*Uuunghhh*

...*struggles to pull herself out of the big black abyss of blog-updating laziness*

AAH.. THERE!

I am back!

For how long, do not know.. but after a kick in the butt from (who would have thought I'd ever have any) regular readers, I have decided enough is enough and it's time to kick-start the xinugeist.

As I look back on the big chunk of time that's just gone missing from my blog, I notice that basically I've not recorded my entire summer.

Some quick highlights:

-I turned 25. I know I know.. it's too young to be true. I don't feel 25.. I feel.. 27 at least. Possibly because all my friends are that age and I've had a roller coaster of a life that makes me feel so much older than most people around me. 25 year olds today aren't coming up on their third wedding anniversary and contemplating big life-changing decisions like buying houses and making babies. But I am. And that makes me old. *searches for that pesky grey hair as proof*

For my birthday, Sarwar and I had an action-packed weekend at Attitash Mountain in New Hampshire. Pix have been uploaded on Facebook for a while, so shall not replicate here. I never thought I'd enjoy racing up a mountain in a ski-lift and hurtling down a mountain (twice) on a sled! Sarwar is very happy because he thinks this is slow progress towards me being able to ride roller coasters and he has a chance of seeing the gates of a Six Flags again. Ha, ha buddy.. no chance.

-My in-laws visited for a couple of weeks. Sarwar's younger sister started grad school at MIT and his cousin joined UWMadison as a freshman. So there was a lot of shopping for bedding, shoe racks and notebooks. Made me nostalgic for the good ol' days *sniff*

-I began settling into my new job and seriously hating what I do for a living. So, inspired by my nostalgia for school, have begun contemplating a graduate course at Emerson College for a degree in Global Marketing Communication & Advertising. They have an open house in November I intend to go to. I think it's time to move from agency lip-service to client-side decision making, a la the career transition of Vishal Oberoi ;)

-Ramadan started, and is actually coming to a close next week so looking forward to Eid. For the first time in many years, we won't be spending Eid with my family in Toronto since our passports are gone for our Hajj visa. Let's see what Eid in Boston is going to be like. I'm excited because my mother-in-law got me lots of nice outfits from Dubai so at least I'll look good :)

-I became obsessed with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 - Sangeet Ka Pratham Vishwa Yudh! We began watching the show when my mother-in-law came over, since she wanted to keep up with it and the only Indian channels we can get with our cable package are Zee TV and TV Asia, but we are completely hooked to it now.

The judges were initially annoying but Himesh has grown on me, with his predictable litany of compliments for good performances ("Superb. Mindblowing. Fantastic. Outstanding") and I actually do miss Bappi Lahiri's silly comments now that he's off the show since nobody from his gharana survived the voting (for example: "Slow and steady.. *smile*.. and the winning.")

The crowd is really lame - lots of beqabu aunties with flabby, wobbly arms.. hyper-active kids busting out of their clothes.. taxi-driver type men with a little too much enthusiasm for the male contestants.

But it's the contestants that make it all worth it. Some of them are like seasoned pros, it's such a treat to listen to them. The competition is now down to three finalists and I'm conflicted about who to root for: Amanat, the cute and phenomenally talented/versatile 19 year old from Faisalabad, or Aneek (or as Himesh calls him, Onnik) the 18 year old Sonu Nigam-sound alike from Kolkata.

The third contestant is Raja Hasan from (would you believe it) 'Raja'sthan -- so while my ethnic loyalties do lie there, and the whole fricken country is voting for him, I am not particuarly impressed because his vocal range is limited to Sukhwinder Singh and A R Rahman primal-scream songs.

Sarwar has graciously offered to let me use his company-paid Blackberry for all the international text message votes I intend to send before October 13th once I've decided who to support. It will likely be Amanat since he's a bit of the underdog, what with being Pakistani and all. Plus he looks like my sister's ex bf and I generally pity him because he's had to resort to a lot of religious and cultural compromises (touching guru's feet, wearing puja-ka-teeka on forehead) to get as far as he has with the Indian audience.

If Junaid Sheikh, the hunky Karachiite, or Musarrat Abbas, the next Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan from Lahore, hadn't been eliminated earlier on I'd be voting for them - but alas, I'll have to make do with watching their videos over and over.

Here are videos of a couple of my favorite performances on the show this year (not at all a full and comprehensive list, because those would be too many to post!)...

Amanat Ali Khan: Yeh Hausla (Dor)


Amanat Ali Khan: Parda Hai Parda (Amar Akbar Anthony)


Amanat Ali Khan: Mitwa (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna)


Aneek Dhar: In Dinon Dil Mera (Life In A Metro)


Aneek Dhar: Main Agar Kahoon (Om Shanti Om) -- my favorite song right now.


Junaid Sheikh: Ishq Di Galli (Kacche Dhaage)


Musarrat Abbas: Tere Bin Nahin Lagda (NFAK)


Harpreet Deol: Soni De Nakhre (Partner) -- my favorite song of the summer.


Phenomenal, na?

Yesterday, Sarwar said to me: "You know, I think I'm way more into Sa Re Ga Ma than I ever was into American Idol." I'm like, well duh! This *is* your culture after all, plus its harder to sing Laaga Chunari Mein Daag than Wind Beneath My Wings.


In other news, I am quite looking forward to this fall, looks like a bunch of good movies will be releasing: Saawariya, Om Shanti Om, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, and I admit - I want to watch Jab We Met 'cos I'm a Shahid fan!! *ducks to avoid Vishal's flying sheep*

Speaking of Om Shanti Om, I'm just shocked and appalled by SRK's new abs. He's too hot to be 43 and father of two and imaginary son to millions of moms around the world. Tsk tsk. Why isn't the police issuing arrest warrants for his conscious display of his abs as public indecency instead of chasing Shilpa Shetty around the world for being unwillingly kissed by idiotic Richard Gere?

Alright, much more to say but my laptop battery is dying and dishes are festering in the sink begging to be scrubbed. I hope this has satisfied everyone who complained the xinugeist was dead - because it most certainly isn't. Just as TV shows were gone for summer hiatus (oh yes, must blog about those as well), I was on break as well. But, as Arnie famously said, I am baaack.