PART II: It's The Weekend!

We’ve seen what’s good about the first four days of the week. What about the weekend?

I decided to include Friday in Part II because although most of the world thinks of Saturday and Sunday as the Weekend, some parts of the world, like the Middle East, recognize Friday and Saturday as the Weekend.

Fridays:

Good day to…Give up smoking. The first few days are when your willpower is at its strongest. There is no work stress on weekends, and you aren’t always yearning for that cigarette. And once you can conquer the first few days, you don’t need cigs, ever.

Bad day to…Make an important decision. According to body clock experts, we are extremely sleep deprived by the end of the week and are therefore less able to think clearly. Your decisions are most likely to be inefficient and ineffective, and could, for this reason have drastic consequences.

Saturdays:

Good day to…Have a baby. Now I know that people don’t have babies every Saturday, nor can you plan to have one on this particular day. While Tuesday is one of the more popular days to have a baby, Saturdays are the best if you want your kid to grow up successful. And which parent wouldn’t want that?

Bad day to…Drink too much. The occasional (regular for some!) alcohol binge almost always occurs on Saturday nights. Consequently, unsurprisingly, this is the day you are most likely to suffer from alcohol poisoning. There is an increase of more than 67% of admissions to hospitals on Saturdays due to alcohol abuse, as compared to the daily average.

Sundays:

Good day to…Send emails. Analyses has shown that ‘open’ and ‘click’ rates for emails sent on Sundays were highest, with over 30% of recipients opening and viewing their emails on this day. It’s also a great day to go shopping – a recent survey showed that the availability of a wide range of goods was at its highest of 98% on Sundays.

Bad day to…Cook a meal. I bet most of us thought that Sundays are ideal for cooking, as there’s not much else to do. Well, think again. Approximately 20% of the population believes that cooking an elaborate meal on a Sunday is more stressful than visiting the dentist. Now who would’ve thought of that!

So what do you think? Is there something special you’d like to do on a certain day? 

PART I: "It's Monday, Let's Go On A Diet!" What A Bad Idea.

When we think about the days of the week, it’s purely for counting purposes. We never stop to consider their significance – is there something more to them than just an idea of how much time has passed? Did you know there are some days better than others to do certain things?

Statistics play a vital role in whatever we decide to do. We decide to go on a certain type of diet because it is 95% effective, or we decide to take a job that gives us 20% more satisfaction. The numbers are significant. People who have studied these statistics have put two and two together, and found a relationship between the decisions we take and the days of the week.  It sounds bizarre, because we never really give a thought to these things. But it’s definitely interesting to note – after all, aren’t statistics the way to go about it?

Part I has the first four days of the week, and Part 2 will round off the week with the remaining days.

Mondays:

Good day to…Buy shares. It’s known as the Monday Effect at the stock markets. Share prices on Monday continue to move in the same direction that they do on Friday, making it easier to predict price changes.

Bad day to…Start a diet. 33% of those who have started with a dieting regime on a Monday have given up by Tuesday afternoon, according to a Yahoo poll. Also, the tension of returning to the workplace and the devouring of alcohol during the weekends means that you are 20% more likely to die of a heart attack on a Monday.

Tuesdays:

Good day to…Get important errands done. Our rationally thinking ‘left’ brain dominated early on in the week, making it better for routine and mundane jobs. It’s also a good day to update your Facebook page or your blog – the most number of hits are recorded on a Tuesday. Guess I’m a day late.

Bad day to…Have sex. Apparently, people hardly ever have sex on a Tuesday. Why, I guess we’ll never know.

Wednesdays:

Good day to…Go on a date. More than 40% of singles on a dating website reckon that Wednesday is the ideal day for a first date. The reason for this? Thursday. If the date goes well, you have some breathing time, but don’t have to wait too long for your second date on a Friday.

Bad day to…Be cheerful. Forget Monday blues, we are apparently most gloomy on a Wednesday. Analyses of internet blogs and writings have shown that people are their unhappiest right in the middle of the week.

Thursdays:

Good day to…Have sex. Steroids which stimulate sexual hormones peak on a Thursday, which is considered the middle of the seven-day cycle. It is also best first thing in the morning, when levels of testosterone in men and estrogen in women are five times higher than any other time of the day.

Bad day to…Go to hospital. According to a study, you are likely to stay in the hospital up to 24 hours longer than you would if you were admitted on a Sunday.  Patients admitted on a Thursday stay at the hospital for an average of 6.3 days, compared with 5.3 on a Sunday.

So there you go, that’s Part I. What do you think?

This Is What A Blog's About.

