New York, New York

First time ever going to a card room last nite here in NYC… after my 3-4x a week boating benders in Chicago, I needed to get some live card room action to quell my addiction, and finally found out about a room. Got there, and it’s a totally legit room… sit down with $250, playing $1/2 blinds. Actually, let me take that back, it was more like a $10/20 table because every hand pre-flop was raised to a minimum of $20, and occasionally, a $30 preflop raise would still keep 3-4 people interested in seeing a flop.

I decide to sit back and play my tight, aggressive game, waiting for a hand…. and it does, when my AQ suited pairs the lady on the flop. Post-flop play at this table is like this: bottom pair is the nuts, middle pair is ample enough reason to push all-in. Good position, original better bets $100 on the flop (total of $135 in the pot preflop after a raise to $15 and a reraise to $45). I immediately push all-in for $200, and after debating, dude calls and flips over kings. C'est la vie, its been fun right? No, I somehow will the power of River God Praveen into my soul and spike another lady on the river. Just like that, I'm sitting on a nice little stack of ~$600. Another couple of donkeys try playing aggressive when I have an over-pair to the board, as well as a paired strong ace on the flop, and within 60 minutes, I've taken that $250 and, shit you not, built it into Sears Tower-like $950.

The plan was to get out of the place no later than midnight, and we would have stuck to plan had it not been for a slight inconvenience. At 11:15pm, an hour and fifteen minutes into the evening, fate decides to river us. Two large thuds and a fire alarm later, people are frantically collecting their coats, chips, anything and literally escaping through the back door, the fire escape, out the window. Within minutes, the entire card room is raided by six rubenesque, donut-chomping donkey law enforcement officers. Thankfully, the guy to my right (an UBER-donkey, think along the lines of someone with Leena or Niles' playing ability, except these guys don't look half as comical) calmly informs me that these raids are only intended to capture the proprietors of the establishment, and not the players themselves. We won't be cited, arrested, or fined. About 5 minutes later, the officers announce that the night is over, and for everyone to get out. I start collecting my chips, thinking that it might actually be a good thing to cash out now so I don't get coolered by some idiot on a back-door two-pair draw. But alas, little did I know that with the officers present, the chips are nothing more than worthless pieces of clay. I lost $950 faster than Terrence overplaying a pair with a straight flush on the board! Thankfully I wasn't like the guy behind me who, hand-to-God, had $5,000 in front him. Just like that, the night came crashing to an end.

In conclusion, it was a cheap but important lesson about the players that inhabit New York City card rooms: they are ridiculously rich and borderline retarded when it comes to playing poker. To which I ask you all, if you know of any other rooms in the city, please let me know. Immediately. I need to win back that $950.

Not the Best Career Move

And I thought only Paris Hilton was this stupid. Is it fair to assume that most 20-something women carry thumb drives with incriminating photos of themselves? This will likely be a big blow to the young woman's career... pun absolutely intended.

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http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007030683,00.html

Sex email blow for banker
By ONLINE REPORTER
January 23, 2007

A CITY investment banker has been humiliated after photos of her preforming oral sex were emailed to her boss and colleagues.

The anonymous email also found its way on to the internet, giving thousands the chance to see her perform the act on the unidentified man.

The highly paid woman, in her 20s, has been off work, with her bosses’ permission, since the email was circulated last Thursday. The bank said that she was “extremely distressed”. Now bank chiefs have launched a probe to identify the emailer who could also work for the bank. It is understood the photos were stolen from a memory stick that the woman owned.

They were attached to an email and sent from a Yahoo account set up in her name. The email also contained a weblink to another website where the pictures were also displayed.

But that site now appears to have been disabled. One recipient of the email said: “Whoever sent it clearly went to some trouble.”

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On another note, for all you Facebook users. Enjoy this satirical look at the newest Friendster rival by Penn Masala (to the tune of Enrique Iglesias' "Hero"):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FahBBnfHAQ

MHF: Mission Impossible?

As most of my reading audience has experienced at some point (or will soon enough, trust me), the pressure to get hitched escalates to ever-higher levels with each passing day. Its as if one day, your parents are asking you how your friends are doing, classes are going, and then, BAM! A light bulb magically appears above their head, their index finger is thrust into the air, and the mom experiences an epiphany: its time to apply the people's elbow to your fun-loving, bachelor lifestyle. Yours truly has been dealing with the pleas from the parents ever since graduation day, May 2002, when the following conversation took place verbatim:

Dad: You know, you're getting older now.
Me: I'm 22.
Dad: Well, you've got a degree, you've got a job, you've got an apartment.
Me: Yeah, like most 22 year-olds I know.
Dad: Now all you need is a wife.
Me: *Silence*

Now imagine exponentially increasing the rate at which such comments, nudges, and hints are dropped. Couple that with the fact that everyone in our tight-knit California Indian community decided to take the leap at the ripe age of 24 (or younger), and you can only imagine what kind of absurd expectations my parents have. As my mom says, "I'm getting old. Once I marry you off, you're HER responsibility. Until then, you're my responsibility." I didn't realize I was being babysat.

In any case, the reason for the above prologue is to provide some context to the subject of today's rant. As mentioned, the frequency with which I'm being bombarded by marriage talks has grown to a frenzied state- in fact, I often dread talking to my parents on the phone for longer than the obligated time frame because inevitably, the following question arises:

Mom / Dad / Sometimes in Unison: "So..................have anything to tell us?"

It's almost like I can feel the nudge and see them winking at me. Well, those were the good 'ol days; sometimes I wish I could go back to days gone by when all I dealt with were a few innocuous questions, some gentle prodding, and an occasional plea of, "Well, make sure she's Indian and Hindu!"* (sidenote story on bottom). In recent months, my parents have drastically escalated the situation; to provide a better idea of just how the situation has escalated, I compare it our national Homeland Security threat level system:

