I think because you don't.

Post 37: It's still a threesome...

2011-08-22T10:20:00.008-05:00

We had to give Celene up for adoption. But have no fear, we have a new member in our family. Granted, she's a bit older, but she's already crate-trained and housebroken. She's a 3 year old 535xi with only 30k miles, and comes with a money-back guarantee/warranty until 2014. She's also had her MLR (mid-life refresh) done. We haven't named her yet, so suggestions are welcome.

Meanwhile, enjoy some pics and reviews of our new pet.

MSN Autos review: Click Here

NY Times review: Click Here

Post 36: Wedding Photos

2009-09-12T10:04:00.002-05:00

This has been a long time coming, but check out pictures from the wedding that Laurie Peacock posted!

Click here for the slideshow.

Post 35: Laurie Peacock (our photographer) is a genius!

2009-06-18T10:57:00.002-05:00

Laurie met with us not once, but twice to finish up the engagement pictures. She is pretty awesome.

And, yes, I know, we got engaged a year and more ago - so it's been a long time coming.

BUT...

check out her pictures HERE!

Post 34: 25 Random Notes about Diran (as seen of Facebook)

2009-02-01T15:30:00.006-06:00

1. The 3rd world isn’t nearly as “ghetto” as the south side of Chicago.
2. I’m having a bad sports year – The Australian Cricket team is taking a beating and the Fed-Express is as lost as UPS.
3. At the age of 28 years, 7 months and 15 days exactly, I will no longer be listed as “unmarried”.
4. I experienced snow for the first time in 2000, at Granville, OH.
5. Junior year of college, my room was the furthest away from the academic quad than any other in the whole college (I went to an all-residential college).
6. My current Audi is the 5th car I’ve owned since 1998.
7. I consider myself capable of fixing almost any electronic device – but don’t own a solder.
8. I have owned an Xbox since 2004 – and have only played 8 games (including Halo 1, Halo 2 and Halo 3). I have never bought a game for my PS3.
9. I am a stickler for spelling, punctuation & grammar - and will often correct you.
10. I believe in the saying, “If you’re drowning in shit, don’t open your mouth”.
11. I’ve had “salad” as a meal once in my life.
12. I did not drink alcohol until January of 2001 – but I am a certified bartender and have worked in 3 bars (including a gay bar).
13. I have known my best friend for 21 years.
14. My brother is 10 years younger than me, but 6 inches taller.
15. My grandmother is the toughest person I know.
16. My grandfather is world-famous.
17. Both my parents are vocalists/musicians.
18. I’ve been on TV twice – and flicked off my debating opponent in a live telecast.
19. My favorite cologne is a combination of Lacoste, Issey Miyake, Acqua Di Gio & Dior Homme Sport.
20. I still collect graphic novels, and the JLA books are still my sentimental favorites.
21. I have been told my omelets are to die-for (yes, I cook).
22. My fiancé is the smartest/hardest-working person I know - who also makes the best chicken soup, lasagna & meatballs.
23. I prefer to have low-key nights surrounded by friends, playing the Wii or board-games.
24. We have lived in our condo for 15 months – and completely renovated the kitchen and guest-bathroom.
25. I have always wanted to be a doctor – and keep up with medical/medicinal research.

Live Results - The Day The World Stood Still

2008-11-04T10:48:00.001-06:00

Post 32. And now it's a threesome...

2008-09-13T17:06:00.006-05:00

Yep, we've got a new member of the family and she's going to be living with us.

We haven't come up with a name for her yet, but stay tuned for that in the near future.

In the meantime, enjoy some pics and 3rd party reviews...

A Soundless Visual 360: CLICK HERE

Cars.com review: CLICK HERE

Post 31. Crin and I.

2008-08-27T02:01:00.003-05:00

As the post says, this is my favorite C&D picture.

Post 30. Requiem.

2008-08-25T19:53:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I posted anything. Sorry. Been busy with the new job and everything.

I was prompted to post today, however, because of a "random" friend request I received on Facebook today. You know the type, someone you don't know adds you as a friend, and you're not sure why or who they are..

Well, so this 'tard adds me, and I was like.. umm, your name might be familiar, but I'm not sure - so I sent him a message. The conversation below is what transpired.

Diran Hafiz

Today at 4:32pm

Subject: Do I know you?
Between Md.Ashraf Hussain Shaon and You

Md.Ashraf Hussain Shaon

Today at 4:51pm

no perhaps.wanna khow me?

Diran Hafiz

Today at 4:58pm

no.

Md.Ashraf Hussain Shaon

Today at 5:03pm

why no?

