Yet another beginning...

in 2013!

Yep, I regret for missing the perfect timing to wish, but I still want to say,

Best of Luck for 2013!
Let it be the year you realize your goals and dreams and everything between! ^__^

And to mark the dawn of a new year, here's my backlight shot of Sepalika leaves 
with the sun peeping over

So how have you been everyone? As for me, I've been out of the mood to blog for a while (yep, a very long while it's been) so no matter how much I thought and resolved.. hereafter I'm going to be a regular on Blogger, I never did. -__-

No posts, no blog visits, no inspirations, no cam shots, no nothing! And when I finally get to drop by, I cannot help but become intimidated (and petrified), and wonder... will I ever be able to catch up to all these new posts on my blogroll that's been rolling at warp speeds for months! O__O (my soul then turn into Casper and flutter away from Milky Way)

So what can I say? When the TIME is the culprit and the PROCRASTINATION is his accomplice and the MOOD is their mastermind, you just can't outwit yourself from becoming lazy-prone, now can you? So at least today I won't say that I will be a regular hereinafter. But at least let me make it a point that I will (may) try to cover the last few posts (if not at least the last) that I seem to have missed from my dear old blogroll, a bunch at a time. (in case if my wordings made no sense whatsoever, kindly blame it on the doomsday hype from last year) ^__^

So yeah, before I get on with 2013, let me finish dealing a few things with 2012...

Before I parted from my teaching career, back in 2011, I was trying to realize my first life goal of becoming an author. There were a bunch of stories written by me since several years back, but most of them didn't see the end. (like the sleeping beauty they slumbered forever and ever) When I finally completed half the plot of one story I thought it was time to find a publisher for the book - for my maiden children's story. And I did contact all the publishers that I could think of.

But.. it never worked, and I mostly received negative feedback. Just one proprietor kindly gave me a load of tips on how to market my book. But many weren't even interested. And eventually I dropped the idea. Next I thought of translating story books. But it was like rewinding the past and playing it over and over. And after riding the high waves of negativity for a while, I realized that it all comes down to one thing. Either you ought to be a renowned author, or you ought to be able to self publish and market your own works. If not it's pretty hard to survive let alone enter the publishing world. But then again, maybe lady luck was not on my side.

And when I thought and thought about it, suddenly I found a new path opening up before me. In a way it's funny that I never thought of it before even though it has been suggested to me a couple of times, long ago. Indeed, I'm a writer and no matter where I work it doesn't change, and so this was the only solution. To make a name first and then try to publish a story. Though.. I never even dreamt before accepting this challenging task, that I will get an audience as big as our little island! Well.. then again who knows how many of them actually reads (despite our literacy rate being high, people still find less time to read, don't they?).

I was all giddy and excited to step into (not a publishing house but a huge building that housed a dozen odd newspaper firms in three different languages under one roof) and then start working for them since January 2012. Yep, it's been almost a year, though I'm still working as a freelancer from home. But thanks to this job, I was able to reach an unseen (some seen) audience and even inspire and motivate them on a regular basis. Those were my favorite, and were magazine articles. But I also started venturing outside, interviewing folks, doing bit of research and taking photos and have written a bunch of feature articles on a variety of topics. Visiting new places, meeting new people, discovering new things.. it's been a whole new experience for me. But I'm still taking it slow and steady. And of course, I'm still no where near a journalist, but doing a fraction of what they do daily, at my own snail's pace, still fascinates and excites me to no end.

And that's how my 2012 wrapped up... Now coming to 2013,

While continuing my work, I still couldn't give up on my dream goal that I lost one time. And so I started working on those idling stories, even hatching some new ideas, and trying to cook them, fry them, toast them, roast them... anyway I please and turn them into something irresistible (hopefully, if there will be any leftovers). In the mean time I'm hoping to go for translating story books once again (yep, I'm really bad at giving up!) and this time I feel like I've found the right place, as the time frozen from the end of 2011 seem to tick slow and steady now. So I'm waiting for some good news, with my fingers crossed.

Maybe... just maybe... lady luck may have smiled upon me? ^__^


PS: yes, I do tend to forget to add things and when I miss the timing, they willingly get pushed to the Postscript section. So now what did I forget? Oh yeah, about my photographic endeavors. Well.. I've been clicking a way lot more in 2012, though it has slowed down by now due to the long lousy weather = unstoppable rainy season. But you'll see some of them up in my future posts. For now I'll share a few, under PPPS.

