Because you can't really make me stay away from a tag about books :)

Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

Nope. I have a few favourite places but I read almost everywhere :D

Bookmark or random piece of paper?

Used to be bookmarks. But now as much as I hate to admit it, dog ears :(

Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter/a certain amount of pages?

Depends on the book honestly. If it’s highly engrossing, I keep saying to myself – just another chapter. Just one more! But otherwise I can just stop mostly after a chapter though.

Do you eat or drink while reading?

Yes! Yes!

Multitasking: Music or TV while reading?

Nope. No TV definitely. Mostly none. Sometimes music in the background.

One book at a time or several at once?

Used to be a stickler to one book at a time, but now several at once.

Reading at home or everywhere?

Everywhere :)

Reading out loud or silently in your head?

Silently in my head.

Do you read ahead or even skip pages?

I don’t ever skip pages or read ahead, but I may skim the content.

Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?

Keeping it like new of course. Breaking the spine sounds too gruesome to hear! :-/

Do you write in your books?

Sometimes.

If you could invite one author and one of their fictional characters to lunch, who would you invite and why?

Mario Puzo and Michael Corleone. Without a doubt! :) Can you imagine the conversations that can take place.

Godfather has been one of the most engrossing and one of my most favourite books of all time! It kind of heralded my start into reading bigger and better novels.

What book do you wish the author would write a prequel for?

Harry Potter. I would really like to know more about James, Lily and the gang.

Which two characters (not from the same book) would make a good couple?

Ok, I will go with my top 2 favourite characters, but I don’t really want them to be a couple.

Lisbeth Salander and Michael Corleone.

If you ran into your favourite author on the subway and only could say one sentence to them, who is it and what, would it be?

Err. I have so many of them. But if I have to go with one, I’d pick Steig Larsson and at the risk of sounding flabbergasted, I’d ask – “Lisbeth Salander?  How did you even think up of such a character! Whoa!”

What book made you a reader and why?

Oh plenty, starting right from the Tinkles, Gokulams and Champaks to the Enid Blytons, Nancy Drews, etc.

Gives me a nice escape into another world!

Incendio!
Your bookshelf just caught fire. Show the book you’d save.

Don’t you mean books? And don’t you mean shelves as well!

Which dystopian world would you want to live in if you had to choose one? Why?

The magical world of Harry Potter :)

What is your most epic read of all time?

Can’t bring myself to think of just one. I’ll go with my top 5.

Godfather – for taking me into worlds beyond Sidney Sheldon and Mary Higgins Clark

Steig Larsson – The Millennium trilogy!

Harry Potter – for providing me with an escape into a world quite unlike and unusual.

Kane and Abel – For being the first ever book I couldn’t really put down, in spite of having my board exams at the time!

Palace of Illusions – for showing me different perspectives of an epic I have come to love.

Spill over from yesterday ...

So I didn’t do a post yesterday. I was held up with a few things and I didn't manage to find any time before the deadline and therefore I have decided to do two posts today. Yay!! I am purely imagining that you all are extremely happy to see two posts from me today! ;) 

And since it doesn’t make sense doing to heavy posts in a day, I have resorted to doing a tag and then I will do my regular post, you know, the usual heavy duty long post :P :P

But here goes for now! :)

--------------XXX-------------

·         Are you named after anyone? 

­    My official name isn’t after anyone in the family, however my birth name (yes! We’re posh like that! We have two names) is after my grand mom.

·         When was the last time you cried? 

­    I think Dec ’15 if I am not wrong. I have this huge phobia against lizards, and my current place of stay is filled with them! And one day, i just got frustrated and ending up choking on my daily call with the parents.

·         Do you have kids? 

­    Nope.

·         If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? 

­    Of course yes! I am the best! But honestly, it would be a little difficult considering my mood swings and low scale of social interaction.

·         Do you use sarcasm a lot? 

­    Yes. It helps when the other person understands sarcasm though.

·         Will you ever bungee-jump?

­    Oh boy yes! Been there, done that!! Will do it again!!!

