Things that I've been doing

I have not been blogging too much lately. It's not because I don't have things to write about. Rather, I don't feel that what I write is not going to be interesting enough for reading. I guess this is very much part of the negative thought loops associated with depression. I have been reading a couple of books about depression that have opened my mind about this.

This  post is about what I have been doing, apart from worrying/being depressed and working, in the past few months (from January 2014):

• Watching
• TV series
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones (who doesn't?)
• Rome
• Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
• SGU Stargate Universe
• Stargate SG1
• Sports/Entertainment
• Cricket (all kinds)
• Football (all of the World Cup 2014)
• Tennis (Wimbledon/French Open)
• Wrestling (WWE, TNA, and ROH)
• Movies
• Resident Evil 1, 2, 3 (2.5 out of the 5 movies)
• Stargate (1994)
• Transformers: The Age of Extinction
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (can't seem to finish it)
• Reading
• Finished
• Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet
• Neanderthal
• 2BR02B
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
• Ender's Game
• Currently Reading
• Dune
• The Hindus: An Alternate History 
• Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind
• Kraken
• Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect
• Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
• Guitar Exercises For Dummies
• Music Theory for Dummies

• Listening
• Podcasts
• The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe
• Ring Rust Radio
• Quirks and Quarks
•  
• Radio
• NPR: All Songs 24/7 Music Channel 
• Radio One 94.3
• BBC World Service
• BBC Radio 3
• BBC Radio 4
•  
• Shows:
• AT40 by Ryan Seacrest
• Books
• Ender's Game
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
• Learning
• History
•  A History of the World Since 1300
• A Brief History of Mankind (not finished)
• Some others that I've not finished
• Astronomy
• Some that I've not finished
•  Music
• Some that I've not finished
• Doing
• Music
• Learning new techniques on the guitar on YouTube (PapaStache, GuitarBlogUpdate)
• Learning some new techniques on the bass on YouTube (BassLessonsOnline, Jim Bennet, TalkingBass)
• Working on/recording new ideas
• Jamming/writing songs with a friend (in the first two months) 
• Traveling (to Jodhpur)
• Going to Museums
• Going out occasionally with the BF and friends

The Variable Man by Philip K. Dick

I don’t know how many of you love sci-fi as a genre in fiction. I also don’t know how many of you are into reading short-stories in this genre. For those who haven’t tried either, a sci-fi short story is a best story to start with. The best one in my opinion is undeniably “Nightfall” by the legend Isaac Asimov.

Asimov has always been my favorite sci-fi author – the Foundation series and other classics such as I, Robot. Arthur C. Clarke comes in as a close second with the 2001: Space Odyssey and the Rama series. But that was about it for me. I had never explored anything beyond these two.

Today, I did. Thanks to my new phone. Thanks to e-books. I read “The Variable Man” by Philip K. Dick. It’s a marvelous short story, almost at the level of Nightfall. I don’t want to give anything away, and so I’m going to just ask you to download it and read it. Free.

I hope you are pleasantly surprised!

Aldiko, the marvel

I know that I’m still finding my way around my new Android phone. Although almost everything is exciting, the most exciting among them is Aldiko, the book reader. I read my first book on it two days back – “Youth” by Isaac Asimov – and I’m thrilled. All I need now is a way to find out more books. I won’t complain of traffic anymore!