I sat down today to write something new, but, as usual, my mind became completely blank. So to get started, I started browsing blogs, and came across an article that contained blogging tips. However, it wasn’t the article that caught my interest; it was the debate that was going on in the comments section.

What are blogs for? Some people advice that a blog post must always be informative, so that the reader will go away with a new thought or idea in his mind. But isn’t that what newspapers are for? Others suggest that whatever you write about, make sure that you don’t rant about it. Nothing kills a good blog post like a rant, because guess what, people aren’t interested in your problems, and negativity in general. A blog should be useful and helpful to other people, or else it is nothing but a waste of space.

But I beg to differ.

What’s wrong with an angry outburst here and there? Besides, ranting isn’t always necessarily angry – it’s sometimes just a feeling of disappointment, rejection or frustration when things don’t go a certain way. People can definitely relate to that. A good personal rant can make for an excellent read by those who are feeling the same way, but do not have the outlet (or the balls) to express their true feelings. A child might suppress his emotions in front of his parents, but let it all out on a blog. Other children reading that blog will sympathize, and this child will feel better knowing that he’s not the only one on this planet who is being screwed over. Same goes for anyone who’s been in a similarly maddening position – a frustrated employee, a discouraged student, a rejected singer.

Rants (if written the right way) can also be quite humorous, so where’s the negativity there? Sure, it might be a problem that’s being described, but with a satirical spin on it, which can make for quite an enjoyable read.

Lastly, saying that people aren’t interested in negativity is like saying George Bush is extremely intelligent and did not deserve to have a shoe thrown at him ( I watched the video of this for the umpteenth time this afternoon, you can check it out here). Misery loves company, remember? There are a gazillion people in the world who would like nothing better than to read something depressing, either because they a) love telling other people what to do, b) are good at giving advice, or c) feel slightly satisfied that there are other people out there having a life worse than their own.

So why not give them some satisfaction?

"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but that's alright because I like the way it hurts"

Those are the first two lines of Eminem's new song featuring Rihanna called "Love the way you lie". I just can’t stop listening to it. Not just because of the music (I love rap), but also because of the lyrics. Many of Eminem's lyrics are really meaningful, but none as much as this one. Google it, or take a look at the lyrics for yourself here.

My favourite line apart from the one above is this:

Now you get to watch her leave

Out the window
Guess that's why they call it window pane

Pure genius methinks. 

It's such a relatable song, both on an emotional as well as on a physical level. Anyone who has been in a serious relationship will know what this song is all about - the first feelings of love, of not having enough of each other, that rush from just spending time with each other, to feelings of suffocation, of pressure, of tension, and of anger. The beginning where it's new, it’s intoxicating, it’s exciting. And the end where it’s intolerable to the point of rage, pain and hatred. Not just that, but it also touches on being in an abusive relationship. This song is sexy.

And if the right message isn't delivered in the lyrics, it definitely is in the music video for this song. Eminem and Rihanna just belt out the words and aren't all that important in the video, but what makes it click is the show put on by Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. You can watch the video here.

The pair plays volatile lovers in the video, and spends most of the time alternating between passionately kissing or fighting, screaming and shouting throughout. They share an amazingly powerful chemistry, and are one of the reasons why this video is such a success. This, combined with the use of fire makes it oh so sexy.

I’m addicted!

Note: This is purely my opinion and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with my personal life. Please do not read too much into this and start feeling sorry for me. Cheers!

If you haven't eaten this, you haven't lived.

One of the most important aspects of life is food. To be more specific - good food. Although I live abroad, I’ve spent my entire childhood in India. While I have been exposed to many different cuisines, I’ve always enjoyed Indian food the best. And while India has a variety of cuisines (north Indian, south Indian, Andhra, Chettinad, Rajastani, Maharashtrian, Punjabi…well practically every state has their own cuisine), there is nothing more wonderful, nothing more creative, and nothing more delicious, than a local Indian delicacy known all over the country as pani puri.  

Here’s a picture of this amazing dish:

For all those going ‘Eh?’ this is how it’s done - you take one of those puris and poke a hole at the top, just one. Then you stuff the puri with whatever you want; potatoes, chickpeas, onions, lentils. I usually love it with a mixture of mashed potatoes and lots of different powdered spices. Once it’s full, you dunk the puri into a bowl filled with pani (which, roughly translated, is nothing but water, but in this case it is tangy water again mixed with lots of powdered spices and chutneys). You then put the whole thing into your mouth in one go, and when you bite, the pani splashes, and you know you’ve reached Heaven. 

I think my favorite pass-time in the whole world would be to have a pani puri-eating competition, just like Shah Rukh Khan in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Here’s a shot of the scene:

 Wouldn't this be absolutely amazing?!