RAYS OF SUNSHINE.

I say this yearly now, but my heart can't take it. Every year people honor the victims and heroes of NYC, and while I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment, it ignores an aching sore in the American hear-- what about Balbir Singh Sodhi, an elderly Sikh-American racially targeted the next days after 9/11? What about the thousands of hate crimes and racially charged incidents all over the United States, United Kingdom, and the world over? What about the communalism and divisiveness that has only grown more pointed since 9/11? Last year was the 10th anniversary. One decade. The mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came to USC to make a speech. There were initiatives made, promises whispered, the resounding response seemed like it had a reasonable chance for success. One year later, and we have already grown complacent. We have barely integrated our new charges into those established initiatives. We have barely brought up this national tragedy, relegating it to a generic Facebook post ...

I have decided to post my blogs about my family vacation to Florida from 8/15 to 8/20. Here's the fifth one, August 18th: Our day at the Lakeridge Winery! (These are directly transcribed from my written diary on my iPad.) "We're went to Lakeridge Winery for their annual Grapestomp to listen to local music, and STOMP some grapes! We took some pictures, stomped some grapes (my mother and I tried employing bharatanatyam skills to no avail.) Then Aditya and I drank homemade Godiva dark chocolate raspberry chocolixers with relish fries on the side. Surprisingly good! We then ate a picnic lunch of Indian food my mother packed from our full kitchen in our suite amidst ants and giant dragonflies. I got my face painted solely for the opportunity to enter the bouncy castle with little children. :) Then we ate more chocolate and drank shots of limoncello, waiting for the tour to begin. Doug our tour guide was hilarious. We all drank a few more samples, and I bought some pres...

Arrived in LA :) #nofilter First day back, roomz wanted to match haha :) Some light reading on cultural identities and developing world. :) First cooked meal :) waffled pita!! Me and Nathaniel :)) yay! Haha NASA JPL. :) so inspirational! Yes, 16th grade still has field trips! Dance practice with Lex :) First USC friend :) Moving cups so we can go on to more important WATERMELON EATING :) Busless dtla walk & random VMA sighting! Angel's flight :) Rode it and was instantly taken back to last year and discovering Los Angeles. Doin work. Little Tokyo. Demitasse. Kyoto after dark. Thank you, USC and Los Angeles. Been lovin being home again :) Xoxo, Maithreyi Posted with Blogsy

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 17th: our day at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral!   (These are directly transcribed from my written diary on my iPad.)      At this NASA Center, we first took a lot of pictures, then we checked out the Early Space Exploration exhibit, waiting for the lunch with the astronaut Charlie Walker. He presented about "food in space"while we ate fried ravioli, salad, TANG, and apple pie. Then, I asked a question during the Q&A. We proceeded to take pictures with Charlie Walker and then watched the old IMAX movie about the International Space Center. We continued to check out some of the NASA art before the shuttle and simulator. (I went, the 3 wimps didn't!) Then I went to the Space Store to wait for the Charlie Walker signing, buying some reasonably priced souvenirs for me and Adi. I went to the Hubble 3D at...