Scholar Reza Aslan, playwright Wajahat Ali, novelist Zoe Ferraris, and poet Najva Sol at The Commonwealth Club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjEFnc4fdes
Two interviews w/ Wajahat Ali
Category: Uncategorized
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 210,000 times in 2010. If it were an exhibit at The Louvre Museum, it would take 9 days for that many people to see it.
In 2010, there were 38 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 217 posts. There were 297 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 25mb. That’s about 6 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was March 8th with 1,877 views. The most popular post that day was Entertainment Trivia.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were search.aol.com, janeaustensworld.wordpress.com, 74.125.67.100, costumedramas.wordpress.com, and facebook.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for emilia fox, toby stephens, helen mirren young, michelle pfeiffer, and yul brynner.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Entertainment Trivia July 2009
2
Emma’s HOT List December 2008
14 comments
3
“Mad Men” (Seasons 1 – 2) August 2009
1 comment
4
Two Classic Movie Reviews: “All About Eve” and “Hud” October 2008
1 comment
5
Like father, like son… or daughter October 2009
1 comment
Update on me… and more!
Hey everyone,
How is your summer going? Last week in DC was VERY humid (like Bangladesh, BUT not as extreme). But I’m sure plenty of people were badly affected nonetheless! I joined the pricy, but nice/clean Washington Sports Club (WSC) in downtown Silver Spring and plan to go to the group exercises classes Mon-Thurs. Since I had a coupon, I bought some (comfy) gym clothes from Land’s End.
From eBay, I bought this (super cute) yoga bag and mat set. These are made by Gaiam.
On Thursday, a storm came in around 4 p.m. out all of a sudden. The sky became unusually dark and threatening before the lightening, thunder, and heavy rainfall (for a short time). There were electricity, Metro, traffic, and tree-falling problems. But this time, power outages occurred mostly in Alexandria (NoVa), not so much in MoCo (where Dad and I live).
Dad is happy to have a new 40″ Samsung HD TV for the (upstairs) living room. He bought a 32″ TV before, but thought that was a BIT too small. Next up for the house- a backyard deck.
What I’m currently reading:
Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father by Richard Rodriguez
War Dances by Sherman Alexie
What I’m currently watching:
Horatio Hornblower (Collector’s Edition)
Bored w/ modern TV shows? Check out this old-fashioned, British action-adventure series (which includes 8 full-length movies on 8 DVDs) starring a very young Ioan Gruffudd and Jamie Bamber. Midshipman Horatio Hornblower is a 17 y.o. boy when he first joins the Royal Navy in 1795. The Brits are at war w/ France, so there are plenty of battles at sea, hand-to-hand sword combat, and even some mystery and romance. Aside from that, you see the development of a bright, honorable, well-intentioned youngster as he grows from a boy to a man (and leader).
St Elsewhere (Season 1)
See the medical drama that came before ALL the rest! Though the pace is slower than ER, the issues faced by the docs, nurses, patients, and their loved ones are often very touching and realistic. The ensemble cast includes energetic up-and-comers Denzel Washington (confident; bold), Howie Mandel (funny, yet sensitive), and David Morse (an obvious inspiration for ER’s caring family man- Dr. Mark Greene). I know what you’re thinking- Howie Madel as a doctor!? Trust me, it’s a GREAT role! The wonderfully natural, empathetic veteran actors bring gravitas to the show. Look for guest stars before they were famous. Another cool note: Tom Fontana worked on this show before Homicide. (The first season is on DVD and on Hulu.)
Thanks for visiting!
EMMA
A sudden storm…
Hi everyone,
There was a brief, BUT very powerful, storm in DC area yesterday (SUN, 7/25). There was no electricity in the house from 4 p.m. onwards. Our neighbor’s aunt was locked out of the house, so she came to hang out w/ us for a while. (The nabes had gone off to an event.) I felt bad b/c we ONLY had little 4 stubby little candles (and I was in a cranky mood)! This lady, who looked young and in good shape for her age, immigrated to the US just 3 yrs ago from Gazipur (a village). Back in Bangladesh, she raised 2 kids (now grown and settled). In recent years, her husband and both in-laws passed away. She had to wait 10 yrs to get the visa to join her relatives! Luckily, ALL her brothers and sisters are in the West (Canada and US). These days, she’s working and trying to become more of an “independant” person.
