It doesn't get better than Paget Brewster!

Paget Brewster. So much to say! There are certain people in a person's life who help mould the person they become. These people may knowingly or unknowingly influence a person. Paget Brewster is one of those people for me. She is a role model.

She taught me the most important lesson I've ever learnt - to not wait for life to happen, but to make it happen. To put yourself out there and do what you want to do. To experience life, and not just live it. Paget Brewster experiences life. She also taught me to be myself, and just have fun and not constantly worry about what people think. She's been a part of my life since Criminal Minds. I loved her as Kathy and did watch her on the Andy Richter show, but it was Criminal Minds that had me youtube-ing interviews and videos of her.

I had the most amazing opportunity to meet her on Saturday, July 10th. It was the best experience ever and meeting her has given me new drive, courage and determination to do what I want to do and live my dream. Here's how it happened!

I found a penny in the car as I was getting in, face up, so that was a really good sign. The family and I headed to the beach in Orange County, played in the water and the sand for a little bit and then headed to LA for my play.

My uncle and aunt dropped me off at Largo, where it was happening and went to hang out in the city. The show is called "The Thrilling Adventure and Supernatural Suspense Hour". I first heard of this when I saw an interview that Paget did with Kevin Pollack. It sounded fascinating and I always wanted to see it. When it coincided with my trip so perfectly, I booked my ticket!

The show itself is a variety show, with some singing, some jingles, some acting and a ton of laughter! It's modeled after the 1930s radio shows. I laughed almost continuously for an hour and a half! My "smile dimples" are definitely deeper! She is in the second half of the show where she plays a character called Sadie who is married to Frank. They are a rich, 1930s couple who live in the Plaza Penthouse and drink martinis. She used the word "Horse" which she demonstrated in the Kevin Pollack Chat Show. Her partner in crime is Paul. F. Tompkins, one of the funniest comedians around. This time, the story revolved around a Spanish love story and it involved goats, witches, a prince and a Chupacabra!

At the beginning of the show, I asked Michael, the person who gave me my ticket and was the stage manager at Largo if he could give Paget a little something I had for her. He said that he would take it to her immediately and went backstage and gave it to her. He came out about 5 minutes later and told me to meet him at the courtyard after the show, so that I could meet Paget!!! I nodded eagerly and jumped up and down when he turned around! I'm pretty sure I looked like a fool, but who cares!

I went out to the courtyard after the show, cursing myself for leaving my shawl in my uncle's car. It was slightly chilly, but not the go-blue variety (Yay!). I hung around there, with the other 200 play goers trying to catch his eye. It really helped that I was wearing bright blue cause he called me over when he saw me. I went on over and he told me to wait. he went inside and then came out and motioned to follow him through the stage door. I was entering sacred space. A part of me wanted to look around and take everything in, but the part that respected an actors space won and I looked down and walked.

I think Micheal must have sensed my klutzness, because he warned me of every step, preventing every chance that I had to fall on my face, for which I am eternally grateful. We went outside to this little area where Paget and a bunch of other people were standing around laughing and joking. I waited patiently on the side, quite intimidated to join this group.

She finally looked in my direction and went "Oh! Are you Saroma?" and at my nod, hugged me and thanked me for the stuff. I was a little shocked cause I did not expect this kind of openness! I hugged her back and told her that I was glad she liked the stuff. We hung out and chatted outside for about 20 minutes! I asked her for an autograph and a picture and was quite embarrassed by my shaking hands, partially due to the cold and mostly because I was so excited!!!

We talked about her "restroom thing" where she wants to say "hello!!" to a person when they accidentally walk in on her. She laughed at that and said that she had tried it at all the airports - London, Paris, Milan, etc. She said that she was currently working on a cartoon where The Simpsons originally filmed (?) and there was one stall that does not have a lock. Three guesses to which one she said she uses :P Conan flashback anyone?