- Low threat level (college days): Nishant is still in school and needs to focus on making enough money so we can properly brag to all our friends.
Low risk of Nishant not getting married. Taking any action now to marry him off (or "MHF", as I will now reference it) would be preemptive and could backfire. Avoid MHF mission.
- Guarded threat level (recent college graduate): Nishant is finally on his own. It would be nice if he would get a girlfriend so she could take care of him since he living on his own, but we will let him enjoy post-college life for a little bit.
General risk of Nishant not getting married. Taking any significant MHF action would be unwarranted, but maintaining general awareness of all public situations (weddings, family parties, high-level conversations) is within reason.
- Elevated threat level (12 months post-graduation): Nishant has been working for a year now and has not mentioned a potential life partner. Elevated use of outside intervention is necessary in order to ensure successful MHF mission.
Material risk of Nishant not getting married. Taking public steps to disrupt potential for a lonely, single life are warranted and requires proactive approach from all concerned parties.
- High threat level (36 months post-graduation): Nishant is now 25, and the rules of mathematics will not allow us to round downwards and claim he is in his "early 20s". Use of the words "single" and "late 20s" in the same sentence are abominable.
Significant risk of Nishant not getting married. Threat level implores the scopious use of all available outside resources to ensure MHF mission is successful before self-imposed deadline of 26 years old.
- Severe threat level (current state of the union): Nishant is rapidly approaching his 30s. His biological clock is ticking. Need for grandchildren is of utmost importance and fundamental to the next generation of the family lineage. Successful execution and the current State of Emergency demands martial law- use of all military personal (and relatives from India) to enforce MHF goal.
Paramount risk of Nishant not getting married. Career, social, personal goals be damned. Odds of successful MHF mission are diminishing and probability of near-term solution in jeopardy- use of significant force should be considered appropriate under any circumstance.

Recently, I've started receiving bio-datas of girls from my parents in a futile effort to successfully complete their mission. I've started getting phone calls from relatives in India (ON MY CELL PHONE) , asking me for the specifics of my job, my physical appearance, my birthday, and any other details that would fit nicely on an 8.5' x 11' piece of paper (I would like to think of myself as tall, slim, beautiful with sharp features, charming, and possessing strong Indian values like everyone else, but I digress). Now don't get me wrong- I think that over the years, I've become more open to the idea of being introduced to someone, provided that she be tall, slim, beautiful with sharp features, charming, and possessing strong Indian values, like myself. But more often than not, these advertisements always end up similar a used car salesmans' pitch: you want to believe what you hear, but if what he's saying really true, why is the car still sitting on the parking lot? And sometimes, you know the car is a lemon when even the description is clearly reaching for ANY strand of positivity if can grab ahold of. A perfect example from one such email I was forwarded regarding a "suitable match":

Hobbies- Badminton, Basketball. She knows driving and has a license too.

I will give my readers a break for this to sink in.

Done laughing yet? Didn't think so.

Ok, back to the rant. I mean, are you joking? This is supposed to be an advertisement where you want the buyer to get excited; you want a potential mate to think that this person could be the yin to your yang, that passing up this opportunity will lead to years of staring out a window while rain hits the windowpane wondering, "What if?". Instead, I must ponder if this can really be true or if this is some kind of Mumbai slang for "parties balls with Ashwariya when she's not volunteering at the local homeless shelter". Somehow, I don't think this is the case. Also, parents don't seem to understand the need for physical attraction. Look, I'm not saying I could ever be mistaken for John Abraham or don't think that some of these girls aren't great catches, but physical attraction is necessary. But more often than not, such concerns (and requests for a picture) fall on deaf ears. Warning signal #1: when the bio-data does not include a picture, but requests "that the kids talk first", that's a red flag. Warning signal #2: "she comes from a good family" is the answer when a picture is requested. Warning signal #3: "in 20 years, what she looks like won't matter". Wonderful. Sign me up.

I don't think many of our parents are open to the idea that times and circumstances have changed- people are waiting longer these days, focusing more on stabilizing their careers before committing to a lifelong decision, and generally speaking, looking to be 100% sure that their wife or husband is the one for them. My parents entire defense is that they only knew each other for a few weeks before getting married, and look at them: 30 years of holy matrimony. My counter-argument: holy matrimony? You mean shackled by the divorce taboo that permeates the older Indian community, which is obviously becoming less and less of an issue to the 2nd generation. In any case, I know all of our parents are just doing what they think is best and their behaviors are simply a reflection of the circumstances in which they were raised and married. But at the same time, I would hope that they would trust that if their kids are smart enough to be the drivers behind of the one of the strongest ethnic groups in the US, that they're smart enough to navigate the choppy waters of the vast "MHF" ocean.

Another frivolous rant complete. Holla.

Sidenote story: Among the hundreds of marriage interrogations my parents have put me through, one particularly amusing conversations happened with my mom. Here's a recap of the conversation:

Mom: I just want you to get married so you're not my responsibility anymore. But you never tell me about any girl you're interested in or are talking to. Tell me anything.

Me: Ok, what kind of girl do you want me to marry?

Mom: Well, I know it will be difficult to find a Rajasthani or Marwari girl, so Gujurati or South Indian isn't bad. South Indians are very smart you know. But make sure she's not kali (dark). And she must be Hindu!

Me: Ok. Here's a hypothetical: I have two options, and I need to choose one. Marrying a non-Indian Hindu (maybe like a French Hindu if they exist) or a non-Hindu Indian. What do you choose?

Mom: Well, Jains are ok too. Buddhists' beliefs are close to Hinduism as well.

Me: No, I'm talking Christian, Muslim, Jewish.

Mom: *Starts bawling*

Me: Huh?

Mom: WHO IS SHE? IS SHE THE WHITE GIRL OR THE MUSLIM? WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? YOUR DAD IS GOING TO KILL ME. HAI RAM, WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS???

Me: Uh, it was a hypothetical. I'm single.

Mom: *Dabs her eyes*: If you ever ask me such a preposterous question EVER again, I will cut you.

I love my parents.

PS: Loyal readers, I am in need of blogging ideas. Any topic you'd like me to rant about, let me know. Drop me an IM, leave a comment, anything. The more ideas I have, the more often you can waste 15 minutes of your otherwise uneventful life reading this nonsense. Thanks in advance.

NYC vs. Chicago vs. Cali

Well, its been quite a while since my last posting, and a lot has happened since then. I decided to jumpstart this blog again after strong demand from my loyal readers (and because I'm bored). Instead of sitting here and rehashing what's happened to me in the past six months between posts, let me give you the 30-second update:

- Went to Puja and Sachin's wedding (as referenced from my last posting), one of the best weddings I've been to
- Went to Vegas for 10 days on a poker bender, but didn't do nearly as well as expected
- Moved to New York in August, was visiting Chicago by October

Since I've moved here, I've spent a fair amount of time going out, meeting people, and making new friends. Most of the dudes I've met have been pretty laid back, and I'm slowly starting to expand my social circle. But I figured I'd spend this post discussing the differences between a more juicy topic: Cali women vs. Chicago women vs. New York women, and which city has the advantage. Being that I am from the SF Bay Area and went to school there, I will focus only on that area of Cali (i.e., LA women are excluded from this study). Guys rejoice, women, please stop reading.

