The green eyed monster

I knew he had loved her before I became a part of his life. I knew she took up a large portion of his past. But like most brides, I hoped that getting married to me would change everything. That he would gradually forget her. Alas, it didn't happen. Whenever he is with me, I see it in his eyes that he misses her. He wants her. Don't get me wrong, he loves me. But he loves her too. He feels such a connection with her, that he cant let go of her even for a single day. They understand each other without a single word being spoken. Maybe he likes the fact that he has total control over her. Maybe it is their shared interest in soccer. Maybe something else, I don't know. But I have come to accept the fact that she will be a part of our lives and he will continue to love her.

Damn you, Xbox One!

My new toy and a trip down the memory lane

I recently saw a Spirograph at a store, and was immediately transported back to my childhood days. 

My new Spirograph kit

This was one of the many fun geeky things my brothers taught me (among other things such as an introduction to the big bang theory and the fact that you can locate the centre of a circle using just a compass.) Those were the days when I didn't even know what the Spirograph was called, and could barely coordinate my hands to get a decent design. But I do remember requesting my brothers to draw a bunch of spirographs for some greeting card or bookmark that I might have been working on at that time.

So when I saw this Spirograph at the store, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Of course, I had to buy it again - no matter that it said in bold letters on the cover "Ages: 8+". I am 8+, aint I?!

Check out those curves!

A brush with acrylics

My husband recently signed me up for a 2 hour painting class, to help me kickstart my painting projects again (and also to give himself 2 uninterrupted hours playing video games). When it comes to art, I have always been a Jill of all media, and this class was the perfect opportunity for me to dabble in a new media - acrylics!

Berger daisies - Acrylic on canvas

I had heard of all the pros of acrylics before and always wanted to try. But I had also heard of how quickly it dries up, and wondered if this was a media for me. I am pleased to report that I did indeed enjoy working with acrylics. It dries up faster than oils, but not so fast that you cant work with it. While an oil painting would take weeks to completely dry and progress layer by layer, acrylics reduce that process to a matter of days. And the fact that you don't have to put up with smelly paint thinners (acrylics are water based) is a huge plus!

I will definitely try acrylics again. That is, once I am through all the watercolour and oil painting projects I promised my husband ;)

Thanksgiving weekend

For the Thanksgiving weekend, we made a lot of plans - Santa Cruz, Monterey and Point Reyes. But of course its the holiday season, its cold outside and we got lazy. So we ended up doing only one of those - Santa Cruz! We got lots of rest and an appropriate dose of fun ;)

We picked a pleasant sunny day for our trip and took the longer, but more scenic, California State Route 1. And WOW, what an awesome drive! Running along the beautiful Pacific coastline, it is THE most scenic route I have ever been on.

En route pics of the coastline

Picnic benches en route

On the way we spotted the Pigeon Point lighthouse and stopped to soak in the view. Visitors aren't allowed inside the lighthouse, so we had to content ourselves with the beautiful views outside. Right beside the lighthouse are the ex-housing quarters, which have now been converted to a Hostelling International hostel. Apparently, the highlight of the hostel is this nice hot tub right on the cliff edge overlooking the lighthouse. Tempting, isn't it? The husband and I immediately decided to come back and stay here a weekend.

Pigeon Point lighthouse

View at Pigeon Point

Pier at Pigeon Point

From here we went on to the Santa Cruz wharf. We had our lunch at a seafood restaurant on the wharf with pretty views of the ocean through porthole shaped windows. With happy bellies, we went exploring the wharf. And this is when I fell in love with sea lions.

My first sighting of the Sea Lion

Sea Lions lazing around

It was a nice calm afternoon we spent on that wharf, filled only with sounds of the sea, barking sea lions, squeaking sea gulls and squealing kids. I know I mentioned in my last post that the bark of the seals was annoying. No longer do I find it annoying. On this trip I fell in love with that bark, so much that I recorded some of it!


  

Barking sea lions at Santa Cruz

We saw some solo, we saw a herd. Some were floating around lazily in the water. Some were napping on the platforms below the wharf. Plonking themselves on one another to find a comfortable sleeping place. Yawning. Scratching themselves behind the ears. Sniffing and sneezing. Even peeing! 