PPS: Oh and I almost forgot to say that I joined the intimidating NGM My Shot community (think since April or so last year), and being a teeny microscopic speck amidst thousands of veterans and amateurs of the photography world, I've been taking baby steps in that field too.. indeed, it's a fascinating world - a one that lets you capture slices of stills from the streaming life. (and sorry if that didn't make sense either!)

PPPS: Here's a glimpse into those future posts...

The Sun...

 .... hopped, skipped and jumped

and then came tumbling down

[Sepalika leaf backlight shot]

* Sepalika = night flowering jasmine

Psssst!...

... Yo bug! watcha doin'?

'Thou shall not utter a word of me, if thou value thy life!' says the agent under cover

[backlight shot of a yellow bell flower leaf]

I'm back!

Hi everyone! How have you been? I know it's been ages since I last wrote something. Work kept me busy and even though I found a bit of time, I was still worrying whether I'll get to visit all the blogs in my blogroll or not. So kept procrastinating.(I know, wrong excuse!) =D

So to update about me, well... I started teaching at this institute since late January and been dealing with the tantrums and mischief of these big kids = 16+. =D They are cute sometimes, and that I only feel when they are about to leave us after their courses end. Partings are really hard to deal with but that's life I guess.

I've had loads of awesome experiences, exciting and adventurous as much as inspiring, touching, annoying, stressing and depressing moments too.. and the list goes on. -__- Eight plus months just flew by and here I am counting the odds of whether I can live with it or without it. =D

Just yesterday we had a lunch party, where each lecturer chipped in a curry and another brought rice. The smell was irresistible and so many homely tastes mixed in, so the meal was fantabulous! And we even asked for seconds! =D Oh and it was followed by an awesomely delicious Watalappan! lol Anyhow this was in fact our 3rd time having a lunch party at our department. I wonder if it's the power of food that makes me feel like it's my 2nd home. =D

Anyhow coming back to the present.. to compensate my long.. much felt... absence (what? you didn't even notice I wasn't around? =P) I have updated my albums and added dozens of new pics! The stories for them will come eventually, and for some... I'll let the pics themselves do the talking. =D

There's lots of stories to share, and I hope I'll get to tell them before I forget. So here's my first story... after a lapse of almost one year!

* CTRL + Click to view the photos in their original sizes.

Mr. Caterpillar

This alien looking puppet caterpillar greeted us one morning, 9th December 2010 to be precise. I was sure it was no living thing from Earth. But defying all rules of physics the puppet started moving on its own.

Such big round innocent puppy eyes, no way this fellow is a caterpillar.. is what I kept telling myself but.. I was indeed proven wrong.

The rubbery quilted body crawled lazily here and there on dozens of microscopic legs. It looked around from time to time with those pitiable puppy eyes.

I gave it food.. um.. these delicious looking flowers and leaves. And was eagerly waiting for it to grow wings, turn into a beautiful apple green butterfly and fly away.. well.. this always happen in alien movies and cartoons, don't they? So.. I waited and waited and waited and.. when I was about to give up.. something totally unexpected happened.

This cute Mr. Caterpillar from Uranus began to metamorphose into a beautiful butterfly... Not.. even close... but a weird looking caterpillar! O__O (a tune from your scariest horror movie is played in the background)

The cutesy face was no more to be found. Instead it grew an elephantine snout. And then only I realized that those big round puppy eyes were.. well.. actually they were distractions! If ever a predator gets close, the eyes could scare away them. Yep, in other words a trick of nature. Indeed it tricked me too! =D And who'd dare to gobble anything that stares at you with such cute puppy eyes?

So.. the poor li'l thing actually had no eyes, I suppose, and maybe it was finding its way through smell or sun light. These fake eyes were located on either sides of its longish chubby tummy. As it won't transform anymore, and now that I knew it was a terrestrial being, I released it back to mother nature.. with a smile. ^__^

.............

That's all for today folks. Have a great week! ^__^

Life.. is an endless stairway...

... full of ups and downs.

...