Someone saw the bling on her ring finger and asked if she was engaged to Steve! She laughed at that and said "Oh no! If it happens, you'll be the first to know!" It was the bling for the show - cause her character Sadie is married to Frank Doyle!

When we admired her dress from the show, she told us that it was from ebay, and that she got it for $12!!! The entire group was in shock cause it fit her like it was stitched for her! She said that if you knew your exact measurements, you could get awesome stuff from there.

After hanging out for a few more minutes, where she revealed that she collected handbags and actually had a showcase like thing for them (Like the showcase where people keep their fancy china), we headed back indoors (Oh! Finally the shivering stopped!) and she gave me another hug and kiss, still totally blown away by her down to earth-ness, and we said goodbye. She asked if I was coming again and I told her that it would be cool if they toured India!

Paget Brewster is amazingly sweet, funny, so freaking beautiful and just everything you've heard. She is so easy to talk to and you totally relax and have fun around her, no matter how shy and intimidated you may be.

My lucky penny totally came through for me!

I dreamt I met Kate Walsh. No wait. It was freaking REAL!

June 20th, 2010 dawned hot, muggy and sometimes cloudy, but mostly sunny. It was about 32C and 90F. I met my friend Adrienne in Times Square at 1pm and we took the subway to 330, 16th Street West, where the Atlantic Stage 2 theatre was. We went to 14th Street and then walked up to 16th. Then very confidently we walked in the opposite direction, before realising that the numbers were reducing!!! Then we marched up the other way, a long walk, to the theatre. We went inside to sit in the lobby because it was hot outside to wait for my aunt, who had my ticket. We took a couple of pictures and I went up outside to ask where the stage door would be, so that I could go early in case there was a rush. The theatre attendant said that they don't tell people where the stage door was!!!! What was that? Getting a little angry, I marched back in and vented a little to Adrienne. We chatted for a while and suddenly, she nudged me. I looked up to see KATE WALSH walk past us and go to the lift! She pressed the button and waited. It literally took five minutes for the lift to come up! I would love to know what was going on in her mind, because everyone was talking and then we all shut up when she walked in. I wonder if it was awkward for her or if she is used to it or if she just doesn't care. Anyway, she was wearing a blue lacy top and denim shorts. she drummed her fingers on the wall while she waited. It was a total I do that too moment. Now while I was looking at her, with my jaw on the floor, I was also FLIPPING out! I kept saying oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! And I may have been audible! I hope I wasn't though!

Then the lift finally came and she got in. The door wouldn't close. She was running a little late and you could her her mutter in frustration as she pressed the buttons repeatedly. The door closed and everyone at in the lobby was going "Oh my God! That was so cool" or something like it. Even the 60 something old ladies. Just saying. Kate has that effect on everyone!!!

I flipped out cause Kate was five feet away from me!! Adrienne had to calm me down and then my aunt came. We all went inside the lift and I told her about what happened, willing myself not to jump up and down like a freaking lunatic. it was already bad enough that a girl tweeted about me flipping out in the lobby. The usher at the entrance warned us to switch off our cell phones and referred to the incident that Kate tweeted about - an old dude's hearing aid. Adrienne and I laughed at that story and we all took our seats. At 2:30pm, the theatre grew dark and suddenly the light came on and there was Kate! Holy crow, I was seeing her act up close! It was THE best play I've ever been to. I'm not gonna say too much, because if a person reading this hasn't seen it, I don't want to give it away. I just want to say that she is incredibly articulate for a person who puts Lorelai Gilmore to shame and has an unbelievable memory! Also, she has the ability to cry on cue! WOW!

The lady in front of me - her cell phone rang!!!! Everyone looked at her, Kate and Paul paused the play for about 30 seconds, but there was no outburst. I cannot imagine how distracting it was for Kate, who had so much dialogue!!! She managed to stay on track and continued the play.

