I was glad to hear the better news last night, Beverly. I was thinking about you and your family all day yesterday.

Everybody stay safe and healthy today, okay?

I'm taking tomorrow off to hang out at the quarry with some friends. I haven't spent nearly enough time floating around in water this summer.

Googling seems to indicate that pav bhaji is a spicy mashed vegetable sandwich. Is that right, P-C?

I live right next to what they're starting to call "Little India," and I don't take enough advantage of it.

I thought of PC when I read about the All-Gujarati Hindu Matrimonial Convention that was here last weekend. [ [link] , requires registration]

The convention turns the Indian tradition of arranged marriages partly on its head. It's part speed-dating, but it's also part old-school matrimony —- where "candidates" not only have to list their educational qualifications and hobbies, but their parents' backgrounds.

I don't like August. It's only 8 days in and already been a bad month. Not only are my Buffistas having problems but so are my co workers. Then today I found my glasses on the floor and broken. Evidentally I took them off and laid them on the bed when I was reading and not on my night stand. Then knocked them off the bed and stepped on them when I got up.

One ear piece is snapped off right before the hinge and the other was severely bent. I don't have a back up pair but I managed to manipulate the ear piece that's left so I could wear them. I don't remember how much they cost but I'm hoping I'll go to the store where I got them and I'll be able to buy a replacement pair to put the new lenses in.

Beverly! Much healing and peace to your family my dear. I'm sorry for the circumstance but glad for the improvement. All the ~ma in the world.

And? You are a GODDESS among women. After, I think, 5 years of searching, you have found the elusive deck I've wanted so badly. I can't believe it! What will I do with myself now that this quest is at end?

Okay, I'll keep looking for "Sinbad and Me" by Kin Platt in something less than a $300 first edition. That's the new (ongoing) quest.

But thank you so much. What a wonderful resource! I've ordered the deck from Amazon.

teehee.

I got to Ginger's link without registering. Amusing tidbit:

But Nitu Shukla —- or rather, her mother —- came with a few [expectations]. It was the family's second trip to the convention from Jacksonville, and Shukla's mother was hoping for better luck this time for her 31-year-old banker daughter. Outside the ballroom —- parents are barred from going in —- the mother, Asha Shukla, made her own list from participant profiles and had it delivered by a messenger to her daughter.

"Why can't she find someone?" the mother asked. "I'll tell you why. She's too picky."

Then she rattled off her own list of must-haves in a son-in-law: He has to be educated. Has to be a Gujarati. A vegetarian, if possible.

Nitu Shukla's expectations were a little more modest: an "Americanized guy who's Indian at heart."

Some types of parents are universal....

Oh, dear askye. i hope getting replacement glasses is cheap and easy.

Those birthday happies I wished at Katerina yesterday? I meant that for today. Happy birthday, Katie Bee!

parents are barred from going in

The Matrimonial Con sounds good already! P-C, start talking this up to your mom and planning your costume.

Happy Birthday, Katie!!!

Okay, I'll keep looking for "Sinbad and Me" by Kin Platt in something less than a $300 first edition. That's the new (ongoing) quest.

I love that book! It turned me on to architecture!

Many Happies, Katie Bee!!

That con does sound like it could be just what P-C needs. At least, if he goes to it, his family will think he's serious about settling down. Besides, it sounds like a lot of the Indian women are very Americanized, too. P-C could have his cake and so could his mother.

Still sending ~ma to Bev, Tom and JZ. Has anyone heard anything more about Tom's kidney stone? I don't keep up in Natter, so I'm not up to date there.