Guest Post: Did I say 10 different countries? (Part 1)

-by Neeraj Sachdeva

“Did I say 10 different countries?” I asked

“Yes, now do you want to answer my question or not?”

“What was your question?” No wonder he was getting angry.

“What. Have. You. Learnt. On. Your. Travels.?”

“Oh yea...that! Well let's see. First, I went to Sweden. People always say that Sweden is full of nearly-homosexual guys and dumb blondes. Well, there are some assumptions and a whole lot of Mexican rumors in that”

“So you have been to Mexico?”

“It is my story, so sit down and shut your trap. And no; I have never been to Mexico.”

"Okay."

"Ready? Here we go."

1. Sweden:

Now, not all Swedish girls are blonde (I prefer blondes), so what people assume is partly true. As for the guys, well, I just don’t know...They dress well, maybe too well. Sweden is a cold country, and Swedes have always been at the fore-front of fashion in Scandinavia. Anything from America first lands on Swedish shores, and they gobble up latest issues of Vogue with great aplomb. When I travelled to Sweden, I had a certain female companion; so obviously I had no time or enthusiasm to mingle with Swedish women. Or so I thought.

Landing on the shores of Sweden, along with pristine Vogue magazines made me realize that Sweden was a beautiful country, even when covered in 3 feet of snow. But I was scared. You put a 5ft-something guy in a country where he could accidently step in snow that is half his size; you bet he’d be scared. What distracted me were the malls and women. There were plenty of both going around. Swedish shoppers are famous for their expensive purchases, though recession must have dented their wallets. Still living on student expenses, I and the aforementioned female companion managed to convince a pub-owner to give us a bottle of white wine. You have no idea how magical snow, wine and a warm fireplace can be!

So, if 3 feet of snow doesn’t scare you, and you like beautiful women, go to Sweden. It still is lovely, I have been told.

2. Netherlands:

“Feeling cold? Want some weed?”

This is what a homeless guy asked me on my first night in Amsterdam. Fortunately, that was the only time I was offered weed by a stranger. Unfortunately, 14 other times, I was offered Cocaine. One guy even came up to me, tugged my shirt and offered me Cocaina, Spanish for Cocaine. I curtly declined.

Well, this is the interesting thing about Amsterdam, and partly the reason why most tourists go there – for the weed, the legal fix that can get you as high as a kite. 

Now, I didn’t go to Amsterdam for weed, neither for prostitution, which is also legal there. Have you ever been to a bookstore? That is how prostitutes line up in ‘dam, only, they don’t stand close to each other – it is a competition after all. I went to Amsterdam because my trip to Tenerife got cancelled. So I got invited by my cousin who lives in Hague, and I thought I’d meet some rastafaris while I was in Netherlands, so I visited Amsterdam too. It was an enlightening trip. Not enlightening because I smoked a lot, but because I truly discovered myself, saw myself in a new light. Oh, I didn’t go for the cocaine, just didn’t have the nose for it!

3. England:

Plain-old, bland-food, fish and chips, Eurovision suckers England.

I spent 7 years there, most of the time spent holed up in my room trying to dominate English premier league as a Football Manager. Sad days, but there were some upsides. People in England are very cool, mostly. I mean they won’t stop on the street to talk with you, but if you stop them, they will definitely smile. Beware of the pretty girls with clipboards – they collect your card details and not your phone numbers. I have been fooled once or twice. Maybe thrice.

People in England often seem busy, rushing off to some distant place. Considering England is just a small island, I often wonder how far they will get. The architecture in some of the old towns of England is breathtaking. The countryside in south of England is beautiful, plus there are lot of drag races in that part of the country. London is class apart, one of the many European cities that draw in the tourists. Don’t go for the royalty though, they are not THAT cool.

4. Scotland:

Edinburgh is a nice place, full of Victorian architecture, beautiful parks and strong Scottish accent. I had the opportunity to enjoy the local scenery of Edinburgh. However, the trip – under 3 days – was way too short to appreciate all Edinburgh had to offer. Some parts of a recent ‘crap-fest’ called Mausam, produced in Bollywood was shot in Edinburgh. Nostalgia kicks in and I can remember the beauty of the grand city. Locals enjoy eating a dish called Haggis – a savory pudding cooked in casing of sheep’s intestines. Yuck! No thank you!

There is a lot more to Scotland than we had time to discover. If you can get past the accent and the smell of Haggis, you will love the city. I know I did.

5. France:

No such list is ever complete without mention of France, particularly Paris. The closest capital to where I lived in England, and I could only manage one night in Paris (by which I am not alluding to Paris Hilton).

Visit Ile Saint Louis in Paris (the Island of Saint Louis). Some consider it to the most romantic point of Paris. You can relax with a loved one on the island in the middle of river Siene, enjoying picturesque beauty of Paris along with tourist boats that slowly pass you by. Paris was serene, a perfect blend of art, culture and romance.