The play got over, we all applauded. My hands were numb. I'd like to say thank you Amanda for prepping me. I did not wear a skirt like I had planned and I carried a jacket. It was cold in the theatre if you're from a tropical country!

I raced out of the theatre and opted to use the stairs, because the lift obviously took forever and I think there were about 12 of us in the whole theatre under the age of 60! Seriously. So I raced up thinking it was only one floor, to realise that the theatre is actually a good way down. About four flights of stairs down!!! I ran up the stairs, thinking, I will definitely have Kate Walsh legs after this and finally reached the door where I came out. I stood directly in front of the door, prepared to shove anyone who got in my way. Not really, but anyway. Adrienne also came out and all the old people went away, so it was just about 12 of us waiting for Kate.

Paul Sparks came out first and was walking away when we kind of ambushed him for autographs and pictures. He was pretty sweet and took pictures with us. He is a really good actor! His performance was understated and a perfect match for Kate. he's cute too.

After about 10 minutes, KATE FREAKING WALSH came out. My heart stopped! She looked at me and totally recognised me!!!!!!! She walked up and said "You're from India! thanks for coming!" I stood there like an idiot for a few seconds before my brain kicked into action. being dumbstruck never had happened to me, but it's happened now. I handed her my playbill and postcards. I got her to sign two postcards for Sabine and Summer and then asked if she could personalise mine. She said "Sure! do you spell Romy R-o-m-i?" I think I almost fell down. She knew my name. SHE FREAKING KNEW MY NAME! I belatedly said "With a 'Y'" and she grinned and said "Oh yeah I remember" I handed her the present I got and asked if I could get a picture. She said "Oh sure!" and took one with me. While the entire exchange was going on, she rubbed my back and said "I didn't have to" when I handed her my present. Then she went on to sign other autographs and I hung around, wanting to just be around her till the last possible minute. She looked at me and said "I like your jites!" I flipped out again. a person who wears such incredible clothes, complemented me on mine! OMG! A person gave her some four pictures to sign and she joked "Guys, I have a life! My brother's in town" We all laughed. She finished signing, shook my hand and thanked me again for coming (though I should be the one thanking her for simply existing and being who she is and just for everything. There is so much that I have learned from her!) and went. I said bye and skipped the whole way back to the subway station. I don't know how my heart lasted.

Oh I would like to apologise to the boy who made me take his picture with Kate cause I'm so sure it's blurry! I was shaking so much!!! I made it back to my aunt's house in NJ and saw two texts from Adrienne. She said Kate had personally tweeted to me! I went online to see the tweets she left me. It was the sweetest thing ever! She is an absolute sweetheart. there are no words. A writer like me and a person who talks a LOT has officially run out of words!

Kate, if you ever read this, thank you so much for everything. Thank you for making my dream come true. Thanks for reading my letter. I meant every word and I apologise for the handwriting!

June 20th, 2010 is going to be the best day of my freaking life. The end.

When it all becomes too serious

Sometimes, you look back at your life and want to kick yourself for either making those colossally bad decisions or for not seeing stuff coming. You look at yourself in the mirror and ask if you are really that naive or if you're stupid (Then you take the IQ test and get an IQ of 141 which reassures you. A little.).

Today I'm in a stage where being in a said relationship matters, knowing what you're doing in life matters, knowing who you are matters. To me, only the third thing really matters. I don't know who I really am, I change, grow and things that were of earth shaking importance yesterday, is worth nothing today. I think I'm in a position to say that I'm okay with the kind of person I am, the values I have and the life changing decisions I've made so far seem to be ones I can live with, even if some may be mistakes.

A while back, I had my first real crush. Up till now, I've never really wanted to hang out with a boy or been comfortable around one. I've grown up in an all female household, full of very strong female presences, have had various female role models and went to a girls' school and college. Is it any wonder that I'm not particularly comfortable with the male gender? I didn't know what to talk about, what was considered cool and definitely didn't / don't know the art of flirting (At the age of 23, yes.)

