary week to week regardless if we have you leave at 4pm (most days) or even if we give you days off during the week, your pay would be $150 for the week paid every Friday…the start date would be March 1, 2010…by the way, if we had more money to offer you-then we would…if you’re on public transportation we may be able to get you a monthly transpass…the daycares charge $150 – $250 per week to watch 15-30 kids at a time, we want to help a college student earn $600 per month for babysitting and studying…contact for more details..interviews immediately until the position is filled….thanks for your prompt response…”

A Lawyer Walks into a Bar…

Try reading this without falling asleep. Times like this, I wish I could pull a Marx Brothers and start ripping out pieces of my textbook.

A Little SRK/Kajol/Bollywood Tutorial

So in anticipation of My Name is Khan (MNIK), which releases tomorrow, DesiHits released a list of their top five favorite SRK+Kajol songs. Funny, I was doing the same thing to a small extent on Twitter when I was traveling to NYC to the press conference for MNIK. Two of the songs, “Suraj Hua Madham” from Kabbi Khushi Kabbi Gham and the “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” theme song were among the ones I tweeted. My friends who haven’t seen any Bollywood movies peppered me with questions re: SRK, Kajol and Bollywood music.

Look guys, I can’t tell you what to listen when it comes to Indian music.  Figure it out for yourself. But, since I apparently have an SRK girl-crush, here, without further ado, are my favorite SRK+Kajol songs. (Oh, by the way Bollywood neophytes, yes I do blame Bollywood for giving me unrealistic expectations about men. You bet I do. Login to your Facebook account to see the group.) Okay, some of them are from the same movie. MNIK is only their sixth movie together, whaddya want?

5) “Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main” from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Ah, the era of Bollywood movies shot in Switzerland. It took me a while to figure out that India didn’t have um, snowy mountains everywhere. I was a slow child, what can I say?

Why I Heart the Mutiny?

Probably not, but just in case you were wondering, I wanted to let you know that I’m still around, writing regularly for Sepia Mutiny, the biggest, baddest, brownest, most belligerent South Asian blog on the net. I forget to cross-post sometimes most of the time, which is probably not a good thing, but just a reminder that you can catch some of my stuff on Sepia Mutiny. Here’s a quick checklist of the stuff I’ve blogged for them since I began in August, starting from the most recent post.

• Khan Signs Nudie Pics. (self-explanatory)

• Q&A with @PorkAdventurer aka Abdullah Saeed. By far one of my most favorite interviews ever. Abdullah and I met at the Brew Ha Ha cafe near 12 and Walnut. He had Earl Grey, I had mint tea. (No bacon, alas.) I predict great things for this one, folks. Great things. And he’s a Philadelphian, profiling Philadelphia places! Love it!
• Khan Takes on Manhattan. Getting the chance to cover an actual Bollywood press conference was definitely a dream come true. And I didn’t trip (too much) over cables and whatnot. And I asked a question and my voice didn’t shake! I can haz be professional? Perhaps. See? Blogging for SM has it perks :P
• Zardari Tells Crowd to Shaddup. Hmm, either we don’t have a lot of Pakistani readers, or I just didn’t write anything thought-provoking. Guessing it was the latter.
• Tea with Chachaji. Event listing. Send me your events, yo.

• Could Scott Brown be any Browner? I think I offended the politicos with this one, but oh well. I thought it was funny. (Sure, you think EVERYTHING is funny, don’t you, PG? Why can’t you take life more seriously?) Bite me.

Photo=Thousand Words

I still remember the first camera I bought. It was the summer of 2005 and I had just gotten my first job, teaching high school kids at a program run through Temple University. I got my paycheck and I went straight to Best Buy and bought a camera, one of those older digital Canon Powershot models. I loved that camera, it went everywhere with me. Every college party. Every family event. Everywhere. It lasted for nearly three years until my trip to Israel, where I tripped over a rock while planting a tree near Lebanon and cracked the camera’s LCD screen. I was crushed.