And knowing that the order above will fall on deaf female ears, I must now offer a disclaimer to all referenced women reading this post: in no way am I categorizing EVERY girl from each respective city under the following observations. I am only offering high level generalizations of each; don't worry, to every Cali / Chicago / NYC female friend of mine reading this, "present company excluded". Now that the obligatory disclaimers have been made (which categorically release me from any repercussions as a result of this post), on with the study. I will focus on three main categories: General / Personality (self-explanatory), Interests / Awareness (knowledge and intellect, etc.) and of course, looks (you didn't think I would avoid this category for PC reasons did you? Please).

Cali (Bay Area):
Drives a Honda Accord / Toyota Camry, has no clear idea on future goals or plans, lives at home (by choice, not by circumstance and likely in Fremont or San Jose) , is dating a guy from Fremont or San Jose with a name ending in "-jeet" who doesn't know what he's doing in life, but by golly, has Sikh pride. Personality is a virtual cornucopia of positives: uptight, drama-queen, spoiled. Limited interests outside of herself, shopping, and performing at local hindi film dance competitions and / or bhangra parties. Bay Area femmes also require significant amounts of threading and / or waxing before entering the public arena.
TAKEAWAY: Unless you're looking for a hirsute paperweight, move along.

Chicago:
The female population is split into two distinct groups: 23-and-under and 24-and-over. The 23 year old-and-under crowd lives at home (Naperville and Oak Park are popular hometowns), has limited goals and aspirations, will likely be immature well into their early 30s, and is looking to marry a doctor. Limited interests outside of shopping, watching TV, or shopping. On the plus-side, these girls are hot as balls and Midwestern values and hospitality are innate; however, due to their attractiveness and politeness, most are in long-term relationships by 19 and married at 23.
TAKEAWAY: Looking for a trophy wife? Hit up sophomores at UIC.

24-and-over females tend to be extremely friendly, out-of-staters (Texas, Michigan, Ohio are popular homestates), accomplished (either in medical school, law school, or working- i.e., NOT living at home), and usually balls hot. However, most are already in relationships or are scooped up within 2 weeks of word getting around that said hot medical student is available. Personalities are, for the most part, extremely positive: genuine, humble, polite, warm; perhaps this is why they're scooped up immediately.
TAKEAWAY: Move to Texas, Michigan, or Ohio immediately. Enroll in ANY graduate program at flagship state school. Troll undergraduate classes / events. Put rock on finger.

New York:
I must offer an additional disclaimer: I am basing these observations on a limited 4-month trial period- conclusions are fluid and can be changed at any time.

Many women are close to 30, have high-powered jobs, and make more money than you. They are alpha-females who use guys younger than them as dental floss. Career-driven and highly ambitious, NYC women will only continue conversation with you once you have passed the 2-minute due diligence process: Name (Harry, Happy, Jolly, or any non-mainstream name need not apply- you're clearly a B&Ter), location of residence (anything outside of Manhattan indicates B&T status- unacceptable), career (bankers, lawyers, financiers only), and position (Managing Directors, Partners, or Hedge Fund PMs only- none of these pansy analysts / associates). However, positives: said females have a varied and diverse set of interests and hobbies- world travelers, scholars, intellects are the rule, not the exception. Most Manhattan females liken themselves to a "Sex and the City"-type: metropolitan, stylish, worldly, cultured. In other words, you're not good enough. Additionally, many NYC females have larger penises than you.
TAKEAWAY: Lie, lie, lie. Unless you're a trust fund baby or don't mind catching instead of pitching, you're not good enough.

In the end, its obvious that each girl brings something to the table; whether that's a positive or a negative lies in the eye of the beholder. I would rank like this: If you're young enough, move to Chicago. If you're pushing 30 (and have a good job), move to New York. And if you're pushing 30 or over (and don't have a good job), move to the Bay Area.

Me? I think I'm going to let my parents find me a girl from India instead.

Holla.

Boston Shenanigans

I have a good story to tell from my weekend in Boston for our friends' Jay and Sadhna's wedding. The story has the potential to get me in trouble, but for some reason, I really don't think I care. First and foremost, apologies to my friend Sachin – he will not be amused that I've decided to tell this story, and the possibility remains I very well may be uninvited to Puja and Sachin's wedding, but for the sake of my audience's amusement, it's a risk I am willing to take.

So rewinding to the weekend of May 5-7th, 2006. Everyone must keep in mind that Jay and Sadhna's parents don't realize that both their children are raging alcoholics (one member of the couple has a tendency to urinate into people's luggage as if its a toilet, but I digress), and since both sets of parents don't drink, the wedding was dry. Of course, such an obstacle would not dissuade myself and our bunch of merry men (and women), so matters needed to be taken into our own hands. Realizing that we would be required to hit zero-to-sixty miles-per-hour almost immediately upon arrival (arrive at the hotel at 6pm, festivities begin at 7pm), I decided to give myself ample time to properly ramp up for the weekend's activities. Also, it didn't hurt that I was upgraded to first class on my flight and was able to drink about 6 glasses of wine in 2 hours on American Airlines' tab (side-quote from the stewardess: "Sir, you don't intend on driving do you? I'm required to ask by law since you've had a lot to drink"... and you know this man).

In any case, Saturday is where the fun begins. We all wake up at a decent hour, grab some lunch, and realize we need to start getting ready, as the wedding will begin at 3pm. Upon meeting everyone outside for the wedding procession to begin, my friends Charan, Naveen and Samir decide that we will require some refreshments to celebrate the blissful event, which immediately leads us Character's Bar and Grill, the restaurant attached directly to the hotel. We covertly enter the establishment to ensure that no aunties or uncles see us, and proceed to order a round of SoCo Limes, which go down easily. Another round of Sambuca, another round of SoCo Lime, and a pint of beer for all follow in short order. Finally, we decide we should head back to the wedding. The bill comes, and we come up with a hilarious idea: let's charge all the drinks to Sachin's room. Now, this is not a brilliant idea because we don't have to pay (on the contrary, we already decided we would split the costs later), but for everyone that knows Sachin, such a "joke" is grounds for a homicidal rage of epic proportions, which is obviously VERY funny to the rest of us. We dip back to the wedding, where the official ceremony has begun, but decide our buzzes could use some reinforcement. We head back to our favorite bartender, and proceed to repeat the drink order listed above. We again decide we should charge the drinks to Sachin's room, along with a few appetizers and anything else the bar is willing to sell us on credit.