Diran Hafiz

Today at 5:15pm

what possible reason is there for me to get to "know" you?

1. this is facebook - "virtual friendships" mean nothing.
2. you sound like you're propositioning me when you ask "wanna".
3. you type and spell terribly, indicative of low-creed.
4. you look like you need more culture and education - fyi, people with sense and sensibility don't pose like that on pictures.

all of which leads me to conclude that you're just another typical, bangladeshi flunky who's just discovered the so-called wonders of staying awake all night and making "friends" online since you don't have any in real life, in order to gloat to your fellow retards the next day.

blocked.

Md.Ashraf Hussain Shaon

Today at 5:33pm

Report Message

your words sound bad.i think i am not in the 4 possible types.i like chatting and knowing peoples.is that my bad habit of meeting unknown person?

yeah. really. this happened. i'm scarred. freak. sigh. i need coffee.

Post 29. Kitchen's Done!

2008-05-31T13:01:00.015-05:00

Whew - it's been a while coming, yeah? At least we think so. We're finally done with the kitchen renovation, and it looks great! We didn't get to replace the couches in the living room yet, but we will... sometime. The 2nd bathroom was also touched on - we redid the floor and took out the old vanity/sink and replaced it with a much nicer unit and a vessel bowl. I also replaced the old toilet with a pressure-assisted tank - which means no matter how large a deposit you make, it's not going to clog the pipe! Have at it, me hearties! You should hear the sound it makes - it's like those super toilets on an airplane... you know, the ones where you think it'll be fun to clog it up mid-flight, so you dump a whole roll of TP - but it doesn't even slow it down... what? You've never done that? Umm. Oh. Well, you should try it. Maybe you'll be able to make the toilet on the plane overflow mid-flight and win a prize or something. Enjoy the pics!

Picture of the island, pantry, bar and half of the living room...

Living room and new/improved kitchen!

Pantry/Bar (with fruits on it ... that'll change, no worries).

Kitchen again, with Crina's mom doing what she does best - Cook!

Another shot of the kitchen...

Close-up of the island (it's Quartz!)... too bad you can't see the backsplash - my favorite feature of the kitchen.

From the other side... I love the custom look.

And another... rotating left. TV/Fireplace.

That's where a lot of my attention is focused...

The art piece mom made for us. It's funky and metal...

And finally, the 2nd bathroom! It's still unfinished as you can tell - the walls need to be plastered and painted, and the marble needs to be put up behind the tub (you can't see it), but everything works and the vanity/vessel bowl is awesome!

What it used to be...

2008-05-01T14:18:00.004-05:00

For those of you not familiar with what the kitchen looked like before, here are a couple of pictures taken soon after we moved in... just to give a scale of what the changes were.

Post 27. Kitchen Day 17

2008-05-01T14:10:00.004-05:00

We're finally done with the floor and cabinets and the lights! The countertops are going to be put in on May 6th - which is awesome.

Post 26. Kitchen Day 16

2008-05-01T13:52:00.008-05:00

Almost There...

That's the Bar! *Important!*

Post 25. Kitchen Day 15

2008-04-25T16:43:00.004-05:00

The lights and the frame for the bar is up!

Post 24. Kitchen Day 14

2008-04-24T11:39:00.004-05:00

Post 23. Kitchen Day 13

2008-04-23T17:57:00.004-05:00

Post 22. Kitchen Day 12

2008-04-22T10:39:00.005-05:00

Things are moving much quicker now...

Post 21. Kitchen Day 11

2008-04-21T11:19:00.004-05:00

Post 20. Kitchen Day 10

2008-04-21T11:17:00.004-05:00

Post 19. Kitchen Day 9

2008-04-17T10:02:00.003-05:00

Tiling Done! Yaay!

Post 18. Kitchen Day 8

2008-04-17T09:53:00.004-05:00

Crin making sure the spacers are doing their job well...

Post 17. Kitchen Day 7

2008-04-17T09:51:00.004-05:00

That's the deco tile we used

Post 16. Kitchen Day 6

2008-04-17T09:48:00.004-05:00

Post 15. Kitchen Day 5

2008-04-17T09:46:00.003-05:00

Post 14. Kitchen Day 4

2008-04-17T09:44:00.006-05:00

Smooth as a baby's bottom. Just harder.

Post 13. Kitchen Day 3

2008-04-17T09:42:00.004-05:00

Yep - that's better.

Post 12. Kitchen! Day 2.

2008-04-07T16:13:00.004-05:00

After Joe was done stripping the hardwood, we discovered it's got slats under it, on top of the cement...

That's the living room... and Joe working on the slats.