Some of them were squabbling amongst themselves - we saw a rogue sea lion push away others off the platform. Cute, aren't they? All in all, I found them so charming that I spent most part of the day looking for them, watching them, listening to them. 

After I had my fill of sea lions for the day, we went on to see what else the city had to offer. We spent what was left of our day at the amusement park right on the coast. We got into some scary mazes, some rides and then settled down to play some arcade games (we won some bouncy balls! :P) After a nice fun day, we bade goodbye to this lovely city and the adorable sea lions to head back home. 

Newfound love

I love the Redwood City public library. One of the first things I did after moving here was to sign up for a library card. Over the last couple of months, it has become my second favorite place in the city (the first, of course, is home). It has kept me company during all those lonely hours when the husband was at work. It has introduced me to new pleasures and new things to learn. The vast collection of books on every imaginable topic is, of course, a given. Whether it is my regular dose of fiction, or learning resources to improve my painting skills or a learn-woodworking book that piqued the hubby's interest. When I wanted to learn Spanish, where did I go look for resources? Or that one time when we maxed out our broadband limit and couldn't use Netflix anymore, so I went and discovered the movie collection at the library. As a newbie in this city, when I wanted to meet new people and make friends, I went volunteering for Project Read at the library. The library has been there for me for everything I needed, and I am glad we live only a block away. Three cheers for the library!

The Golden Gate and thereabouts

This weekend, PD and I decided to check off the most obvious to-do for newcomers to the Bay Area - we went on a drive to the Golden Gate bridge. While the Golden Gate (the strait) itself looked pretty, my first sighting of the Golden Gate bridge was a little... underwhelming. I know, the bridge is one of the oldest, and has a number of firsts to boast, but I just couldn't see why this was the internationally recognized symbol for San Francisco (For very different reasons, I never figured how the Charminar is the signature monument for Hyderabad either. I mean, clean the place up, for God's sake!)

My first sighting of the Golden Gate bridge

Horseshoe Bay

It could be that I had totally upped my expectations based on the beautiful shots of the bridge all over the net, and we weren't at the right place to get the best view of the bridge. So we went around looking for better vista points, and we were well rewarded for the effort! 

The Golden Gate and thereabouts - our weekend trip

We got excellent views of the Golden Gate bridge and the Pacific. Oh, the views, the pleasant environs, the quiet! It was quite a thrill to be at the very edge of the continent.

A view from a vantage point

Point Bonita in the distance

At the very edge of the continent

After a little bit of driving around, we found these nice picnic benches with an awesome view and settled down there with some snacks we had packed from home. Lunch with a view, and what a view it was! Did I mention we spotted a deer?

Our view during lunch :)

Spot the deer!

From here, we headed onwards to the Point Bonita lighthouse. I guess this was the highlight of the trip. Reaching the lighthouse involved a short hike, walking through a small tunnel and a short suspension bridge. With breathtakingly spectacular views of the Pacific throughout! By now I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

Point Bonita lighthouse

The Golden Gate bridge from Point Bonita

The blue green waters of the Pacific

We realized after we got there that the Point Bonita cove is home to harbor seals and wished we had brought a pair of binoculars. We did get to watch them lazing around on the rocks from a distance though. We even saw some of them jump off the rocks into the water, and back from the water onto the rocks. They have such a cute way of flopping around, who would have thought they bark! And not even a cute puppy kind of bark, more of a hoarse annoying bark.

Spot the seals!

Here is a close up of the lazy seals

I loved the trip, and I am sure we are going to go back to the Golden Gate again. There is so much more to explore, and the sights so beautiful. I can't wait to go back again!

The Golden Gate beckons!

A poem for my sweetheart

It was the January of 2012
that I first had the feeling
I had finally met the one
who had my head reeling

It felt good to know you -
at first I thought you were a flirt
For the most part you made me laugh
But at times you were curt

By February I was intrigued
By March I had a crush on you
By April I was head over heels
What was in store, I had no clue

By May, we had our first fight
The crisis in our love story
It took us time to sort it through
And some Tequila and Bloody Mary

But finally, we realized and learnt
what we should have long known
That we are meant to be together
till we have some grey hairs grown

For I want to spend the rest of my days
Till the very end, all the way
In love with you, the light of my life
Dear God, this is all I pray


For the love of my life, PD - for you :)