Being the appreciative lads that we are, we decide to thank Sachin for his generosity in person. Once we return to the wedding and see Mr. Gupta, we offer our gratitude with a simple "Thanks, Sachin, thanks!", followed by a warm handshake. Clearly, our befuddled little Bachin has no idea what we're doing nor what we are thanking him for, but decides that our joke is funny and proceeds to approach random people with the same three-word thank you; clearly, the three of us find this even funnier than the original joke, and watch him running around thanking half of the wedding party. We continue to dip in and out of the wedding and take shots on Sachin's tab for another two hours, and by this point, Charan, Naveen, Samir and I are thoroughly lit up and thanking Sachin every second we see him. Sachin decides he needs to create his own "secret" word, so decides to start texting all of us "Sorry" over and over again, which again leads us to hysterical fits of laughter.

Fast forward to Sunday late morning. After dancing a storm and having a hell of time celebrating the newlyweds, we wake up to a belligerent Sachin screaming at us on the phone about charges made to the hotel. This, of course, leads us to even MORE fits of laughter as we can easily see the pulsating, throbbing vein in Bachin's neck about to burst from stress. Thankfully, I had an early afternoon flight to catch, so I packed up and got the hell out of Boston as fast as I could. Fast forward to my arrival into Chicago, and upon turning on my phone, I have 2 voice mails and 3 text messages from our dear friend.

Now, as I already stated earlier, we never intended for this to be anything more than a joke, but the first message from Sachin stated the following, verbatim:

"I tried having the charges removed from my room, but the hotel said that fraud was a big deal for the hotel, so I had to file a police report. I had to give them your name. Call me."

I saw this and started laughing hysterically, because again, anyone who knows Sachin knows that he is a horrible liar. I finally call Sachin back, and he's convulsing on the phone, screaming to have me call the hotel and have the charges moved to my room. I calmly inform him that I have no intention to do so (knowing this will only further infuriate him) but will pay him in cash upon his arrival into Chicago- of course, this is not acceptable. He threatens that the Boston Police Department will call me to discuss what legal repercussions I face due to fraudulently applying charges to another guests' room, and I again calmly inform him that I will be more than happy to discuss my federal offense with them- this of course does nothing to settle our enraged little friend.

Finally, after discussing the matter with Samir and Charan, it becomes known that Sachin is genuinely angered, so I call the hotel and have the charges moved to my room. It only becomes known later that the charges were never even actually on his credit card- instead, the charges were made to Jay's parents, who had paid for Sachin's room (they are very good family friends). Sachin is screaming that he had to explain the entire mess to Jay parents, and that his parents called us a bunch of thugs. I call Jay to explain the situation and inform him that we don't intend to stiff his parents. Jay's reaction? "Dude, Sachin has not talked to my parents, and quite frankly I doubt they care... I sure don't, since I'm going to have honeymoon sex for the next two weeks. See ya."

The funniest part was the final bill. You would think that the total would be well over $1,000 based on Sachin's outrage. You would think that for all the energy he invested into having the charges removed, we would have seriously compromised Jay's trust. You would think that the Boston Police Department and the Hotel would follow-up on this matter if this was grand theft and the like.

The total? $340.

Holla.

The Imminent Death of a Great Friend

Friends, I wanted to take a second and pay homage to a friend that has been by my side for the last 3 years, who at one time, was full of vigor and life, but is now slowly battling a cruel and painful death. A friend who all of us know dearly, and who all of us have expected to be there with us until the end. A friend that has provided a window into the lives of others, companionship when we were lonely, entertainment when we were bored. A friend who would occasionally be unreachable, but you knew if you kept trying, he'd pop up and all would be right in the world again. This friend would always try to set you up with the guy or girl of your dreams, and didn't require you to show any kind of gratitute. This friend was never a gossiper, but always had the low down on your ex, your crush, your worst enemy or your best friend.

I'm talking about your friend and mine, Friendster.

I recently received the following article (which due to its length, can be found at the end of this entry) about the impending demise of our favorite social networking website. Why is this so important? Because it is the only way our generation is able to conduct proper due diligence on the people our parents are trying to set us up with, or the girl or guy you've come to love through the wonders of perfect photography. If Friendster succumbs, what will we do??

Lets face it: girls and guys alike have all spent countless hours adding their most flattering pictures, tweaking their (non-existent) interests, and carefully screening testimonials, all for one reason. We've added the idiotic "-" in front of our names so that our profiles are the first a Friendster surfer will see, we've added a period to a sentence in our "About Me" section so our profiles pop us as "Updated", we've searched high and low for someone we can add to our roster of friends to hit that magical 500 friends ceiling. Why? Because we all want to be sure that when Ms. Right comes along, she sees that we are handsome, social, worldly, and an all-around PERFECT catch. Not because we want our friends to see, not because we want to update our family members on our lives. But solely because we want to ensure that said crush will be so smitten that his or her mouse will unconsciously send us a smile (or a rose if we're really lucky). And smiles or roses from the unattractive she-males with mustaches, but from that one person you thought would never give you the time of day, but has somehow inexplicably "Viewed My Profile".

You say that this is not true in all cases, namely those who are in relationships or are married. You know what I say to that? When you're done lying to me, stop lying to yourself. If a guy or girl is in a committed (and presumably happy) relationship, what in God's name incites them to add a new head shot at just the right angle? So their significant other can marvel at how beautiful their main squeeze is? Bullshit.

Sorry to break it to you, but they're looking to trade up. You'll know who's committed and happy when you see that their last login was "more than 3 weeks" ago. Anything less, and they're desperately scouring the Friendster social network like the rest of us, hoping that their newfound interest in some obscure, famous-only-because-of-the-OC indie rock band might spark the burning loins of the guy/girl they've bookmarked and viewed 14 times in the last 3 days.

In any case, I know it and you know, our lives will be drastically altered for the worse if Friendster dies. So please, I implore you. Invite all the non-Indian people you know, cancel your MySpace memberships, and continue surfing for your one true love. Add a new photo, list your favorite cookie-cutter novel, mention you love Jack Johnson, long walks on the beach, volunteer work and puppies. Do whatever, but do something. If you don't, one of our closest friends might not live to see tomorrow. And we all remember how empty our lives were before Friendster, right?. Do you want to live in a world without it? I know I don't.

Holla.

Here is the article in its entirety:
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Friendster finds no love
by David Shabelman in San Francisco
Updated 10:17 AM EST, May-4-2006


Eclipsed by rivals MySpace.com and Facebook, Friendster has struck out finding a buyer, leaving the future in doubt for the Internet "social networking" pioneer.