It was weird when I became one of the girls I laughed at, waiting for a call or a text, wanting to meet and hang out or something and then analysing everything he ever said or did. Luckily I'm not a patient person, so this lasted all of 2 months. I am done and now all I can think about is that poor boy was subjected to many a discussion with my friends. Some of whom hadn't even met him!! HA!

I've sworn never to do this because I was moody and miserable and definitely not good company. I'm usually fun and have a wide range of interests, but all I ended up talking about was this boy! Like get over it already!

In other news, I'm spending quality time with Gyp cause I won't see her for a whole month soon. I think I'm gonna miss her above all else. If you don't get my relationship with my dog, then all I'm gonna say is that I feel bad for you because you've clearly never been the recipient of unconditional love. So yeah. I'm gonna miss her the most!

This trip is going to be different because I'm only at my aunt's place for 10 days and for the rest of the month I'm on my own! YIKES! I've never holidayed on my own, but I'm looking forward to this trip. It's going to test my independent nature (I've proved that I can't live with another person and I'm okay living alone) and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared. Mostly about how I'm going to lug my beeeeg suitcase around the various airports and between various hostels and houses! I remember the last time I travelled to the States, I had 2 suitcases of 23 kilos each (50lbs) and I had to use everything I had to get it of that baggage runway thingy. NIGHTMARE! And then, when I had to run to the other side to get my other bag, some doofus tried stealing my trolley! I think I'm just gonna be glad that it's only one piece of luggage right?

In other news, I haven't fallen off anything, hit anything or be hit by anything. An achievement, considering that it's been two whole days since I last blogged :P Anyway, my next post will probably be me squealing just before I leave for the airport.

I'm sooooooo looking forward to meeting my family, Kate Walsh and hopefully Paget Brewster! This time next week, I'll be racing through Heathrow Airport to make my connecting flight! WIN!

Oh, oh, my recommendation for this post is a blog I recently discovered. It's a fun read. It's called "I wont make you eggs in the morning" and I had a fun two hours reading it all. Check it out!

Coke with the CEO of Logica, India.

It started when I was waiting for some work to be done before I could begin work on something and had sometime on my hands. Nandini was going up for lunch and I decided to tag along to give her some company. We met Niraagulan Murugan upstairs and joined him. Since I had already eaten, I got myself a coke and was talking to them about what Logica, Bangalore did for World Environment Day and about the Emission Testing they had planned.

Halfway through, we were joined by Abhay Gupte, who just happens to be the CEO of Logica in India. No biggie right??? Yeah. Start the freak out! For me, a fresher, my first job out of college, it doesn’t get bigger than this!! I sat staring at my coke, listening to everything he said, because it just seemed unreal. Who has a coke with the CEO casually? Really!

He talked about Logica’s CMMI appraisal (Level 3!!!) and things that need to go up on the intranet. Business-y stuff. Then he talked about the Environment Day plans and we talked about planting trees on barren ground. Like a hillock. How cool would it be to be travelling say, from Bangalore to Chennai, and find a green hill and a Logica sign? It seems to be a good idea and I hope it can be done.

I started contributing to the conversation when Mr. Gupte brought up Logica sponsoring an animal enclosure at the local zoo (Bannerghatta Zoo). This had all my attention the minute I heard Logica + sponsor + animal. I told him about a Non-Government Organisation called People for Animals who I volunteer for. For those of you who are interested, PFA is an organisation that deals with wild animals that are displaced due to the encroachment (of Bangalore as it expands). They rescue these animals and then rehabilitate them into the wild. They work closely with the Forest Department of India and work out of many cities across the country. They have a program where you as an individual or a company can sponsor these animals (medical and general maintenance) for a specific period or till they are released into the wild.

