LOL: Life Of Leo

I started reading when I was about eight years old. Officially, that marks three decades of me as a reader. Reading is something that has stayed with me since I began to make sense of things and a large part of the person that I am today, I owe it to reading. Of late, work has taken over my life and I'm not left with much time for reading. Still, I manage to sneak in a page here and there. Of course I miss those days and nights when I could just sit/lie and read for hours, but as long as I'm reading even if it just a page or two, I'm fine. For me, books and reading possess an incredible healing power that transcends the mere act of consuming words on a page. They offer an escape from reality, providing a refuge where I can temporarily set aside my worries and immerse myself in different worlds, experiences, and perspectives. This act of escapism can be particularly therapeutic during times of stress, anxiety, or grief, allowing me to gain a sense of solace and peace. Anxiet

Image Source Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón - I first heard of her in my late teens, although I do not recall in what context, and I have been obsessed ever since. For the uninitiated, Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who was also a surrealist. She is known for her bright, bold paintings, mainly self-portraits. She battled polio at the tender age of six and suffered an accident when she was eighteen which left her with multiple injuries, including a broken spine and pelvis. She lived in pain and illness for the rest of her life while being bedridden towards her final years. She had an easel specially crafted for her that would enable her to paint from bed. She died when she was forty-seven on what is stated to be an overdose of painkillers but could amount to suicide on the account of being lovesick. For an outsider, she lived a tragic life and would soon be forgotten. If you look a little deeper into her life, you'll she the inspiration she was is.

Image Source Last weekend as Carlos Alcaraz lifted the Wimbledon trophy for the second consecutive year, a piece of news was doing the rounds. It stated the below: Alcazar did to Djokovic what Djokovic did to Nadal and what Nadal did to Federer and what Federer did to Sampras.  Djokovic really struggled to be a competitor in the clearly one-sided game and honestly there are no surprises there. Time waits for no one and one should have the sense to move on. Virat Kohli did, so did Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Acceptance is the key here, which Joe Biden finally realized a couple of days ago. After all, like breathing, aging is what we all have in common.

Image Source I haven't been feeling like myself since a while now. A change in my work-life dynamic torpedoed the semblance of normalcy I had created for myself. Everything is good, everything is meaningful. The only thing that I find lacking is time. Yeah, yeah, time management is the "it" word but I am losing myself to it. Today, as I read my last post , it makes me cringe. It feels so much like a rant. I make the points I intended to make, but it reeks of anger, frustration and negativity. I've realized that I shouldn't force myself to write something just because I haven't written something for a while. The result is never pretty. I'm a firm believer that one shouldn't be doing things just for the sake of it, and I seem to have let myself down here. 

Image Source A lot has been said and written about what women want, but what about what they don’t want? Interestingly, when searching for references, most results focus on relationships: what women don’t want in a partner, in a man, or what they don’t want men to know. It’s curious, isn’t it? The internet seems to suggest that a woman's desires or aversions are primarily tied to their relationships with men. How about we prove it wrong? A couple of years ago, when my partner and I were vacationing in Singapore, we visited a Chinese temple there. The men in the group visited the prayer hall first to seek blessing of a certain baba, while the women had to wait outside until this was done. Well, it was not without entertainment. A group of women, of all ages, were there to impart knowledge to the women assembled there. We were given chairs to sit down and while they all stood in a make-believe stage. After having the assembled group to guess the ages of the women on stage (I still do

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson Nel and Sam walk hand-in-hand, as Nel is blindfolded. Waiting for the perfect moment, he removes her blindfold. " You brought me to an ice-rink for Valentine's? Really? " Nel looks at Sam with blurry eyes. " Yeah " he beams. " What were you thinking? You know I'm not the adventurous kind. " " We've been together for fifteen years, Nel. I know. " " Then? " " Hear me out. We're here for the view. This is what we're going to do. " He lays out a thick blanket on the side with a picnic basket and two books. " Fine? " he smiles. " The best. " Nel leans forward for a kiss. This drabble (100 word fiction) is written for Friday Fictioneers, 16th Feb 2024 .

Image Source Love sure is magical Yet it needs to be more than a promise band You need to surrender to the feeling Love and trust go hand in hand

Image Source The early bird catches the worm. Well, good for those who like worms. I prefer coffee and over-night oats. Or toast. Or muesli with soy milk. I'm not a morning person and I never will be. That's because I don't want to be one. Until a few years ago, one of my major resolutions was to wake up early. Of all the things I had difficulty in being consistent with , this one topped the list. Probably because I did not see the need in it. Honestly, my days are hugely productive all thanks to my planning and routine. For all you know, trying to wake up early might actually derail this properly working system for me. I haven't been a morning person for close to 4 decades now and I'm totally happy. I'm successful, financially independent, in the best shape and phase of my life, living with the best man and the best pup in the world. I've done this without feeling the need to wake up at 4 or 5 AM.

Image Source It is no secret that I'm obsessed with Karan Johar. No, not with his sexuality like most of the people who troll him online are. I'm just obsessed with him in general. He has a fantastic sense of humor and a very interesting sense of fashion. Above everything else, he's entertaining to say the least. Unfortunately you cannot say the same about his movies. Well, they are entertaining, but not exactly in the true sense of the word. As I write this I realize that most of my #NotAMovieReview posts have been on his movies. Like this , this and this . Then of course is my infamous chat with the man himself! Can't believe it was five years ago. Once he completes his season 8 of KWK (yes, I continue to watch it), I'll probably invite him for a chat again.