Facing an eroding customer base and dwindling funds, Friendster in November hired Santa Clara, Calif.-based investment bank Montgomery & Co. to shop the Mountain View, Calif. company. But a Friendster spokesman said last week that the sales process has concluded, though he gave no additional details. Montgomery & Co. also declined comment.

"People just didn't find it strategically critical to what they were trying to do," said one source close to the situation.

Friendster's dimming prospects also is disappointing for venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital, both of Menlo Park, Calif., which in 2003 led a $13 million financing round in the company. Kleiner Perkins, which recently invested an additional $2 million to $3 million in Friendster, did not return a call for comment.

Friendster was one of the first social networking companies when it debuted in 2002 with an online service that links users in a network of friends and acquaintances. But the San Francisco-based company could not build on its early momentum, eventually losing many users because of technical glitches that impaired access to its Web site. Once subscribers left, most didn't return.

According to one industry source who asked not to be identified, several companies that initially expressed interest in buying Friendster were reluctant to take on the company's roughly $6 million in debt. They also balked at the company's relatively modest $10 million asking price, which amounted to a fire sale compared with the $50 million to $100 million Friendster had hoped to get after hiring Montgomery last fall.

"No one wanted to acquire a company that is losing money and will continue to lose money," the source said. "It's one thing to be losing money and gaining market share, but Friendster unfortunately was losing money and losing market share, and that's not a great dynamic."

Despite such woes, David Hornik, general partner with Menlo Park-based venture capital firm August Capital, said Friendster could yet turn things around.

"To a certain extent social networks are driven by popularity and buzz, and that day may already have passed for Friendster," said Hornik, whose firm was an investor in social networking site Tickle Inc., now owned by Monster Worldwide Inc. of New York. "But at the same time they have a large user base, a name people recognize, and they've seen a lot of things that do and don't work. So I don't see why there isn't a good opportunity for them to build a business on."

In September Friendster launched its latest social networking application, Friendster 2.0, which emulated features offered by competitors such as MySpace. News Corp. bought it in September, along with parent company Intermix Media Inc., for $580 million. Friendster is now testing the service.

The upgrade has at least stanched the bleeding. According to Reston, Va.-based online measurement firm comScore Media Metrix, as of March, Friendster had 1.1 million unique site visitors in the U.S., up 9% from 975,000 visitors in March 2005. By comparison, MySpace, which focuses on teens and young adults, had 41.9 million unique users, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook, which is aimed at high school and college students, had 12.9 million unique users.

Hornik said that despite Friendster's problems and the soaring popularity of the top social networking sites, there is room for other such services to catch on. He cited Bebo.com LLC, Hi5 Networks and Tagged Inc. of San Francisco, along with Santa Monica, Calif.-based Tagworld Inc., as networking sites to watch.

"Friendster was the reigning champ when MySpace got started and quietly built momentum and eventually became a gorilla," he said. "I don't see why the same thing couldn't happen to MySpace. I don't think MySpace is this impenetrable beast that everyone should run from."
With online advertising booming, venture firms have kept their faith in the emerging Internet sector. Tagworld, which offers photo-sharing, social networking, blog publishing and social "bookmarking," in February received $7.5 million in Series A financing in a round led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Also that month Mayfield Fund led a $7 million round in Tagged, a site focused on teenagers.

James Scheinman, vice president of business development and sales at Bebo, said his company is in discussions with investors regarding additional funding. The San Francisco company last summer expanded from operating mainly as an online photo-sharing site to offer social networking, with an international focus that included six English-speaking markets.
Scheinman, who previously worked for Friendster, said Bebo already is the top social networking site in the U.K., Ireland and New Zealand, and second in Australia, gaining 6 million unique users a month since launching last summer. Scheinman said his experience at Friendster taught him the importance of having the technological infrastructure to handle such surges in usage.

"The only reason Friendster didn't work was because the site failed," he said. "The most important thing I learned from Friendster is to have a good engineering team to scale the database and servers and the right architecture. It's not easy. It's really hard to scale these sites this quickly."
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Update on Kaavya Viswanathan

Came across another interesting interview with our precious plagiarist, which you can find here. Only reasons why I find it amusing are that she seems to be a spoiled brat (a la Priya and Divya) and she seems like she already knew she plagiarized from other authors and was planning her defense:
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How do you plan to get wild with that grand book advance you bagged?
Kaavya: I did seriously entertain the idea of spending all my money on a bright red Maserati.

Is this inspired by Bridget Jones' Diary?
Kaavya: Not consciously. The books aren't similar, except for their categorisation as chick-lit.

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Also, I have a feeling she would have also answered this question like this....haha

"Are you going to be a one-book wonder?
Kaavya: I hope not. I plan to continue writing throughout my life so you'll definitely be seeing at least one more book from me....it will be about Da Vinci, and his code.

--------------

I'll be writing some new shit soon, so keep checking back.

Holla

Speaking of "My Super Sweet 16"...

Unbelievable... had a friend send me this link from the NY Times regarding MTV's pathetic show "My Super Sweet 16". Noteworthy because they showcase an example of two bratty indian bitches... I'm sorry, its a harsh thing to say, but read the blurb below and you'll see why. Clearly, Dr. Kothapalli has mastered the art of parenting... god, what I wouldn't do to meet this cardiologist and slap the shit out of him.

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Still, Dr. Srinivasa Rao Kothapalli, a prominent cardiologist in Beaumont, Tex., is more than willing to relinquish his checkbook. His daughter Priya turned 16 earlier this month, and she is in the throes of planning a joint birthday-graduation party with her elder sister, Divya, 18. "If you can afford to have a grand celebration, then why not," said Dr. Kothapalli, who immigrated to the United States from India in the mid-1980's. "It's the American way. You work hard and you play hard."

Born with silver ladles in their mouths, his daughters have certainly mastered the latter. Their Bollywood-themed party for 500 guests will be held in the family's backyard, all 4½ acres, behind the 10,000-square-foot house. The Format, their favorite band, will perform. And they will make their grand entrance on litters, during an elaborate procession led by elephants. The sisters, who plan to perform a choreographed routine at their to-do next month, are also taking dance lessons, and they've enlisted the help of a trainer.

"We both want to lose three pounds," said Priya, who received a Mercedes convertible and an assortment of diamond jewelry for her birthday. Her sister's graduation gift package included a Bentley, diamonds and two homes in India.