·         What’s your favourite cereal? 

­    I don’t like cereals.

·         What’s the first thing you notice about people? 

­    Their smile and if the smile reaches their eyes.

·         What is your eye colour? 

­    Dark Brown.

·         Scary movie or happy endings? 

­    Happy Endings. I do like scary movies, but it’s a different feeling when a movie ends on a happy note.

·         Favourite smells? 

­    Petrol, kerosene, fresh paint, smell of old and new books, mint!

·         Summer or winter? 

­    Summer.

·         Computer or television? 

­    Computer. I don’t watch TV all that much.

·         What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? 

­    Where I am right now. Sing Sing Singapore.

·         Do you have any special talents? 

­    I like to think I am a good dancer and an average writer.

·         Where were you born? 

­    Tamilnadu.

·         What are your hobbies? 

­    Reading. Dancing. Writing.

·         Do you have any pets? 

­    No. I had one and he passed away. I am planning on adopting a pup soon.

·         Favourite movie? 

­    Those are way too long to list here.

·         Do you have any siblings? 

­    Yes. One younger brother.

·         What do you want to be when you grow up? 

­   I don’t want to grow up. I really don’t. Quite the odd thing to say when you’re in your 30s huh!!

So that’s that. The post for yesterday. Yes, I know I took the easy way out. And did the tag instead of an actual post. I will try and post a proper post from now on.

Deal. Ok? Ok. 

A tag's calling out to me .... :-) :-)

I have a perfect excuse for picking up a tag this time around!!

My last tag-based blog post was in 2012.

I know!! Right!!! :D :D

Am actually quite proud of myself as well… well even if I didn’t write as much as I’d like to, I still didn’t succumb to the pressure of blogger’s block with a tag! :D :D And that’s saying something considering how many tags I was doing at a point of time, evidence of which is in this blog !!!

And what’s funny is how, most of my tags revolve around books and reading and the like! :) All I can say in my defense is, old habits die hard! :P ;) And hence, we have one more book-based tag coming right up!!

Here you go! Picked this up on my one of my random blog hops …. Seems like this was quite a popular tag sometime back!

Take it up if you like it! You have to associate each of the questions with the title of a book you’ve read or which you can relate to!

And so we learn that …

In School I was: A Stranger in the Mirror

People Might be surprised I’m: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I will never be: Slumdog Millionaire

My Fantasy job is: Dance. Dance. Dance.  

At the end of a long day I need: One Hundred Years of Solitude

I Hate It When: Crime and Punishment

Wish I Had: Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less.

My Family Reunions Are: Daddy’s Little Girl.

At A Party You’d Find Me With:  Many Lives. Many Masters.  

I’ve Never Been To: The Palace of Illusions

A Happy Day Includes: Loves Music, Loves to Dance

Motto I Live By: As The Crow Flies.

On My Bucket List: Almost Single.

In My Next Life, I Want To Be: The Godfather

For the Love of Reading...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I blogged!

Ok! Fine! I wrote a tag! That’s still writing alright! :)

Plus it’s a tag about books and reading.. I could not not do it right! :D See, I knew you would come around.

Ok fine! I will blog religiously from now on! I promise!

Scratch that! I will try and blog religiously from now on! I promise! :)

Here goes..  I picked it up from here.. 

What have you just read?

I just finished reading the final part of Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. And I still say I liked the first book – The girl with the dragon tattoo – the best!!

What are you reading now?

Neil Strauss’s The Game. 

Watch out boys! We now know your secrets! ;)

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?

I have a whole lot of books left on my shelves to read… Mriyunjaya by Shivaji Sawant, A million little pieces by James Frey, Tina Fey’s Bossy pants…. Probably one of these.

What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?

Hmm.. Nothing.. If I don’t like a book, I give it up halfway sometimes. There are only 2 books so far that I have given up.. After trying to read them like 3-4 times. Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead is one of them! Yup! I can hear other book-lovers say Blasphemy!! :P :P

What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?

Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER..!! :)

Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?

Err.. No they don’t! Here in SG, definitely not! 

