People at the cinema

I cannot explain in words my excitement at finding out that form now on, I would be getting paid to watch movies and review cinemas (dream didn’t last long). But nonetheless, it was a glorious few weeks. I saw everything. I mean everything. From tiny, luxurious, 40-seater, rich-people-type cinemas to gigantic, ‘where the fuck is the exit?’-type 600-seaters. I had specific reasons to go visit so many cinemas but that’s all technical stuff. What interested me was the type of people who came to the theatre. Here are the types: 

1. Average movie goer with popcorn and drink in hand. Sole purpose of being there: Enjoy the ‘experience’ as opposed to only the movie. This includes the mall, the air-conditioning, the seats, the sound, the movie. That’s about it.
2. Perfectionist: Probably has the priciest food in hand. Takes into consideration: Ride to the theatre, reception, easiness to get into the theatre, 3D glasses with sharp edges is a big no no, air-conditioning, quality of projection, door guy’s relationship with his mother, immersiveness of the audio, positioning of the seats (will fight for hand-rest area. looks at you like ‘I own this place’), will carefully ration the drink so that it only finishes at the end of the movie(will make all kinds of annoying straw-related-noises), will give a standing ovation if and only if the movie deserves it, will ask people to shut up without any hesitation, you get the idea.
3. I’m here with my girlfriend, I am so happy type person: The most annoying kind. Won’t shut the fuck up, wont stop lighting up the whole theatre with their damn phones, within two hours, would have managed to go outside and come back in 10 times. I don’t know how that’s possible but dudes do it. 
4. The movie enthusiast: Will shut the fuck up, will thoroughly enjoy the movie, slightest distractions(like the type 3 douche above) will throw them off track, will not buy any food from the theatre, will clap the fuck out if the movie is good enough, will tear up, I repeat, will tear up, usually turns up late.
5. Trouble maker: on the lookout for trouble, will spill drinks and food, will try his best shot at your girl, will lean back as much as his spine goes, will put feet up, will offer support to type 2 people in shutting down talkative folks, will take a few moments to give way to others to pass through, will let out loud sighs, sounds of anger disgust and laughter, usually turns up drunk. Funny thing is, dude will tear up during the sad scenes but will hide it and yell out curse words.
6. Happy, single old folk: will offer help to anyone in need, will kindly ask you to look after their belongings while they use the restroom, will thoroughly enjoy the movie, will make a phone call as soon as the movie ends. The call may be to the uber driver, maybe a grandchild, maybe a dead husband.
7. Lovers: Sole purpose: make out, very quiet, in and out like mice. Type 5 usually has an eye on this couple.
8. The eaters: Its like they rented out a space just to eat. And wow! do they eat like kings! I’m talkin large popcorn, giant Pepsi, nachos, depression, and spring rolls.

 

Time to PPP arty! Or not

It’s the weekend. This is that part of the week where normal people do normal stuff. You know… go out, meet friends, relax, maybe go on a trip, a weekend getaway, spend time with their family/girlfriend/boyfriend, maybe do something completely opposite like be creative, learn something new, or host an event, work for charity, make someone happy, etc. By now you probably know where this post is going. This post is going to be about how boring my Saturday was and how even more boring my Sunday is going to be. So do yourself a favour and read something else. 

To be honest I never expected my weekend to be so boring. It was supposed to be: Super-creative day at work till 3, jam session with the band from 4 to 6, drum practice from 7 to 8 and roam around the city for the rest of the night, maybe get a nice Kebab dinner. What ended up happening was: 

All productivity lost

YouTube, Netflix and Subway won. For a moment it looked like Dominos was going to win but thanks to a minimum order requirement, Subway made the cut. All is not lost, is what I am trying to say. So this is what happened…

I got out of work, eager to start working on some sweet hard rock music when I got two texts. One was from the fucking vocalist who all of a sudden decided he has to move to a new place. The other was from the jam-pad saying the drums were being taken out for repairs. It was like being kicked on both the balls. So I stood there, at the intersection, clueless on what to do next. I couldn’t go home because that would make me go crazy. So I did one of those slow-motion, stranger-in-Moscow style walks while contemplating the meaning of life. Then I sat down on a bench and watched busy people go about their day for a whole two hours. It was like that scene in Men in Black where Will Smith gets offered the job of a lifetime and sits down on a bench on the sidewalk deciding whether to go for the interview or not. Well, mine was a little different. I already had the job(fuck yeah). All I needed was some peace of mind. I never realised that observing people was so therapeutic! In that short amount of time I watched the orange sun go down slowly, people rush out of a temple, a woman beat the crap out of her boyfriend, a kid fall into a sewer and a customer mercilessly swear at a Vodafone store employee. Then I went home and ordered food from Subway. That’s how Subway won the healthy food race.

Comfort zone

I got a call from a cousin recently. Its one of those cousins that you know, calls once every three or four months to show that he cares and shit. But this time the conversation went a little differently. 

How’s everything? How’s work? How long have you been working there? Are you getting paid well? Do you think that’s good enough for you? Wait… let me tell you this before you even answer. No, that’s not good enough for you. You have to aim higher. Why are you not trying? Say hi to mom .Take care buddy!

I think orphans are lucky in certain ways. I have never been bothered by relatives before but this got me thinking. Besides, dude is a pretty awesome engineer himself. So I didn’t want to let it out the other ear. Obviously, there’s no point in writing all of this crap in a blog because ultimately I am the one who needs to wake up and take decisions. For some reason, I think writing helps.

