Unfortunate, true, and not really funny

Thanks to V for pointing me to this comic explanation of the current American (North American) (global) economic situation (crisis).

It's a comic called Tom and the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling. And it can be found here.

Slumdog Millionaire

Spoiler alert! Stop reading if you have not seen this film yet.

This is the best movie I've seen since Lost in Translation.

Slumdog Millioinaire is a masterpiece. I did not have to suspend disbelief throughout the film. It showed just the right amount of the real India, it focused on a maturing and modern India, and it spoke from the heart. A wonderful film.

I also noticed the new style of subtitles: they were not "sub", but actually on the picture, so one's eyes could follow the film and read along. The best part about the subtitles was that I didn't need them. The Hindi was simple and slow enough that I could follow it. That's probably the first time that's ever happened for me.

Finally, the soundtrack. Great choices. None of them mean anything special to me, but they all fit the scenes as though chosen and choreographed by a true artist.

I watched the film from a place in the back of my mind. I have seen those characters. I watched Bombay become Mumbai, and I am watching India become the (call) centre of the world.

A few weeks ago my friend N was raving about the film. He said he saw it and three or four days after it was still simmering with him. He couldn't stress enough that I should go see it. And now I know exactly what he was talking about.

Withdrawal symptoms

I used to get a headache when I didn't have enough coffee within a given period of time. I assumed it was because the coffee thins ones' blood, mucus membranes, and other fluids. By not having an injection of sinus fluid thinner, my sinuses would by slightly blocked, causing a mild headache which would go away shortly after a shot of espresso.


But I've recently realized that the above logic is incorrect. I'm on day number 5 of not smoking, and I've been having those same headaches, only I've been having coffee. The headache is a withdrawal symptom. I've had to fight a small handful of cravings, and talk myself through a few tense moments when I got around to questioning my decision to stop smoking. I certainly have learned a few things about myself along the way as well: I find it very easy to not smoke with other regular smokers, turning down office smoke breaks, and smokes with friends on the weekends; but I find it really difficult to not have my solo smokes in the evening after dinner.


I've also learned that smoking is a deep breath regulator. In the last five days I have found myself feeling tense, fighting a headache and thinking about whether or not I'm hungry or just needing to keep my mouth busy. Stopping to take a deep breath suddenly seems to make half the tension go away. I wonder why I don't do that more often, and now I understand why I always hear people sigh on the subway or in the elevator.


I'm not worried about whether or not I'll be successful this time. I'm just hoping the headaches and the moodiness goes away in a few weeks.

What I find really interesting is how I am reformatting the synaptic pathways in my brain. Satisfaction and gratification no longer come from the same set of behaviours, and gradually my brain will adapt. I thought this was well depicted in the film What the Bleep Do We Know? Which leads me to think about what I can train my brain to take gratification from. Some say to replace the nicotine with adrenaline (the runner's high, exercise). I'm wondering if I can convince myself that having a cramped back from hunching over a laptop is a satisfying feeling.