Hi everyone! How have you been? I did drop by a few of your blogs and tried catching up with the posts I've missed as much as I could. But the list never ends. =D

Well.. there's some news from my end too.. and I don't know whether to call it good or bad or neutral news.. but whatever it is.. all I know is that after a super busy first week followed by a super sickly second week I'm now getting used to the life back at home, slowly convalescing from all the complications I've accumulated as a souvenir from my first office job after 7yrs! =D

Good times...

Mmm.. I should have taken 2 buses to get to work but I made it a rule that I needed a daily workout so I only took 1 bus, the one to get to Kandy. From there every morning I walked a distance of nearly 3 bus halts to get to my work place. Then after work I'd walk back 2 bus halts to reach my bus.

I had to wake up around 5 am so as to be at the work place by around 8.15am. After work I'd leave office between 6 - 6.10pm and then arrive home past 7pm. For the first few days everything was all so nice. I really enjoyed my morning walks. I really enjoyed the chit chats with my new colleagues. Then my time at the canteen was my most favorite. The view from up there (2nd floor) was splendid and this is where I took breakfast, lunch and evening tea regularly. Though I call it tea I usually had Nescafe here, until I got a warning for drinking too much caffeine from the very person who served me Nescafe. =D

For breakfast they have roti with sizzling hot katta sambol or hoppers and string hoppers with dhal curry, coconut sambol and that green chili sambol. They also had different types of cakes including the coconut cake and rulan(g) cake that I didn't miss out. *and nope by the way I'm not a glutton, I just had a fine appetite* =P

This building has several floors and every time I climbed up or down I'd meet new folks. It was tough remembering their faces let alone their names cause there were like around hundred or so employees serving in dozens of different departments here.

Thanks to my memory I asked the same girl on two different days the same questions, i.e. where she's coming from and which department she's working... until she laughed and told me 'you asked me the same thing just the other day'. lol It's a good thing the folks here are so understanding, but still that was pretty embarrassing for me. -__-

Bad Times...

But I guess.. just as life offers good things it also offers bad things. And this was the policy of the weather gods.. who thought it was high time to commence their 'Operation Inter Monsoon' right at the time I began enjoying my new office life. Dealing with dust and smoke is one thing.. but having to deal with a torrential downpour after dark is another thing. There's the long traffic jams that pop up whenever there's rain too.

And then to add to this nightmare a huge hole, the size of a big bus, was dug suddenly in our route and they began construction works day and night! Since our bus route is a two-lane road getting a traffic jam was natural. But lucky for me the mornings were almost free from jam. But it wasn't the same during evenings.

The time I got home kept getting late more and more, making my parents worry to the max. Dad had to come to the bus halt as it gets pitch black cause of the stormy nights. Mom got irritated and shouted at me, each time I came home late. It was all too natural since she was highly worried about my health. And then it was like a norm for me to come home past 7.30pm caught in the traffic jam (thanks to that giant hole in the middle of the road) and also caught in the rain, drenched from head to toe and painted with a fine muddy batik work all over my dress!

And this kept continuing the rest of the week. The construction work too got dragged on. And because I had to work 6 days a week, it made me feel like there was no end to it.. so the daily traveling became exhausting. By now I already caught a flu and it never got better. I had taken medicine from 2 doctors and another for a tooth issue and finally got fed up with everything.

Dad too came much early to the bus halt to pick me up, thinking he'd miss me and had to wait in the torrential downpour for me. I sometimes had to stand in a sardine packed bus that won't even budge a millimeter for a half an hour, during these traffic jams. And on the final day something even weirder happened, while it was pouring outside the bus, it started raining inside the bus too! O__O And yep, I got wet even before I got off from the bus. -__-

The final doc that I channeled said that I've developed an acute bronchitis.. and that both my lungs were filled with phlegm. So.. I figured.. if I continue to get drenched in the rain like this.. I can look forward to a nice long vacation at the hospital with pneumonia.

Time finally came... time to take a decision. Mom didn't force me this time, so this was solely my own decision. It was tough for me but I knew I had to worry more about my health. And cause of the late times I arrived home, plus my getting sick had all troubled my parents even more than me.. so after considering and weighing all the pros and cons, I gave up the job that I enjoyed doing very much.