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?

I love fantasy books like Harry Potter, Twilight etc… And I have a whole lot of friends who think that I am silly or rather the books are silly and I am sillier to read them! :)

Do you read books while you eat?

Yes!

While you bathe?

No.

While you watch movies or tv?

Yup! Sometimes.. 

While you listen to music?

Yep!

While you're on the computer?

E-books yes! Or I browse around wiki hopping from one link to another.. Hey that is reading!! :-) Ok?

When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?

Yes, they did. Because I was the happiest when I had a book. They made fun of me for reading so much! Sigh!

What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?

Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. 

Have any books made you cry?

Not really!! Most of the times they just leave me with a ‘Wow! I never saw that coming expression!”

The nostalgic meme!!

Yes I succumbed to doing a tag! So much for will-power! Sigh!!

Ripped this from “Sunday Stealing”… Who in turn stole it from Emily Barton who I read came up with this meme / tag herself!

I am in a bit of a nostalgic mood and this one is perfect I guess for this situation when you are nostalgic and you feel like writing but you can’t think of anything to write …..

So there you go!!

Emily’s Rules:

Depending on your age, go back 10, 15, 20, or even more years.

Tell us how many years back you have traveled and why.

Pretend you have met yourself during that era, and tell us where you are.

You only have one “date” with this former self.

Answer these questions.

Okay, as we start, what year is it and how old are you?

Going back 10 years into year 2001 and I am back to being a pesky, impertinent 17 year old! Yes! Some things haven’t changed in 10 years time…

Why 10 years back?

I think there’s a whole lot of stuff about me that has changed in these past 10 years… much more than before that..!! and 17 is a good place to start… the teenage, adolescent years!!

Would your younger self (YYS, from here) recognize you when you first meet?

Nope! Oh yes! She would probably recognize me by face and physical characteristics but not by character or ideals or the person I have turned out to be!

Would YYS be surprised to discover what you are doing job wise?

Yup! You see, 17 year old me, thought she was going to be a Chartered Accountant like her dad or have something to do with finance or accounts or even dance for that matter! Not Project Management definitely. She hadn’t even heard of Project Management back then and certainly not jobs dealing with that ….

What piece of fashion advice would you give YYS?

Ditch the bangs, the boyish t-shirts and straight cut jeans! Would probably take her out now and buy a bunch of cooler stuff!! Like maybe some nice fitted t-shirts and jeans that shows off the slim waistline!

What do you think YYS is most going to want to know?

How did I turn out to be like this at 27? How did I change so much? And who am I married to?

How would you answer YYS’s question?

I would tell her to wait and watch! ;-) there’s no fun in knowing what’s in store for you… the sense of mystery is all that keeps us going these days! ;-)

What would probably be the best thing to tell YYS?

Baby.. you’re going to make a lot of mistakes along the way! But don’t worry everyone makes mistakes!! Some learn from them, some don’t!

Fortunately for you, you learn from them! And the lessons you learn you’ll put them to good use! ;-) You’ll know what I mean when you reach here!

What is something that you probably wouldn’t tell YYS?

I wouldn’t tell her anything in the first place, except for that bit of advice you just read above. So that she’s slightly prepared! ;-) Why spoil the fun in its entirety!

What do you think will most surprise YYS about you?

The person I have become from the person she thought she was… Oh hell! She is so gonna be stunned!!

What do you think will least surprise YYS?

That I have continued with my dance!

At this point in your life, would YYS like to run into “you” from the future?

Oh yes! A bit of mistakes, a lot of learning, some new skills, and a brand new career… She is gonna be proud of me! ;-)

Oh! Look I tried to blog!!

Yes! It’s been a couple of months since I blogged!

No! I was not THAT busy!

No! I did have a lot of things to write about!

Yes! I could have made the time to write if I wanted to!

Sorry! I did not blog for so long!

I know! The punishment for it is partly my blog rank taking a nose-dive!

Ok! I will try to blog regularly from now on!

Fine! This will be my last tag-based blog for a while!!

Yes! I promise!!