If I keep doing what I like does that make me some kind of a “non-dreamer”? Do you necessarily have to keep switching jobs frequently until you find the best one? I like to call such people “bullet trains”. They don’t pay attention to the little things because the attention is on the main goal. Granted, I don’t get paid well and I hate everyone at work but hey, I love the job! In fact I am sure that I can do much more with it. I have to admit that it has started to feel a bit like a nice cozy comfort zone but that’s just something I’ll have to deal with.

On a lighter note, I got a new apartment

Pros:

Big

Internet is faster than the rate at which “bullet trains” switch jobs.

Next door neighbour’s name is Loki

Very rarely do I bump into talkative neighbours

Cons:

Nothing so far. Woohoo!

Never thought I’d say this but…

I think I miss my roommate

Nothing special

I got a raise today. I got the letter from my manager. As I read the “we appreciate your hard work” crap, I pictured myself arguing with the boss for a better raise. Then I thought,” the heck with it” and signed the papers. I was contemplating asking for a raise for sometime. Now I feel like a dog on a bone.

Family to the rescue

I worked hard to get the job that I have now. Now that I have it, I feel empty. I enjoy my job but lately it has involved a lot of travelling. I leave early in the morning and come back late at night. I don’t talk much with people at work due to language barriers(and I am not much of a talker). Life is starting to suck remarkably. I feel too depressed to go out during weekends. I am forcing myself to go out at least during the weekends. I try to watch a movie or travel. And so the vicious cycle continues: Get a good job- job consumes more time from life-life becomes boring-become less productive at work -start to hate job because of boring life.

However, something good has come out of all this. I’ve started to talk to my mom and sister. I rarely talk to them since moving here. I’ve realised that there’s no shame in revealing SOME of my problems to my family. Earlier, I used to suck it all up because “boys don’t cry” or whatever. However, I have to admit that talking to my sister backfires most of the time. I love my sister but she is completely useless when it comes to cheering people up!

On an unrelated note, this Indian rendition of Sweet Child Of Mine is simply kickass!

Back to square one

The only two friends I have here went home. I don’t think they are coming back. So I am back to taking long, lone walks after work and watching YouTube at home. Damn, making friends is so hard! The only thing I look forward to now are drum classes. Its conveniently placed on Saturdays at a convenient time. 7 p.m. Work on Saturday gets over at 3. So I walk home happily after work, chill at home till classes start. I met some people there who I hope will be the people I will hangout with from now on. The problem: They are graduates and one of them has sort of a crush on me. I tend to panic in these situations. I will manage to somehow fuck everything up.
There are no good movies playing now. So weekend movie is a no go this week. I am really looking forward to watching Conjuring 2. Man! The trailer was scary!
Work is starting to get frustrating. All the pride gained in getting a job in ‘Research and Development’ is slowly starting to fade. Especially when I get a project that is hard as fuck to get my head around. Here’s some rock goodness:

The last one really brings back old rock.

Music is life

I woke up today with a good feeling. I looked at my watch. It showed 9:15 am. I looked at the ceiling. I thought to myself, “There seem to be an awful amount of light coming from outside the window. That can’t be good. It means its late. But isn’t today Sunday? I hope it to hell its Sunday.
It took about a minute for my brain to start functioning properly and switch to panic mode. It was a Wednesday and  I was informed at the beginning of the month that reaching late to work more than two times would result in a deduction of pay. I like pay. I like it very much. I don’t like less pay. So I launched myself from the bed to the bathroom. I didn’t shower. I hate it when that happens. I start the day with a sticky body. I run to the bus stop. I sweat more. I get more sticky. I get into a bus full of sticky people. Their sticky sticks to my sticky. After we exchange the stickys I get down at my office. I run to my desk. I turn on my pc, keep my stuff in a room. Then I run to the restroom to wash my sticky face. The pc has been turned on so that the manager knows I’m here. The pc will remain on like that for about another five minutes until I get back. I get back to my desk at 9:40. I think to myself,” Fuck yeah man! You’re the man! Only you can pull this off! Just late by 10 minutes and none even noticed!”. You might be wondering why am I boring you with my completely boring life. I want to explain what goes on in my head while all of this happens every day. Music. Music plays in my head all the time. I can’t shut it off! The genre of music changes according to the situation. Its usually hard rock when I rush to work! It is also kind of a problem. I forget to think about important stuff. To be honest, I am actually thinking of a great guitar solo right now!
I think the music in my head is my mind’s way of letting me know that everything’s going to be alright. Music calms me down. I wish I could record some of the stuff my mind plays! My colleagues are all good people. I am not familiar with their language and yet we manage to communicate using a few English words and actions. We all have one thing in common. We all like to listen to music. After all, we work at a loudspeaker company. The music returns when its time to go home but not for long because I have to view a bloody apartment. Moving sucks. I hope it wont happen again this year.
After I get back home, I play some actual music. Tesla, Deep Purple, Mr. Big, Sieges Even, etc. It feels so good to sit and relax while listening to some good music. Music is what is keeping me sane. I don’t have many friends here and I am not a very good ‘people’ person. So I spend most of my time walking around my neighbourhood, travelling, making up music in my head. I remember  when I was younger, I would feel nauseous while travelling in buses. That feeling would magically disappear when I start to listen to my favourite songs. A friend once told me that music is what feelings sound like. I agree. I think it is the best way to express feelings. There’s a genre of music for every mood. It doesn’t matter how sad or angry you are. Good music can cheer you up in no time. Bob Marley’s Everything’s gonna be alright does actually make things a lot better! The darkest time of my life was when I lost my dad. I have good memories of him. He used to sing. His voice is in my head too. Its crystal clear.
In order to prevent what happened today morning from happening again tomorrow, I am going to take a shower and go to sleep early. Hope you liked reading about my boring meaningless life. Rock on!