"I was really surprised," Divya said, "because I was only expecting a Bentley and one house."

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If anyone should realize the importance of hard work and earning your dollar, it should be a cardiologist immigrant of Indian descent. I look at this example and I'm glad I didn't grow up spoiled- these girls are destined to be the snotty bitches you meet at a lounge who think they're too good for everyone and will only talk to you if you fit a certain material profile (i.e. doctor with a BMW and an AMEX black card).

Its so sad, but I actually grew up with a lot of these kids around me... prominent parents who spoiled the shit out of their kids. The result? Most of them are my age, but with no career path, no future, and only daddy's credit card keeping them afloat. They are laughingstocks of the community and more often than not, have nothing going for them. And the blame lies squarely on their parents. Of course, the parents are more concerned with making sure the community knows how much money they have, so they use their kids as a vehicle to display their bank account. To which I say, bravo. You're rich, we get it. Oh yeah, did you also know your kid has a drug problem, a police record, and a degree from the local community college? Bravo doc, bravo.

Another rant and rave session complete.

On a lighter not, a hilarious Punjabi vs. Gujurati, "Mortal Kombat" style video. Guaranteed to make you laugh.

Holla.

Back to the Real World

Well, it had to happen at some point, right? The little dream died. After spending the better part of last week relaxing and not catching too much shit at work, I started to prepare for my next stop on the whirlwind US tour, this past weekend to be spent in our nation's capital. Of course, fate has a funny way of using a rusty pipe against you in the worst possible way.

I got staffed at 4pm last Thursday afternoon... for a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, 4/25/06. What does this mean? Long story short, kiss the weekend goodbye and bury the hatchets- this storm is gonna be a bitch. After cancelling my trip to DC, I spent the better part of 8 hours on Saturday and 12 hours on Sunday in the office, and capped it off with a marathon 19-hour session last night- suffice to say, I'm not too happy right now.

Still found time to go out Friday and Saturday of course, but no interesting stories to really tell... except for the fact that I had to remain somewhat coherent due to my work schedule. In other words, I wasn't a blithering mess and people around me didn't need to protect their drinks from the wobbling idiot. I'm so mature, I know.

Also saw the Sentinel on Sunday night with Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, and Eva Longoria. Quite frankly, the movie tried to be like 24 (my all-time favorite TV show... if you don't watch this show, I pity you) and failed miserably. It was a good way to kill two hours, but nothing you haven't seen before. The only reason I bring this movie up is because of Eva Longoria. To be quite honest, I don't see what the hype is about. Yes, she's got a great body, but her face isn't all that. Yes, I already know what most of my high school and college buddies are thinking: "T.O.N." (pronounced TAWN). What does this stand for? "Taste of Nishant". See, once we all started talking about girls, about who was hot, who was not, etc., I quickly developed a reputation for having a very "eccentric" taste in girls- the girls everyone else thought was hot, I thought resembled a pig in heat, and every girl I thought was ridonkulous was, in the eyes of my friends, someone who would probably look better if she had a lazy eye and weighed a buck seventy-five. This is why I make the best wingman, since I have never thought the girls my friends went after were all that attractive and vice versa. So take my opinion for what it's worth. I stand by my claim that I wouldn't look twice at Ms. Longoria if she wasn't famous.

Another story of interest that some of you might of seen was of Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore who, at the age of 17, became the youngest writer that Little Brown & Company, one of the oldest and most prestigious American publishers, had taken on in its 109-year history. A two-book deal worth a staggering $500,000. Why is this newsworthy? Because it looks like our budding writer actually ripped off some of her text from another author. I only mention this because of her idiocy. Look, everyone cheats in school (no matter how minor) or copies answers or plagiarizes (side quote: "If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it's research." -Wilson Mizner) . Whatever your reasons are to do so, whether you have too much work, too much pressure, or are just plain too damn lazy, I'm sure everyone has tried to at least take basic steps to cover one's steps. And if you take a look at the examples she ripped off here, you realize even more how stupid this girl is. It's not like the sentences highlighted are difficult concepts to portray (and quite honestly, it's not like the stuff that was initially plagiarized was all that brilliantly written in the first place). The fact that she plagiarized so much of her book, something that she knew was going to be released to the public and heavily scrutinized, makes me wonder how much she may have plagiarized in the past when she figured she wouldn't be under that much scrutiny (liker her Harvard admissions essay, past term papers, etc.). In any case, watch this interview (right-click and save file to download it directly) with her where she mentions that she thinks a similarity between herself and the main character is that both of their parents drive Range Rovers- after watching how she comes off as a bit prissy, one can only make the connection that she is the smart Indian equivalent of the girls on "My Super Sweet 16."

I'm done ranting and raving. To end on a comedic note, enjoy the second coming of the Backstreet Boys, Shanghai version.

Holla.

Duke Lacrosse

Hilarious article from ESPN on how the demand for Duke Lacrosse gear has skyrocketed in the wake of the rape scandal. Is this considered normal behavior? If I was to see someone rocking out this merchandise, I'd probably get a laugh out of it I guess.

Death Cab for Cutie Tonight

Well, I strolled into the office this afternoon around lunch time for no good reason. Woke up around 9:30am, watched Blind Date, the Price is Right, an hour of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", and then finally decided to shower up. Why is this possible? Because the one single pitch I'm on right now that was due on April 28 gets delayed. The client called us yesterday and lets us know they would be unavailable to meet, but would like to push the date back to May16th... meaning I have just gotten an additional two and a half weeks for a project that will likely take no more than a few days to crank out. Life is beautiful.

On a side note, after sending out the email yesterday afternoon announcing my foray into the blogging world, I received many, many emails. Most (actually all) ridiculed me, insulted me, and generally mocked my very existence. I did find this email to be one of the funnier ones (and admittedly quite accurate as well):
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From: sonia [mailto:xxxxxx@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 1:51 PM
To: absolutnb
Subject: RE: New Blog Addy

dude, you really need a girlfriend, not a blog.
----------

In any case, tonight should be a phenominal night. One of my favorite bands will be playing in Chicago: Death Cab for Cutie will be co-headlining with Franz Ferdinand. I already saw DCFC play in Chicago last October, but it was without a doubt one of the best concerts I've ever been to, so I decided to see them again. Although the group has already penetrated the mainstream, the venues they continue to play in remain extremely intimate, so you're able to get really up close with the group. We have a good group of fellow Death Cab fans going, and for those of you who haven't heard their music, I implore you to download their music... in fact, you can drop me an IM and I can send you some of their best tracks. We'll be pre-gaming at a dive bar near the Aragon Ballroom starting at 5pm, so if any locals are interested in joining, come on by. Tickets should be available from scalpers for face or below-face value around the place, so come by for some springtime music and beer.