Right!! You go ahead and read!!

TEN TO START.

1. Are you single? Yes

2. Are you happy? Yes

3. Are you bored? Right now??

4. Are you naked? No

5. Are you a blonde? No

6. Are you moody? Yes

7. Are you a lover/hater? Lover

8. Are you hot/cold? Warm!

9. Are you Irish? No

10. Are you Asian? Yes

TEN FACTS.

1. Name: It’s on my blog!

2. Nicknames: Aishu

3. Birth mark: V-shaped red mark on the forehead that has a mind of its own! It’s my own mood ring! ;)

4. Hair color: Blackish Brown (yes! That IS a color!!)

5. Natural hair color: Same as above

6. Eye color: Brown, I think!!

7. Height: 5’4”

8. Facebook Mood: Err.. what’s a facebook mood??

9. Favorite color: Black and Red

10. One Place to Visit: Why stop at one place?

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE.

1. Do you believe in love at first sight? No

2. Do you believe in soul mates? Yes

3. Have you had crushes? Yes!

4. Have you ever been hurt emotionally? Yes

5. Have you ever broken someone’s heart? Yes

6. Have you ever been cheated on? No

7. Have you ever liked someone and not told them? Yes

8. Are you afraid of commitment? To an extent yes!

9. Who was the last person you hugged? A friend who left Singapore!!

10. Who was the last person you kissed? A close friend’s baby!

TEN THIS OR THAT.

1.     Love or lust? Forever or for now?

2.     Jungle trek or by the beachside? Jungle trek!

3. Cats or dogs? Dogs anyday!

4. A few best friends or many regular friends? A few best friends

5. Television or internet? Internet

6. Chinese Or Indian? Indian

7. Wild night out or romantic night in? Wild night out

8. Money or Happiness? Happiness

9. Night or day? Night

10. MSN or phone? Phone

TEN HAVE YOU EVER.

1. Been caught sneaking out? Nope.

2. Been skinny dipping? Nope.

3. Stolen? Nope.

4. Bungee jumped? Not yet!

5. Lied to someone you liked? Yes!

6. Finished an entire jaw breaker? What’s a jaw breaker??

7. Been so embarrassed that you wished you could sink through the floor? Yes!

8. Wanted an ex bf/gf back? Nope.

9. Cried because you lost a pet? Nope.

10. Wanted to disappear? Yes. This one – loads of times!! ;-)

TEN PREFERENCES IN A PARTNER.

1. Smile or eyes? Both.

2. Light or dark hair? Dark hair.

3. Hugs or kisses? Kisses.

4. Shorter or taller? Taller.

5. Intelligence or attraction? Both.

6. Romantic or spontaneous? Spontaneous

7. Funny or serious? Funny

8. Older or Younger? Older

9. Outgoing or quiet? Depends.

10. Sweet or Bad Ass? Bad Ass.

TEN HAVE YOU’S.

1. Ever performed in front of a large crowd? Yes.

2. Ever done drugs? Nope.

3. Ever been pregnant? Not yet!

4. Ever sung in public? Yes!

5. Ever been on a cheer leading team? Nope.

6. Ever Been on a dance team? Yes. Loads of times!

7. Ever been on a sports team? Unfortunately yes!

8. Ever been in a drama play/production? Yes.

9. Ever owned a BMW, Mercedes Benz, Escalade, Hummer or Bentley? Nope.

10. Ever been in a rap video? Nope.

TEN LASTS.

1. Last phone call you made: was an hour back!

2. Last person you hung out with: a friend whom I went out for dinner with!

3. Last person you fought with: Oh! I can’t remember! I can’t believe its been so long since I fought with someone! ;)

4. Last time you worked: Yesterday!

5. Last person you tackled: was my Bro!

6. Last person you IM’d: A dear friend!

7. Last person on earth you wish to see: Oh there’s a whole bunch of ‘em!!

8. Last person(s) you went to the movies with: Close friends and hubby!

9. Last thing you missed: The finale of a dance show!

10. Last thing you ate: Banana Crumble!! :)