Alankar's Blogs

  About 2 weeks ago, I finally got a new road bike. It was definitely one of the most exciting things that has happened to me in 2021, but unfortunately, the weather was not appreciative of my moment. But, I figured that rather than sitting around and re-watching the same old Tour de France highlights that I had been binging over the past couple months, I should probably still try to go outside.   So, I set my basic route on relatively small roads (yes, I hate cyclists on the roads as well when I’m driving, but if I cycle on the sidewalk, then my wrists become sore from the continuous bumps and I become a danger to pedestrians) and headed out. Last summer, I would have easily been able to complete the 25 miles within an hour. But now, it was about 40 degrees outside (basically anything sub 50 degrees is just freezing when biking) with at least a 10mph wind. And this was the first time I was actually leaving my room for an extended period of time in months. So, as expected,...

  If there is anything I have learned – or maybe just something I have already known but it is strongly reinforced – from Waiting for Godot , it is that there are many perspectives to life: the helplessness portrayed by Vladimir and Estragon, the constancy in the world by Pozzo, and just the lack of casual motion by the play’s author, Samuel Beckett. Actually, I can even relate this to something I have been recently re-watching: Mr. Bean . The comedic show is about a character, Mr. Bean, who always gets himself into some sort of mess. With the few lines actually spoken, most of the show relies on Rowan Atkinson’s (the actor) awkward and unusual movements and facial expressions, which he does a fantastic job at. And it is this weirdness which makes the show so encapsulating. Rather than doing things the normal way, he always uses his quirkiness to come up with a brilliant, yet sort of stupid, solution. Whether it be exploding fireworks in a paint can to paint his room, removing th...