Random comedy for of the day... I've sent this around in the past, but this shit is beyond hilarious. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog attacks pretty much everyone who is line for the premiere of Star Wars. I seriously haven't laughed this hard in a while. Also, this is a bit dated, but Cal fans pulled what has to be one of the funniest pranks on their opponents at a basketball game in a while. You can find the stories here and here.

Anyways, I'm done for today. I'll let you all know how the concert goes and how I fare tonight in week 11 of the 420poker league, which happens immediately after the DCFC concert.

Holla

Another Blog For You to Ignore

Well, I've finally bit the dust. After spending the better part of the past few years hearing all the rage about blogs and trolling some others, I decided that instead of skipping out of work to go shopping or attempting to convince people to go to the boats (explanation to come), putting in some much-needed time before June 30th (last day of work) would serve me (and more importantly, my bank account) well. Probably the best way to start my first post will be to break it out into the most prevalent topics that are encompassing my life right now: Finishing off my 3rd year at a bulge-bracket investment bank / moving to NYC, poker, and partying / life. I promise, future posts won't be so organized (or so long).

Finishing Up as an Analyst / Moving to NYC
A quick update on the haps in my life might be a best place to start, and hopefully I'll digress into more interesting topics. As most of you know, I'll be finishing off my 3rd year analyst gig at an investment bank in Chicago come June 30th, at which point I'll be leaving the city I've come to call home for the past four years. After spending the first 22 formidable years of my life in California, I moved out to the Midwest with no friends, no family, and one contact – and I leave this city with more true friends (and thankfully less enemies) than one could ever hope for. I'll be shipping out to New York City to start working for a private equity firm in Midtown, where my hours will be more manageable (likely no more than 60 hrs a week, no weekends!). Of course, to those of you who know me best, this is likely not a good thing, as it will provide me much more free time to spend boozing, partying, and generally engaging in immature behavior.

As most of you have probably heard, work for me as of late has been good. I come in and BS with the other analysts who are also all leaving June 30th, an hour for lunch, spamming my email list looking for someone to help me kill time, and finally rip-cording to hit Michigan Avenue and blow money on shit I don't need (but will fully appreciate nonetheless). Now don't get me wrong, I haven't decided to blow off work. I still get all my shit done (I'm quite efficient haha) and give it 100%. But when you're a staffer and you have a deal you need to get an analyst on, who are you going to give it to? The guy leaving in 60 days (deals and all the relevant bullshit take longer than a few months) or the guy who will still be here in a year? Precisely. In other words, work is manageable. And although I catch flack from people for the decent work schedule I have, I must remind all that I paid my dues, so quite frankly, I don't give a damn.

So after my job wraps up on June 30th, the analysts will likely be blowing it out to celebrate the end of our analyst careers and outrageous year-end bonuses that drop. And if last year is any indication, I will eat a ridiculous steak dinner while consuming from an open-bar, proceed to a local lounge where another open-bar shall await us and drink for another two hours, then finish off the night in VIP style at a club, where we will have magnums of Veuve Clicquot and liters of Goose. We will floss our non-existent status and promote our blown-out-of-proportion thoughts of self-worth, all in hopes of impressing members of the opposite sex into thinking we're someone we're really not- it’s all a lot of fun, really.

After recovering from what is likely to be a 32-hour hangover, I will be on full-blown vacation until I start my new job in NYC on approximately August 15th. Yes, you read that right- 6 weeks of pure, unadulterated, uncensored summer vacation. With summer classes, summer internships, and trips to India to meet potential marriage prospects (no joke) in the past, this will be the first time in a good 9 years where I will have literally weeks to do absolutely nothing. I intend to obviously spend some time back in CA with the fams (probably a week- after that, the constant hounding by my dad as to when I'm finding a wife will make me homicidal), 2 weeks in Chicago to enjoy the summer and wrap up my life, a couple of weeks doing something interesting (discussed below), and then moving out to NYC around August 1st to settle into my new home for the next 2 years.

It’s been a bit bittersweet to think about leaving Chicago- most of you have had to suffer through my tirades about how I don't miss CA and moving out was the best thing I ever did. I do genuinely love this city and don't think another city in the US rivals what Chicago has to offer from an all-inclusive point-of-view (nightlife, culture, cost-of-living, hospitality, cleanliness, diversity, restaurants, etc.). However, as the past few months have passed, I've began to realize just how many of my friends here are married, engaged, in serious relationships, or just plain old and tired (or act like that even if they're younger than me, right TP? haha). In other words, many of them don't go out as much anymore or prefer to stay in with their significant other. Don't get me wrong, I'm genuinely happy for them and know that they have graduated to that next stage of their life where jager shots and hangovers are NOT signs of a good night. However, for someone who is still immature (with plenty of brain cells remaining), I almost feel like a move out to the Big Apple might be exactly what I need- a new scene, new people to meet, new city to explore, and more shots to experience. And being that a few of my really good friends with precisely the same mentality as me live out there, I'm starting to get more and more excited about my move out east. I still intend to visit Chicago often, but my move has started to excite more than depress me, and I'm happy about that.

Poker
The other big thing I've been spending a lot of my time on as of recent has been improving (and cashing in on) my No-Limit Texas Hold-'Em poker game. At first, it started slowly: met a group of like-minded degenerate gamblers, played in an occasional home game, and cursed myself when I lost $20 (or thought of myself as the next Phil Ivey when I won $80). Slowly, the importance we placed on the game increased, the group of 6-8 players grew to more than 20 sharks, and soon after, we started a poker league, complete with weekly tournaments and a season-structure where every week mattered and counted towards your final standing (rules, structures, and results can be found at http://www.420poker.org). We're currently in the middle of the group's 2nd season, and out of 22 players, I'm currently tied for 6th place (top 8 players make the final table). I digress for a minute and give props to the people I play with- definitely have improved my game and made me more arrogant than I should be when I bluff with a 7-2 offsuit. But back to the story: I began to read poker books I came across (just purchased Harrington's first book on Hold-'Em), and developed a need to test my skills outside of the people we played with- how else is one supposed to compare one's growth, right? I began a feverish obsession with playing online poker, often running home after work and playing for hours at night and throughout the weekend whenever work allowed. I wouldn't call it an obsession so much as I would a "healthy interest" in the game (who am I kidding, I know). After winning and losing over $1,500 in a matter of 5 days (in a very suspicious manner nevertheless), I decided to stop playing online and begin live play with other people.

