Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Not exactly an excuse...

I never blogged while I was in India because then I would have had to make the choice between participating in life there or writing about participating in life there...

With complete vivid recollection, it was my intention to relive my experiences through blogging. I started to and then the world, I mean my computer (sometimes known as the confuser) went to pot... not exactly crashed, but my Lord ~ or Ganesha, Durga, Shiva, Krishna as the case may be ~ I have been in digital media hell.. or more like limbo... waiting to be reincarnated again!

Things are slowly but surely on the mend and so I will resume writing my memoirs in the not too distant future.

For followers of Mismo... we are getting close to having the film complete. We're currently scoring the music and color correcting. In the months ahead, we hope to have exciting news to share, so stay tuned.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Arriving in Chennai, India

After three days of traveling, the true journey began… I arrived in Chennai at 11:00 pm on Saturday, December 27th, 2008.

After maneuvering the higgledy-piggledy passport checkpoint, I emerged unceremoniously onto the balmy Madras sidewalk. Faced with a wall of brown faces searching for their loved ones, or unsuspecting tourists, my focus was solely on the sign bearing my name.


Alas, no such sign was in evidence.

The local currency had to be acquired, which meant a walk down the sidewalk to a nearby ATM. The journey secured me a tenacious tout offering his services. No matter how many times I said, "no thank you," he kept by my side. A few minutes later, a small fortune in hand, I walked back towards the airport. I didn’t want to be rude. I felt bad for him merely trying to secure a job, but eventually rudeness prevailed. Actually, it was more of a sharp, definitive, "No." Kind of like talking to a naughty puppy, I noted. Nonetheless, he remained within earshot.

My traveling companion was overwhelmed and of no use whatsover and so I deposited him with the luggage while I trawled back up and down the line in search of our driver. Judging by the crowd and endless sound of car horns, I suspected the driver was merely late. I had complete faith he would be there… eventually. Thinking that a phone call might be the solution, I braved my way to a kiosk across the street and bought two bottles of water so I could have small change for the phone. It was a breeze… nothing to be afraid of. In fact, the people were friendly and I learned that the going rate for a bottle of water was 13 rupees.

Back with my companions, the one with whom I was traveling and my newly-found service provider, I said, “We have to make a phone call.” And sure enough, the man was of service. He borrowed someone’s cell phone for me to use. "Very good madam," was the first of thousand very good madams that I would hear and come to love.

As I was connecting with our hotel, our driver appeared suddenly like magic, which is, I discovered, often how things work in India.

Our driver took control of my luggage and following his lead, I gave our helper a tip… which is also how things work in India.

I asked our driver his name, as I would anyone with whom I interacted in India. His name was Pondy and he would become my friend.

Tucked in the back of Pondy's trusty Ambassador, we made our way through Chennai onto the dark highway to Mamallapuram. I kept my eyes scanned for the miles of shanty towns that I had been warned and read about. Maybe I didn't see them because all was dark or maybe I didn't see them because I was in heaven... I was finally in India. With the window down I breathed in the balmy air and soaked in the scents and sites of India.

To be continued…

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

p.s. Cosmic Laws of Dating

I found out from a friend last night that the guy who was overwhelmed by my radiance at the party on Saturday night was in fact gay - too f**king funny!

And, now that I think about it, since I was at Bootie, the other admirers probably were too!

Well, thank heavens for our gay boys ~ a woman would starve for compliments without them telling us how fierce we are!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Cosmic Laws of Dating

So my girlfriend sent me the following joke:

Shrek, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lopez were all having lunch together.

Shrek said, 'I have always thought that I'm the strongest man in the world, but how can I be sure?

Brad Pitt said, 'I'm pretty sure I'm the hottest man alive but I've never had it confirmed.'

Jennifer Lopez agreed. 'I'm told I'm the sexiest of them all, but sometimes I wonder.'

They all decided that the best way to find out if their beliefs were true was to approach the Wicked Queen's mirror to confirm for them whether Shrek was the strongest, Brad Pitt was the hottest and Jennifer Lopez was the sexiest.

They agreed to meet again the next day for lunch to discuss their findings.

The next day Shrek walked up with a smile. 'Well, it 's true. The mirror told me that I am the strongest man in the world.'

Brad Pitt followed and boasted, 'It is true, it has been confirmed that I am the hottest man alive!!'

Jennifer Lopez walked in; head bent, tears in her eyes and asked,"Who the Heck is Lorraine Flett?"

Which was sweet and funny. And it reminded me of my Saturday night... to which I wrote back to her:

Thank you so much... I was at a house party for Valentine's with Anthony and had the hottest guy tell me "you're so radiant, I need sunglasses!" Funny thing is I didn't even hear him. It was only when Anthony and I were on our way to another party that Anthony asked me, "does that line work in the straight world?"

At the next party (Bootie), I was taking a break from dancing when a guy came up and told me my "posture and stature were awesome," followed by another who simply high fived me! Then there was another who followed me around like a puppy – we actually smooched for a minute (hey, it was Valentine's after all!), but then I joined the line at the ladies and lost him...

I'm telling you... It's because I am not available. If I was looking for a man, no-one would have looked twice... (My man was working.)

I might just have to blog this, so here it is...

Is there some cosmic law that says men only notice you when you're not looking? And are there others I should know about?