Dear Mum, I know it’s been a long time since I actually have written to you. And before I forget, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I forget how old you are already, what is it, 63 now? Anyway as they say, age is just a number right? You must be looking lovely as always with all the angels and saints. Did they get you anything? Oh right what kinda question is that?! You probably have everything you need...
I am typing this article. Offline. Yes that’s right; while I wait for the connection to come back online I am typing this. Offline. See even the word “offline” makes me cringe slightly. I am feeling both helpless and angst at the moment. Work is being delayed; I can’t communicate with my subordinates, supervisors, colleagues and friends. I can’t even see if I have any important emails that might...
A few weeks back my brother gave me a birthday card and in it he wrote – “what do you get someone who has everything in life?” – he was alluding to the fact that it was hard for him to get me a birthday gift. I chuckled when I saw the card the next morning and on the way to work that day, it left me pondering. Ironically it would also be the exact same day that I would receive the news that I got...
November 2005 – Windsor, ON. It was that summer of that year in which I first broached the topic about considering a career in academia. Discussions with 2 of my professors whom I had worked closely with and served as their respective teaching assistants during my tenure as an undergraduate student were both encouraging and motivating. Both felt I had what it took to be an academic. Both had...
A few weeks back I knew when I started off with the whole day-1 and day-2 thingy in my post as I hoped to cover during my North America trip, that I would eventually lapse and not be able to continue. Well of course I have good reason for that. I was tied up! What else? Traveling around really wears you down and by the time you are done traveling, the last thing that would occur to you is to...