That's what it looks like at the end of day 2.

Post 11. Kitchen! Day 1 - Prep.

2008-04-07T15:58:00.005-05:00

Uncle Fred, Tom, Me, Ramyt.

Crin & Erin taking the tiles off the backsplash. The island is already gone. That countertop was a b*tch to move.

The Granite Countertop nearly killed us...:P As Tom said, us young whippersnappers don't stand a shovel to Uncle Fred.

Post 10. It's been a few days...

2008-04-07T15:43:00.004-05:00

...but I've been busy with quite a few things.

We've started our kitchen renovation (we're on day 2) and things are looking good... long way to go but we've had a good start.

We also attended Ramyt's gig at Smartbar on Saturday night, which was cool and tons of fun.

Erin and Tom put up a super birthday dinner, also on Saturday night, and we wolfed on huge prime rib, salad and asparagus...yummy.

I had the day off from work today 'cos it was the first day with the builder who's doing the kitchen project. Kitchen updates and pictures will be on the posts marked "Kitchen!"

We're going to see my mom today and drop off Ramyt to Naperville. She had her second chemo dose last Friday - and really isn't feeling too good. She's really feeling the effects, and is in a lot of pain. Give her a call sometime, and tell her to hang in there.

Post 9. Electrolux Launches Premium Line of Appliances!

2008-04-04T14:03:00.004-05:00

Electrolux Appliances just launched their premium line of appliances in USA! They are available in Lowes and BestBuy. You can check out their svelte line of products at their website. They also have Kelly Ripa as their spokesperson, and there's a cool spot on the video engines. Elux and Kelly Ripa have teamed up to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF). And last, but not least, there's a super contest you can sign up for to win a kitchen makeover - Kelly's Bags - check it out on the Electrolux website.

Post 8. Apple Has a Boo-Boo.

2008-04-03T08:15:00.005-05:00

Perusing Apple.com/Trailers yielded a semi-hilarious email posted as the description for the upcoming movie Sex & Death 101 with Winona Ryder.

It reads: "Below is the general info for Anchor Bay Entertainments April 4th release, Sex and Death 101 starring Simon Baker and Winona Ryder, please let me know if there is anything else you need of me."

Post 7. This Is A Kick In Performic's Rear-End... :D

2008-04-02T17:26:00.005-05:00

The cows have flown, the pigs have shat and the droppings smell silly.

Now wipe that grin for your faces, Performics, 'cos you just got PWNED by Google (inadvertently, albeit).

Quoting D'Mac:

To everyone at Performics in Chicago who made a point at the Google St. Paddy's party to say "Welcome to OUR party", I say:

Post 6. Recipe for "Everything" Omelet

2008-03-31T17:03:00.004-05:00

So this is one of our staple foods for the weekend. It goes really well with home-baked bread.

"Everything" Omelet:

Servings: 2
Ingredients:
- Eggs - 4 (Organic preferred)
- Sour Cream - 2 Table Spoons
- White Ground Pepper - 1 teaspoon
- Red Peppers - 1/4th of a pepper
- Green peppers - 1/4th of a pepper
- Green Onions - 3 whole
- Green Chillies (optional) - 2 whole
- Tomatoes - 1 Large or 2 mediums
- Pre-cooked Ham/Sausages/Turkey (whatever meat you want) - 1/4 pound
- Imported Feta Cheese - 1/6 pound
- Corn Oil

Directions:
Step 1
- Cut all the veggies into small pieces - the smaller the quicker they cook.
- Cut the meat into portions of choice
- Cut the feta cheese into small 1/2 cm squares

Step 2
- Crack the eggs in a medium bowl, and whip them to a frenzy (until it foams and is evenly mixed).
- Dollop the sour cream into the bown and continue to whip until the sour cream breaks up and the small granules mix into the egg.
- Throw in the ground pepper and keep whippin' for about 3 mins at a high speed.
- Set aside

Step 3
(Careful, hot oil and cold water don't mix in a friendly fashion. If you burn yourself, it's not my fault)
- Heat a 12" heavy pan under high heat, and pour about 2 teaspoons of oil when hot.
- Wait for the oil to be medium hot.
- Turn down the heat to medium.
- Throw in the veggies and the meat - stir-fry until the meat is browning or the veggies are crinkling up - about 3 mins.
- Arrange the veggies and meat on the pan in a semi-circle on one half of the pan.
- Turn down the heat to 40%
- Grab the egg mixture, give it a quick whirl, and - this is key - SLOWLY pour the egg mixture on the veggies. Let the egg run around the pan to create a circle, half with veggies and half without.
- Let cook on 40% heat... take care to poke the egg mixture through often so the runny liquid on the top is also cooked. This should take about 3 mins.
- Take the feta and distribute evenly on the side with the veggies. Remember, you're not using any salt in this recipe, so your source of saltiness is the Feta!
- Once the mixture is not runny, turn off the heat.
- Carefully pry the bottom of the side that has no veggies/meat and flip up to cover the side that has the veggies. The flipped side should be a golden yellow/light brown color.
- You're done! You can cut in half and serve on breakfast plates of serve on a large dinner plate for a more intimate brunch!

