RAYS OF SUNSHINE.

 I have decided to post my blogs about my family vacation to Florida from 8/15 to 8/20.  Here's the second one,  August 16th: our day at Universal Islands of Adventure!   (These are directly transcribed from my written diary on my iPad.)   After eating at Mythos, we went to Seussland and reveled in the reckless childishness of the carousel and the Dumbo equivalent One Fish, Two Fish ride! Then came the "Cat in the Hat"! It was a turning stoner's paradise complete with rhyming narration. Even so, my brother Aditya and I bought matching Thing 1 & 2 accessories, like a real family.  Then we went to Marvel @ Marvel comics and chill on our way to Toon Town, where we got mom's phone charged as Adi and I sat for a caricature.       It started thunderstorming then, so I charged my phone, sitting like a homeless person in order to go to the "scary" 3D Spiderman ride. It was such a great ride wi...

So, first there was Aurora. A small mountain town in the middle of Colorado. 12 people dead. The killer apprehended and under trial. A Phd student in Neuroscience who secured a National Institutes of Health grant-- a very prestigious opportunity. A lonely man, distraught about being alone in an isolating environment, heralded by the media as a " poor boy who lost his way". There is much more to this story than simply a boy who lost his way back to sanity and reality. The truth of the matter is that we track all Arab-Americans and South Asians in this country due to a xenophobic fear, but we cease to regulate those who seem harmless: i.e. white males. Our inability to seek them out as a threat, married with their penchant for feeling privilege and ownership over public spaces causes an epidemic of sad white male trigger-happy enemies. In Aurora, his personal become most political. The theatrics of his modes operandi only further isolated this incident. People began t...

I've decided to post my blogs about my family vacation to Florida from 8/15 to 8/20.  Here's the second one, August 16th: our day at Universal Islands of Adventure!   (These are directly transcribed from my written diary on my iPad.) Pre-Universal          "          I woke up super early due to my brother's snoring: that boy can SNORE! But I can't go back to sleep because I feel like I am in those retro Disney World commercials where the two kids can't fall asleep and giggle all night in excitement because today is IT! The day I finally see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!           I never thought my family would ever go on this trip, but here we are! I am so excited to try pumpkin juice and butterbeer, buy Hogwarts presents for my loved ones and myself, and just taking in the atmosphere of being in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, even in the midst of Florida humidity.     ...

I've decided to post my blogs about my family vacation to Florida from 8/15 to 8/20. Here's the first one: August 15th, our day in St. Augustine! (These are directly transcribed from my written diary on my iPad.) "We arrived in Florida at 3 am this morning, and slept til 9, had coffee by the pool, went swimming, showered, ate pav bhaji, then got ready to head to St. Augustine!" "St Augustine is the cutest, most picturesque little historic city. I definitely have a new city to love! We went to the Castillo de San Marcos , the oldest fort in the United States, had a ranger-led history lesson, and then ate a fantastic lunch at Acapulco  Authentic Mexican Restaurant. We then got ice cream from Fudge Buckets & Hyppos . I had a popsicle from Hyppos made with fresh cantaloupe and black pepper: spicy, delicious, and nutritious! We bought groceries since we are staying in a suite, and then bought umbrellas because Florida decided to monsoon on us. We wai...

When trying to figure out what to write about next, I thought about the current state of the world. I thought about how one can feel so happy yet so unhappy all at the same time. I thought about the neverending flux of time, and how in any moment, a person can be dying while another is being born. One person going through utter agony while the other shines in triumph. I thought about how my family could enjoy a meal and a road trip to Maine, while the 24 hour news cycle was bringing the nation live coverage of the unfolding massacre in Wisconsin. This dichotomy along with the continual broadcast of the 30th Olympic Games in London made me think about how little I appreciated this meme and how much this above graphic says about humanity.  Though these exact words do not exist in English, these experiences are universal. That bond the world over is seen day in and day out in the Olympics. Not only is the majority of the world competing in some form, but in that friendly compe...