Paris is known for its delicacies, the snakes, and frogs; so don’t eat food that you can get anywhere else in the world. If you like culture, romance, art and just good weather, enjoy Paris. One warning though, the traffic there is terrible, avoid it at all costs. Also, learn French. People there don’t like English-speakers, which just happens to be most of the world!

Neeraj Sachdeva is a psychology-motivated blogger who writes about Freelancing and Self-Improvement, often together. Check out his latest post (and Free Quiz) on Motivational Goal Seeking. You can find his take on The Art of Persuasion as well as his logic-driven post on The Essence of Friendship over at The Next Goal, part of WBB Survivor Contest.

Guest Post: Make Love, Not Chants

Make love, not chants

by Neeraj Sachdeva

Here comes the season for romancing,
Warm tea, hot cakes and morning chanting
One makes you sleep snugly at night
The other wakes you up before morning light.

The rousing rapture raves the beads of ecstasy
On the glowing skin, soft and bouncy
There’s more to be said about nightly jubilations
Than morning trepidation and evening tribulations.

So she chants his name, in a verse of five,
For when she says his name, she feels alive
What’s livelier than a morning chant
A sugary cake or nightly romance?

See, when you reach a certain age,
Each tribulation is another stage
Of energy draining and mojo waning
So chanting is new daily training.

But as we roll out the quilts this season,
Forget the quilt and grab another reason
To snug and stay warm this cold,
For summer’s far, don’t wait till you’re old.

Neeraj Sachdeva is a psychology-motivated blogger who writes about Freelancing and Self-Improvement, often together. Check out his latest post (and Free Quiz) on Motivational Goal Seeking. You can find his take on The Art of Persuasion as well as his logic-driven post on The Essence of Friendship over at The Next Goal, part of WBB Survivor Contest. He writes poetry to amuse his audience (and woo his women!) ;)

The Pretty Mask

Hey! Wake up, pick out your clothes,

And pass your day the way They want.

Pass your day, the way They say,

It’s time to put on your pretty mask.

No! Don't look at that guy, sketching in the park.

Don't you know, They consider him 'weird'?

There’s just the one way to 'happiness',

Don’t ever give up your pretty mask.

Laugh, even when it’s not funny,

Smile, even if it is too damn hard.

Blend in or They will see and attack,

Don’t ever give up your pretty mask.

It matters not what you really want,
and what you feel is not a concern.
It's what They think that really matters, 

Don’t ever give up your pretty mask.

And comes the night after the long day,

Now you may cry and wash your face.

There is no one around to see you now,

For now, you can pull off the mask.

But look, here goes the dark night,

and the sun declares it a new day.

Soon you have to go step out in the light,

Time to put on the heavy, pretty mask, again.

Open up your senses

Why do we need spotlights on beauty to appreciate it?
Open up your senses.

Reblogged: Letters between lovers (The things we leave unsaid)

Source: www.dailylove.net/2010/06/62310.html

Letters Between Lovers
(The Things We Leave Unsaid)
By Ashley Shaw

Danny,

It is sunny here,

But not as warm as expected.

Dusty yellow rays bounce off

The shiny red paint

On my car,

But I still shiver.

I never realized how

Cold it could be

In Florida

-Leslie

Leslie,

I, too, am cold.

But for a different reason.

I miss you.

I wish you would come home.

I can still hear your tentative footsteps

Walking through our bedroom.

It still smells like gardenia,

Even though all of the flowers

Have died.

It is brisk here.

Love,

-Danny

Danny,

Yes, I am aware of your brisk temperatures.

Like the cold tone of your letter.

I made it to the beach today

And let my toes drift lazily

Against the water's edge.

I wore my black bikini.

The one we picked out together

In one of those little stores on the

Jersey boardwalk.

I caught men staring at my

Rounded bottom.

I don't know why I'm telling you this.

I chased the seagulls

Into the foaming surf.

It's so beautiful here.

But I still long for home.

I hope you are keeping occupied.

-Leslie

Leslie,

I am keeping busy.

To distract myself from

Thoughts of your hair

And toes and skin and shoulders

And scent.

I feel your ghost in each

Breath I take, and

I keep thinking I see you

Out of the corner of my eye,

Your lips stretched into a smile.

It was so rare to see you smile

During the past few months.

I wish you were here.

Yes, I'm very busy.

-Danny

Danny,

I'm having my lawyer send up the papers.

Please sign them at your earliest convenience.

Why couldn't you just talk to me?

We could have resolved this.

I'm sorry it worked out this way.

Why didn't you just

Love me?

-Leslie

Leslie,

The papers are signed.

I'm sorry.