Enjoy. Let me know if you try this out

Post 5. Weekend's up!

2008-03-29T22:31:00.007-05:00

This weekend was rough - but fun, in a rough way. I wanted to fix the bloody toilet which has been broken since last year and clean up the place and have Erin and Tom over for a small dinner at home celebrating Erin's birthday and cook chinese to take to Mom's for her birthday on Sunday... sounds great, but things took forever!

On Saturday, we woke up late, and brunched on one of our famous "everything" omelettes. Recipe to follow soon.

I started working on the toilet at noon. Basically, it was leaking everytime we used it and we didn't know where it was leaking from. From a previous foray, I'd glimpsed that the shutoff valve didn't close right, so there was always water being pushed out through the pipe that connected to the toilet tank. That was definitely a pain, since I couldn't really shut the water off and it kept leaking - I had to use a makeshift bucket to collect the water in, and empty it out every 2 mins while working on the toilet. Not to mention the position of the bucket was directly in the way of the toilet because of the short hose... ugh.

I bought one of those replacement kits from Lowes (our hardware store of choice) and planned to overhaul all the internals in the tank. The process was easy enough - just strip everything out, and put the new parts in. But life's never that simple... Our previous owners had put a plastic inner-tank to reduce water usage, but the inner layer was leaking into the outer layer - which had no gaskets to stop the water seeping out through the holes. Yes, the previous owners were retards.

Anyway, long story short, after much grunting and labor I managed to get the new kit installed, the holes plugged with new gaskets and the leak stopped. Obviously, my bad'ish back was pinging happily by the end of it. But hey, the leak's gone. I still have the faulty shutoff, but since it's connected back to the tank, it's all good (for now!). So while it works temporarily, I'll need to round back on it again. Ramit's coming this weekend and we're gonna demo the bathroom the week after anyway.

By this point, it was 5pm and I was a smelly, tired skunk. Not a combination that puts either Crina or I in a good mood. Fast forward - Erin and Tom came over, we went grocery shopping (Sam's Club and Jewel in Evanston), cooked while watching an episode of Planet Earth, and ate, drank and made merry chatting up till about 1:30am.

This didn't bode well for Sunday, since we had to cook and take lunch to Mom. Which we did, just not as early as we'd hoped - we reached their place at 3pm. We made Kung Pao chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, Chicken Satays with Peanut Sauce and Wonton Soup. Good shit - Foodnetwork.com has easy recipes!

We also get a huge Tiramisu cake for them (since it's not as sweet and both parents could try it). The surprise was finding Ayaan actually at home! It's always great to see my little brother - although he's not little at all.

We came back home around 7:30pm - but we didn't come back empty handed. Mom had made an awesome 3d painting for us - it's 4' by 2' and it has carved metal on wood... I'll post a picture soon. Looks great!

We spent the rest of the night cleaning up the kitchen (which was a mess!) and putting up the art piece from Mom as two spotlights to highlight it. I think now we have enough paintings around the condo - funny how we went from bare to decked in such a short time!

Post 4. One more...

2008-03-28T17:17:00.002-05:00

...before I hit the road for today. It's been an eventful one. Yaay, weekend. This weekend is pretty jammed - It's Erin's birthday in the coming week so we might celebrate early on Saturday. Sunday is my mom's birthday, so Crin and I will probably cook some food and take it to her house in Naperville.

Speaking of mom, she's doing better - the first round of chemo treatment is going on, and it's been working well. She's got the usual battery of side-effects, but she's hanging tough and keeping her chin-up. Next round is on April 4th. Please don't send her flowers, etc. Instead, donate what you were going to spend to the ACS.

Mom is being treated at NWH, and getting treatment at the Prentice Women's Hospital/Robert H. Lurie Center. But she's staying at home mostly, with occasional trips to the mall and walks around the park when it's warmer.

Dad has been - and I must emphasize this - super awesome; he's been so good at taking care of her. If you call them at home, make sure you tell him you appreciate what he's doing, because he's my hero.

Heading out - more later.

Post 3. It's That Time of The Day...

