somewhere warm, 1.19.23

when we landed, it felt so good to be in warmer weather. it wasn’t too warm, but it for damn sure wasn’t cold. the weather is perfect. it’s the type of weather where you can choose to wear pants or shorts. options are always a convenience we aren’t afforded in this life, so i try to be as grateful as i can when i do have them. so far, we checked into the hotel and ate at this burger joint called buns. to my surprise, it was fire. i hope this sets the tone for the rest of the trip, because that’s the energy i’ve been needing lately. i’d much rather be here than in cambridge. speaking of, today was my two-year anniversary at work.

other than quitting to pursue my dreams, what better way to celebrate than to hit the beach during a cold boston winter??

-ratha, 4:23pm, 1.19.23

last minute, 1.18.23

i have to finish laundry, cut my nails, cut bagel’s nails, brush bagel’s teeth, and finish packing before tomorrow.

i’m toooooooo excited to be somewhere tropical during a new england winter!!

-ratha, 5:39pm, 1.18.23

being a father at mcdonald's, 1.17.23

yesterday, i went to mcdonald’s after the gym. because i had to go to target after, i decided to eat at mcdonald’s. there were two kids doing tiktok dances in front of the security camera, and there was a father/daughter duo eating in front of me. when they got up to leave, i realized the daughter had down syndrome. it was heartwarming because the father was elderly, and he had trouble walking, but he still took his daughter out to eat. he zipped her jacket, held her hand, and made sure she didn’t slip on the ice outside the restaurant. it goes to show, being a parent never stops. seeing that made my day and it made me think of how even though i’m grown, my parents have never stopped being parents.

they may not zip up my coat (literally), but they do make sure i’m warm in this cold world of ours.

-ratha, 4:33pm, 1.17.23

deleting voicemails, 1.16.23

i’ve been doing a cleanse lately. i’ve been cleansing my instagram, facebook, my emails, etc. for the past few years, people have been telling me they can’t leave voicemails as my inbox is full. tonight, i decided to clear some. the last voicemail somebody left me was in 2018. that’s 5 years ago, smh. voicemails are cool because sometimes when you can’t hear someone’s voice, you can always tap in if you have a voicemail from them. maybe that’s me holding on to the past and not catching up with the times, but sometimes i like what i like. think about it. in most cases, in order for someone to feel compelled to leave a voicemail, they have to be somewhat close to you. of course emergencies, appointments, etc. are exceptions but do you get what i’m saying?? if not, maybe it’s just me.

there are a lot of voicemails to delete, and i’ll be working through it for some time, but tonight is a start.

-ratha, 12:07am, 1.16.23

flipping the bird, 1.15.23

after the gym today, i found myself in the danvers area. there’s a quickbite chicken joint called flip the bird i’ve wanted to try for a while now. whenever i’m passing it, i always wonder how good it is, but i never deemed it exciting enough to drive out the way soley for it. i sat down and ordered a chicken sandwhich, fries, and a peppermint milkshake. the sandwhich wasn’t up to standard, the honey mustard was more mustard than it was honey, the fries were decent, and the peppermint shake wasn’t thick enough. sorely disappointed, i drove home. that’s two meals in the last week that have been cheeks.

on the brightside, my mom cooked one of my favorite soups tonight so that’ll make up for flip the bird and then some. 

-ratha, 7:12pm, 1.15.23

bolting down, 1.14.23

and just like that, the season is over. 27 point lead and 5 turnovers in the first half, yet we lost 31-30. smhhhh. i hate jacksonville so much. besides the pats and divisional rivals, the jags are right there in terms of teams i despise. i might even dislike jacksonville more than denver if we’re being honest. meezy was texting me before the game that he was rooting for us, which had me hype. last year, we barely missed the playoffs. this year, we barely made the playoffs. i’m hoping next year we’ll finally make a run. we have the talent, but we haven’t been finding our way to where we want to be.

sounds familiar, doesn’t it? 

the parallels between my sports team and my life is uncanny sometimes…

-ratha, 11:55pm, 1.14.23

the boston skyline, 1.13.23

we went out to eat at sura for priyank’s 27th gday after work today. as always, the galbi was hitting sumn different. paired with a pineapple fanta, too?? there’s not much that’s better. afterwards, we went to his new place in somerville. he has the top floor of a 2 or 3 story house. in his living room, you can look out and see the boston skyline. though it was foggy out, it was beautiful. he turned out the lights for a moment so we could see the skyline more pronounced. it had me thinking of how i miss having my own place. i really want to purchase a property this year. of course it’ll be an investment property, but i think the quicker i find one, the quicker i can find my own place i want to live in. one of my ultimate goals is to build (or purchase) my dream house and meet someone who can help turn it into a home. i think about it every day and it keeps me going through all the ups and downs at work.
seeing the skyline earlier tonight has me inspired, and outside of peace & love, i think inspiration is my favorite emotion.

one i try to hold onto for as long as i can.

-ratha, 11:44pm, 1.13.23

listening to rdl, 1.12.23

sometimes i go through phases where i’m in a dry spell in terms of finding new music i like. right now is one of those times. usually the alternative to listening to the same songs over and over again is to switch to podcasts. i wasn’t feeling that either, so i went to my email and dug around for music i recorded last year. i listened to a handful of songs on repeat during my commute to work this morning. i loved it. the songs aren’t mixed nor are they mastered, but i was still vibing. the thing i was most proud of was the writing. writing is my strong suite and i hope recording will catch up soon. chan told me last month to go for it and let the world judge me after i expressed my hesitancy about being vulnerable in the public eye. in my heart it’s good advice and after my commute this morning, i feel a lot better about it all.

-ratha, 10:04am, 1.12.23

similans for lunch, 1.11.23

we finally got similans for lunch after all the trouble we went through yesterday and it was too good. pik pak chicken fried rice with crab rangoons is undefeated.

-ratha, 1:03pm, 1.11.23

third string eats, 1.10.23

we planned to go to similans today for lunch. as soon as we pulled up, they were closed. apparently on tuesdays they’re not open, which was news to us. we decide to go to the afghan spot next door. although it said they were open on the hours posted in the window, they were closed as well. we settled for the mexican joint on the left side of similans. it was mid, but it was food. i hate spending money on bad food as it’s literally a waste of money. i was better off bringing lunch, but tomorrow i’ve got my eyes set on similans again. it should be a go because they’re open on wednesdays. at least that’s what the hours on their door says.

i guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

-ratha, 3:32pm, 1.10.23