We discussed the work Infosys has done with the Mysore Zoo, where they sponsor enclosures and considered doing something similar with the Bannerghatta Zoo. The point that I raised was that Logica would look like we were sponsoring captivity, which is honestly not cool.

We branched out to talking about the oldest zoo in India which is the Vandalur Zoo, just outside Chennai. Mr. Gupte told us about a lecture he attended by S. Muthiah which was about how Chennai (or the then Madras) is the first city of modern India. Some of the facts that Mr. Gupte shared with us were fascinating.

There is a building called The Ice Room and the reason it’s called thus is that when the British established the East India Company, they would ship massive amounts of ice all the way from England to be consumed by the British here. All this ice was stored there! Another fact he talked about was the initiative taken by Colonel William Lambton, who started the Great Trignometrical Survey of the Indian sub-continent in 1806. Unfortunately, Lambton died by the time they made it to Nagpur and the survey was taken over by his assistant, Colonel Sir George Everest, who was his assistant then. At the end of the Survey, the Colonel Sir George Everest had the highest mountain in the world names after him, but the poor Colonel Lambton, who started this survey only has a tiny hillock in Salem, Tamil Nadu named after him!!

I found Mr. Gupte to be extremely approachable. After my initial freak-out, I wasn’t afraid to open up or voice my opinions as I would have otherwise been, when in front of someone so senior. He is so down to earth and I love that he took time to chat with his employees, no matter how junior they may be. Not something you’d expect from someone so high up! I truly appreciate it. Now, getting back to my narration.

We talked about the origin of the city of Bangalore, or now, Bengaluru. The name of the city came from the Kannada name Benda Kalooru which literally translates to the city of boiled beans. The story goes that in the year 1120 AD the Hoysala king, Veera Ballalla lost his way on a hunting trip. After a long search, he met an old lady in the forest who offered him shelter for the night and boiled beans to eat. To thank her for her services, the king built a town and called it Benda Kalooru.

It was only later in 1537, that Kempe Gowda helped design the town and give it its modern shape. It was fun to realise that we all knew the story, but none of the specifics. We didn’t know when it happened or who the king was! I’m hoping that now, after my research, I can wow people about my awesome knowledge and then say oh yeah, I chatted with the CEO about this, nonchalantly. How cool will I be!

It was the most interesting coke I’ve ever drunk and I’m quite grateful that I had some free time on an otherwise busy Tuesday. I’m sure this was probably a regular lunch for Mr. Gupte, but it’s definitely one of the highlights of my Logica life. The other one was riding in the lift with Craig Boundy. Just saying. Till next time then.

PS: I’d like to thank Google and Wikipedia for a whole lot of history information.

Freaking Fighter Jets!

So if you know me, you'll know I LOVE fighter jets. The Jaguars, MIGs, Sukhois, Valkaries, you name it, I love it! I work near the HAL airport in Bangalore, which is the defence airport now that BIA has come up. It's a total treat with jets taking off and landing. Yesterday was super cool. I got to see two jets simultaneously take off and land. Like the > sign!! They were two MIG 27s. A common enough sight but it totally made me all excited inside.

I think it's the adrenalin rush, from knowing that it's so fast and powerful. My favourite part of going on a plane is the take off and landing. The speed the plane goes at to lift off and the force with which it lands, the speed and the need to slow down fast, before we overshoot the runway. It's so brilliant!

Anyway, when I saw the two jets, I totally started jumping up and down, squealing, before realising that I was in front of my office and I looked like a lunatic. I stopped slowly and looked around to see if anyone had caught my moment of weakness, where I wasn't the perfect corporate employee like I always am (yeah right!) and sure enough, some two guys were looking at me quite weirdly. I'll bet they were debating if the rumours that if you admit a person to NIMHANS (the mental institute) you get a fruit basket and a rug were true. lets just say that I quickly made my way back to my desk.

This was my adventure for yesterday.

(Jets in the image left to right - Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Sukhoi - 30K, MiG-27, MiG-21bis)