Like I said, many others in our league were also forging ahead on the same path as me, and we slowly began to realize that the riverboat casinos in Gary, IN (about 30 minutes away) would provide the perfect outlet to test our newfound theories regarding our poker prowess. For those of you who understand the game, we were playing no limit $2/$5 blinds, $200 max buy-in at a table for 10 people. For those of you who don't, just understand that you were allowed to bring a maximum of $200 to start, but were allowed to play with as much as you won (i.e. if you had $1,000 in front of you, you're free to play it). Anyways, so in the past 6-8 weeks or so, a group of us have been going with regularity to sit down and gamble with sharks, fish (people who don't know what they're doing), and regular folk who play to kill time. And let me tell you, it's been one hell of a ride. I've lost count how many times I've gone, but I've pulled in a cash profit of over $2,500 and have yet to lose once. Granted, poker is also subject to the law of averages, and it's only a matter of time before I hit a bad streak, so I won't be too surprised when I do lose. But when an average of 75% of the group we roll with to the boats win an average of over $200 in profit, something tells me we may not be so bad at the game. It's a ridiculous rush to put over $1,000 in Benjamins in your wallet and roll out of the casino in only about 4 hours worth of time. We're planning to go again to the boats a couple times this week- I'll let you all know how many hundo's I scoop up haha.

This gets me to the interesting part of my vacation that I mentioned above. Call me crazy, call me a retard, but we're doing it- a group of us from the poker league have decided to head out to Vegas during the World Series of Poker and play poker full-time for 10 days. Yes, that's right- we intend to spend 10 days in Vegas at the height of the WSOP and play poker as if it's our full-time job. We may go out a night or two when the winning is good, but for all intents and purposes, this is not a vacation- this is a business trip. I will be the first to admit, I will never quit my job to make this a career (my parents would likely gouge out my eyes if I even considered it anyways), but when I spent a weekend in Vegas a few weeks ago and generated a $1,000 profit (I could have conceivably taken the tables for over $3,000 in profit had I not pissed away a lot of it playing drunk, tired and stupid), something tells me that I at least owe it to my curiousity to see how I would fare if I played the game seriously for a prolonged period of time. We haven't decided if any of us will actually enter any of WSOP tournament events, but we fully intend to play cash games for 12-14 hours a day (if not more). I'll keep you all updated as our plans progress.

Partying / Life
Other than all the shit mentioned up top, I've been trying to enjoy the last few months I have left here in the Windy City. Like I said, although the number people in our group has decreased, I still make it a point to go out and enjoy life as often as possible. In future postings, I'll try to dictate my partying nights out with as much detail as I can (obviously details that may get me in trouble will only be verbally relayed). I must offer some details however of my recent whirlwind US tour that's still in progress. None of this was very planned , but it has all worked out well thus far (to the utter disgust of my fellow cubemates who toil away until 3am). Around the middle of March, I was still interviewing for my new job and was shacking up with my good buddy Parth (a fellow booze-hound and who shall me my guiding light in NYC) . As we discussed my potential move, he discussed his intentions to party in Miami the weekend of March 24-26 (details behind such a vacation will be kept secret to protect the whipped).

Without much arm-twisting, I was convinced to book a ticket to party with him in South Beach during the height of the Winter Music Conference AND the tail-end of Spring Break with another degenerate known as Alan (yes, he is Indian, and yes, that is his real name), and our friend Ami. I will have to write about this trip at another time, but suffice to say, Indian dudes in Miami on a peak weekend are essentially dead to any bouncer. In any case, after spending a ridiculously relaxing (and expensive) weekend in Miami, I toiled through a mundane week of work before the wheels were truly ready to come off. From March 31 until April 9th, I was to be out of the office and on vacation (yes, there is a running theme to the last few months of my life, I know). Beginning with the first weekend of March 31-April 2, I spent it celebrating my buddy Jay's transition from bachelorhood to "one-gina" hood in Austin, TX. For those of you who have never been there, let me tell you, its insanity. I don't know how any of those people got any studying done, because come Friday and Saturday night, the infamous 6th Street in Austin turns into a mini-Mardi Gras, complete with blocked streets and drunken tomfoolery in the streets.. to reiterate, on a WEEKLY basis. Without going into too many details, I dropped the ball with quite possibly the hottest white girl ever(who approached me nonetheless), puked ON the bar, and assaulted two female friends of ours (sorry again haha). Needless to say, a blow-out weekend and I WILL be back. The middle part of the week (4/3-4/6) was spent visiting the fams in the Bay Area, which consisted of lectures regarding marriage, the need to stop wasting money on frivilous expenditures, and other topics they deemed necessary (which I chose to tune out). After surviving the onslaught, I headed out to Vegas to celebrate my buddy Sachin's bachelor party (poker details above came from this trip). Imagine if you can: almost 30 dudes (with a handful of token non-indos) drinking, gambling, and partaking in other generally unspeakable behavior for 4 days and 3 nights. I have never had that much fun (and gotten such little sleep) in a while. In a nutshell, the trip consisted of beating Sachin senseless (who eventually suffered a ribcage muscle tear in the process), overtaking Body English with a 3-to-1 girl-to-guy ratio in the VIP area for us, and of course, poker. Details, of course, will be limited to protect the guilty.

So of course, one would think I would be all traveled (and partied) out, but alas, this is not the case. After spending this past weekend relaxing in Chicago (if you call three nights of boozing a slower pace), this upcoming weekend (4/21-4/23) will see me in the nation's capital visiting friends (and partying). The following weekend (4/28-4/30) will find me in Detroit for my friend Poopie's (i.e. Rupa's) graduation party (and partying), and the weekend after that (5/5-5/7) will be spent in Boston for Jay's wedding (and ridiculous amounts of partying). Future trips planned include a trip to NYC to find an apartment, more Vegas, more CA, and god only knows more of what else.

Conclusion
Clearly, today has been an extremely slow day at work (hence the reason I decide to start this blog). Hopefully, this diary gives all a little more insight into my helter-skelter life (actually, its not that cool, but I just wanted to use helter-skelter in a sentence), and at the very worst, provides you another website to waste time on while you toil away at your job wherever that may be. Please feel free to leave comments, throughts, insults, anything, just so I know people are reading- otherwise, this is a waste of my time that I can likely spend shopping or gambling instead.

Holla!