Anyway I don't regret what I did. Now I'm only concentrating on getting better from all these complications I've developed. You see.. I even had my old gastric issue worsened due to the strong medicines I kept taking for all this time.

It's actually a good eye opener for me.. instead of accepting everything served on a platter as it is.. I should have changed my working times the moment I felt this was too much. Not that I didn't try, just that I was told it wasn't possible the first time I inquired. So I thought I could keep up, but I couldn't. For me who was too used to working from home with such flexible working hours, I guess this type of working duration and distance was indeed too much.

So now that I know it.. I'll do a thorough planning before I apply for another..but first of all.. I think I should enjoy a nice long break and of course get better! =D
...

Hope you have a great weekend! ^__^

Inactive mode On

Hi everyone! How have you been? I was planning to wrap up the Medirigiriya topic but suddenly things took a 180 degree turn and now I hardly seem to have time for anything.

You see.. I've been working as a freelancer from the convenience of my home for a while so 'time' was something I've been taking for granted for all this time. But out of whim I thought of switching my field from writing to something else and was also planning to get back to office work, so I've been trying out a few places, during the last couple of weeks.

And then.. all of a sudden I got a job at a company, around 6-7 km away from home, and so since late last week I've started working at an office, yep after 7 years I'm back to office work! lol So all those wonderful free times I used to enjoy are no more. -__-

I leave home at around 7.30 am and return home past 7pm, exhausted to the max. Well.. if you're using public transport, it's a given. And I'm also working 6 days a week, full time, so I'm free only on Sundays.

Even though this job drains my energy totally, weird enough, I'm highly enjoying my new work! ^__^ The place is rich in diversity and I'm learning new things daily, meeting new people daily, and even my work has a good variety so.. it's like having daily adventures.. the office way. =D

But.. sadly I can't catch up with your blogs like I used to. Though on Sundays I'll try my best to do so. Yesterday (Sunday) was a busy day for me since I had to go for hunting... yep, hunting for office wear = shopping. lol So from next Sunday onwards I'll try my best to catch up with your blogs as much as I can. And thanks for everyone who added links for me. I'll definitely check them up as soon as I get a break.

Do take care everyone! And have a great week ahead! ^__^

Left far behind

..is how I feel whenever I login and check the dashboard. I've only a handful of blogs in my blogroll but how come I can't seem to keep up? I'm the type who hates skipping topics and moving up fast, *curiosity kills, I know* but despite it slows me down, I still am too eager to read all topics *if possible* instead of reading the latest and being up to date. *how nice of me* =P

Well.. I've been having such an eventful month, should I say eventful life.. a one that got me catch the same old flu three times in a row in itself is eventful right? O__o Well.. putting that aside, the me who don't have so much to share usually.. now seem to be having tons of stories to share.. so being The lazybones of the era, kept postponing them over and over again. 

And funny enough cause of this procrastination habit I've also skipped something important, my photo blog's (ya, this very blog's) 1st Anniversary, that came and left without a word, on the 2nd of August 2010. *sigh* Yep, already 20 days have gone since then and now's such a nice time to talk about it, huh? -__-

So.. want to know what stories I'll be sharing in the future = in a day or 2, a week or 2, a month or 2, a year or 2? O__O um.. hope you won't have to wait that long. -__-

Anyway here's some of those key topics..

1. the ruins of Medirigiriya and what I found hidden among them, critters of all sorts and surprising discoveries (remember that hidden tunnel? that's just one of them)
2. all types of arts and perhaps architecture too, I've captured since a while within and outside Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth), I'd say the place is a treasure trove of traditional arts
3. stories of the two Hells I've been to.. yes, H-E-L-L-S, real live.. well.. realistically sculpted ones that will give you the chills and goosebumps with just one glance! (forgot already? I did mention long ago that I'm planning to visit Dambulla temple's man-made hell, but ended up visiting two different hells! after seeing too many hells, when I die will I end up in the hell as well?) -__-
4. as for the grand finale... the entire Kandy Esala Perahera (the biggest procession in Lanka), I've caught 250+ pics and 5 or so short video clips just yesterday in the biting cold weather! Hopefully they're intact.. still got to load them to the comp and sort them out.

Did anyone else go see Kandy Perahera by the way? I'll have a bigger and exciting post about it in the future. ^__^


Have a great week! ^__^