I went to bed around 10 p.m. and listened to the iPod nano radio until midnight. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. for a few mins. and saw that the electricity was back. In the morning, I saw that several trees were uprooted; one big tree blocked a road. The storm caused most damage in Montgomery County, MD. (On NPR this morning, I heard that VA folks didn’t have it so bad, except some rural parts of Loudon County.)
But here’s something COOL…
A few weeks ago, a lady named Muriel, who manages Diego Hartfield’s official web site, contacted me about using my ’08 US Open photos of Diego. Those photos are now on the site!
http://diegohartfield.net/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=233
What I’m currently reading:
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez
What I’m currently watching:
Lark Rise to Candleford (Series 2)
Quantum Leap (Season 3)
The Tudors (Season 2)
All the best,
Spring is here!
Update on me:
Last Wednesday night, I went to a speed dating event at K St Lounge hosted by Professionals in the City. [I had been to this lounge when South Asians for Obama (SAFO) had an event last year.] This event was also geared toward South Asians around my age, though there were 2 guys who were not South Asian. It was a pretty fun event, though I thought it could’ve been better.
First of all, there were TOO many people- 27 men and 30 women! It took more than 2 hours to talk w/ every guy. The time (4 mins) went by VERY quickly w/ few exceptions. When you go to events like this, there are bound to be 1 or 2 people who have ZERO interest in talking w/ you (not even to be polite). They will just hem and haw, not bothering to think up a topic to discuss. In my opinion, 4 mins is just TOO short. I think 7 mins would be better.
Second issue: quite a few people came w/ their friends to this event. Okay, maybe they wanted to feel comfortable going with a little group. Or they just have single pals. But the POINT of this event was to meet NEW people! The petite gal sitting next to me also came by herself, and I chatted a bit w/ her. She commented that most of her friends are getting married, not going out as much, and so on.
I didn’t have HUGE expectations going into this event. I arrived a BIT early and noticed that people were talking w/ their pals or just standing about. I wanted to go up and chat w/ some gals, but they didn’t come off as very friendly. Or maybe they were a little nervous? Okay, on to the guys!
The guys (expect perhaps 2 or 3) were Indian Hindus. One guy said he was 1/2 Bengali (mom’s side) after I mentioned I was Bangladeshi. As you may expect, most were American desis (born and raised in US). But I was surprised to see many immigrant and 1.5 gen guys (and gals) at this event. (At a similar event in NYC 2 years back, there were very few immigrant guys and no immigrant gals!)
All the guys were professionals (of course!); most work w/ the fed govt (IT contractor, IT manager, computer engineer). I think there was only 1 investment banker, 2 lawyers and 2 or 3 research scientists. A few of these guys impressed me, BUT I don’t think I clicked w/ any. Too bad! At least I took a chance.
You can check out the web site below if interested. This organization holds events in various cities.
http://www.prosinthecity.com/dcevents.php
Movies I’ve Seen Recently:
Gran Torino (2008)
I saw this movie while my mom was visting; she REALLY likes Clint Eastwood. I thought there were some nice/funny moments, BUT it seemed implausible to me (especially the ending).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205489/
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
This is a melancholy romance/drama set in Austria. It has great atmosphere and lighting. It’s worth a look!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040536/
Recent iTunes Downloads:
BardCast: The Shakespeare Podcast
Chop Bard
http://www.inyourearshakespeare.com/chopbard.html
What I’m watching:
Babylon 5: Seasons 1 & 2 are on Hulu. This sci-fi series (5 seasons total) came out around the same time as Star Trek: DS9. I’ve seen 8 eps so far, and it get’s getting good!
Knightleyemma 