Thoughts 107

107. I am my own, and only, duHsanga.

The Pixar Touch

I feel so happy after reading The Pixar Touch by David A. Price! I particularly like corporate biographies, being choosy as usual. With my biases toward Sony and Apple, my all-time favorites have been Made in Japan and Infinite Loop, among others such as Iacocca.

I didn't like Price's narration through and through, as I did with Malone's story of Apple. It certainly was good except for some parts in the middle though. It may also have been because I left the book midway, reading only a few pages spread across two months, only to continue two days back, actively yesterday, till I finished some time back. I'm not so much a fan of cartoon movies, being choosy there too. I like Bugsbunny, Chip & Dale, Tom & Jerry, while in print, I've been a fan of Calvin & Hobbes, Tintin, Asterix, or locally, any of R.K. Laxman's creations, but not much of Simpsons or Dilbert. I've taken a liking to Dilbert strips in Economic Times these days just for the theme, but I really loathe the sketches themselves! The characters have to be appealing to me, else I can't stand them and even if the storyline is good, I can't keep to it.

Coming back to Pixar, I haven't seen any of their movies yet (er, I've seen Wall-E), but intend to watch them over the coming days. Given my leanings, I'm more likely to find taste in Cars, The Incredibles or Toy Story than for The Bug's Life or say, Monster Inc. I'm more than impressed by commitments of the artistic teams led by Lassetter and Catmull that made Pixar what it is today, even having shed a tear or two during reading it. Although I had artistic leanings myself once, the only reason I went into The Pixar Touch is due to the Steve Jobs' effect. Never have I afforded myself a Mac, iPod or iPhone, but I remain a fan to this day.

Next book: The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life :)

So, what do you do?

In the past three years of restless run to be at one place, I've been asked by many 'So, what do you do?' This has been a tricky question to answer and I answer variously based on the context, circumstances, all being equally true. Some people are inquisitive and are not happy with the first answer and I have to switch to another till they are satisfied or one of us gives up! :) Few of the answers I've given are:
--'I'm getting into agriculture', 
--'I'm in between jobs', 
--'I'm in a middle of a land mess that I'm trying to come out of', 
--'These days, I just watch movies' 
--'I'm looking at a solitary place to settle down', 
--'nothing much', 
--'reading', 
--blah, blah, and
... some more blah!


At one instance, I replied 'I do nothing' and was shot back a shocking question 'you do nothing???!!!' to which I had to say 'I read/ study philosophy' and the embarrassing situation ended. I wonder if anyone can ever get used to 'doing nothing' since Krishna himself said that none can remain without doing karma.

I've switched my online status -- which is also my offline status, of course -- from 'hibernation', through 'on a sabbatical', to 'a recovering vyAvahAric', all equally true again. However, none so completely explains the fact than 'I wait'. The entire truth is that I wait a little, a little more and then some more... always! A curious intruder or a concerned friend may well ask then, 'So, what do you wait for?' thereby moving the focus from '*what* I do' to '*why don't* I do'! :)