I wish I could have fixed this,

But I know

I could never be what you need.

I wish I could tell you

How much I love you,

How much I long for you,

How late I stay awake each night

Just thinking of your eyes,

But some things are

Better left

Unsaid.

-Danny

- - -I am a twenty-one year old student at Arcadia University. I have many strange phobias (including peanut-butter), but writing is not one of them. So this is one of my first attempts to get my work published. Thank you for any and all consideration.

The message.

Come fill the oceans with your pearls,
watch the black rose as it unfurls.
Tingling at first, but it pierces inside,
A hollow space in you like someone just died.

Surrender to memories, every time it rains,
and curse me dead, every time it pains.
Embrace yourself and dance all alone,
sway my darling, though the music is gone.

Stand in your balcony in the dark night,
Look up at the moon not even in sight.
Cheeks burn, eyes melt, and your lips stutter,
Think of every word you could never utter.

Here, look in the mirror, and there you stare,
into your beautiful, wet eyes that glare.
Feel the goosebumps running across your spine,
remember, all these shivers are also mine.

Think when the weight of nothingness will be gone?
Think when shall we be truly free, if ever at all?
The day when we don't have to ever try,
to be complete, become a brighter you and I.

Go ahead, and weep all you may,
wait till comes along a brighter day.
Light up your heart, fulfilling every desire.
And with all your light, set me on fire.

The Plutchik Wheel of Emotions

The Plutchik Wheel of Emotions

This beautiful picture is called The Plutchik Wheel of Emotions. If you concentrate on the center circle, you will see six types of emotions. The emotions are paired against each other. Like opposite of ecstasy, there's grief. Definitely worth a look.

The Eight Principles of Having Fun

An amazing video I stumbled upon... AWESOME Animation. Check it out..

Reblogged: Date A Girl Who Reads

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes." 

 

-Rosemarie Urquico.

Dreams

We all have a hundred dreams... Some of us want to be as rich as never having to check a price tag. Some of us want our names down in history books. Some of us want to be a celebrity everybody respects. And some of us just seem to want to win a heart...

When we dream, naturally we are the heroes of a movie script well written. Fragments of ideas and images lead us to lose so much time daydreaming. And before we know it, the moon is shining outside and we realise that we wasted so much time thinking up stuff like kids, stuff that probably would never happen.

As time passes, you cut short on your dreams. You realise all the things u wanted to do are not as easy as they once seemed.. The world is so cruel that you are maybe just 18 yet and still it lets you know that dreams are mostly for dreaming. We end some dreams, some of them are completely shattered, and just a little bit of them is accomplished. And when a dream finally becomes reality, you often never look at it like a dream.

Most dreams end when you realise that the world doesn't run the way you want it, it runs the way it wants. There ARE some exceptional people who manage to spin with the world, and get it all... That person is the real winner in your eyes. The one who achieves his dreams... Maybe that was Mark Zuckerberg, maybe that could be you, and that one guy was almost me.

Dreams may divert you from your reality, but still, you may say that it is important to dream, to aim. It is important to dream because if you dream, you might just get it all. Even if it's to lose it all again some day. But no matter what, a little dreaming gets you closer to being the person you always wanted to be. And if nothing else, you'll emerge as a better person.

In the end I'd like to say what many great men have said. Dreams are not those you see when you are asleep, Dreams are those which don't let you sleep.

Untitled

The sun must rise but the sun must set,
insects fly but some are caught in the net.
Some people cant walk, they are destined to crawl,
no matter what, someday, every leaf must fall..

Keep clinging to the rock, let go and you die.
Because sometimes you trip and dont get back up if you try.
Scream, shout, breakdown and start crying.
Atleast to yourself, you can stop lying.
Because some people cant walk, they are destined to crawl,
no matter what, someday, every leaf must fall..

Feel the rush and feel the whipping cold wind.
Driving on the higway and you start to sing.
Get pleased with every beautiful flower you see,
the lesser ones dont have thorns maybe...
Some people cant walk, they are destined to crawl,
no matter what, someday, every leaf must fall..

Give up, give in, don't make the climb.
And be sure all you did wasn't worth a dime.
Keep trying and you might have a chance to deserve,
Fail you may but still get things to preserve.
Some people cant walk, they are destined to crawl,

But try and stand up, for you may just get it all..

Just too many..

When you're lonely, sick and tired,
you feel now you cant even try..
Coz there is only so much of happiness,
But too many vultures in the sky.

When you feel you're lying down and deep,
you just wish you could fly up high..
But there is only so much love here,
and too many people walking by..

You must pray for the rain to fall,
or you can just lose it all..
Coz there's only so much you can grow,
But just too many seeds to sow..

And you wish you could now decide,
what you want and what you really need.
You have to figure out what to do,
coz there's just too many people who bleed..