2008-03-28T15:43:00.001-05:00

...when your brain starts to lag and energy seems to turn itself upside down. Thinking of keywords and SOV can take a toll on you! This is also approximately the time when a big lunch causes me to experience food-coma.

This is the time when, because you don't think, I don't either.

I wish.

Friday is my favorite day of the week - because it preceeds the weekend, duh. But also because I tend to get the most amount of work done of this day. It's weird how the correlation between weekend-motivation and unfinished-work inverses as the weekend nears, culminating in a super productive Friday.

So I found out that my dinner plans for the evening are at Samah, with Crina and her colleagues from work. This is thrilling because I love middle-eastern food, and they serve the best in the city (IMHO, punk). This starts at 7pm. Please, no paparazzi.

I feel this is also a great moment to admit/confess that my best friend in the whole wide world (next to Crina, and in a very hetero sorta way) is Wasama Doja. I wish I could link to his facebook profile, but if you're curious just search on Facebook. I'll post a picture of him some point down the line. Wasama is short, thin, smelly and possibly the most misunderstood/under-rated person in the world. It sucks to be him, but I couldn't change him if I wanted to.

This segways to my other great friend - Jason Varden; also of Facebook fame (thanks to my enflaming pictures). He was recently tasked with a dire responsibility, and something he was born to do - secret to be revealed later this year.

Post 2. Search Never Had It So Good.

2008-03-28T13:42:00.001-05:00

Working in the Search industry during this economic downturn makes you forget how badly things are affected in other sectors outside our bubble. Check out this article on CNN.

Chills and shudders as you think whether this can happen to you. The answer? YES. Idiotproof yourself - both SmartMoney and CNN have a couple of good reads.

If you're looking for a job, and you have SEM/SEO experience - check out where I work. I know we're hiring!

Post 1. Because it's better to be late.

2008-03-28T12:52:00.001-05:00

Who knew blogging would take this much motivation?

Having witnessed the awesome growth and scope of personal blogging, and taken part (in-so-much-as) in the revolution that is corporate blogging/blog-marketting, it's a weird thing to have a blog of your own.

I think reading other people's blogs is much easier than writing one yourself. Maybe that's just me (obviously, since there are ten-trillion blogs out there) but blogging for me isn't just about me. This is the nature of BLOG - are you really laying your life out there, and doing this as an "inwards" tool? I doubt it.

I've forced myself to start today, however, because of a multitude of reasons. Top of that list is no doubt that I don't want to be last person on the planet to not have a blog. I also think I have more useful and important things to say than most people. Sorry, this is my latent arrogance. Deal.

I've imposed some rules on myself, and we'll see how long this lasts.
1. I will not make this a "review" blog
2. I have no expectations that this blogging motivation is going to last past today
3. I... don't have any other rules. At the moment.

I do want to leave you be with what this (hopefully) will entail:

I'm a marketer at heart - so all things marketing (interactive, mostly).

I'm a cynic and pessimist - so commentary will be biased.

I'm a workaholic and avid reader of all literary genres.

I'm a romantic and am in a relationship that makes me less of a cynic and pessimist.

I'm also on a H1B visa, and have graduate degrees. This is what I do.

I'm writing this at work. So, uh, GTG!

I think because you don't.

Post 37: It's still a threesome...

Post 36: Wedding Photos

Post 35: Laurie Peacock (our photographer) is a genius!

Post 34: 25 Random Notes about Diran (as seen of Facebook)

Live Results - The Day The World Stood Still

Post 32. And now it's a threesome...

Post 31. Crin and I.

Post 30. Requiem.

Subject: Do I know you? Between Md.Ashraf Hussain Shaon and You

Post 29. Kitchen's Done!

What it used to be...

Post 27. Kitchen Day 17

Post 26. Kitchen Day 16

Post 25. Kitchen Day 15

Post 24. Kitchen Day 14

Post 23. Kitchen Day 13

Post 22. Kitchen Day 12

Post 21. Kitchen Day 11

Post 20. Kitchen Day 10

Post 19. Kitchen Day 9

Post 18. Kitchen Day 8

Post 17. Kitchen Day 7

Post 16. Kitchen Day 6

Post 15. Kitchen Day 5

Post 14. Kitchen Day 4

Post 13. Kitchen Day 3

Post 12. Kitchen! Day 2.

Post 11. Kitchen! Day 1 - Prep.

Post 10. It's been a few days...

Post 9. Electrolux Launches Premium Line of Appliances!

Post 8. Apple Has a Boo-Boo.

Post 7. This Is A Kick In Performic's Rear-End... :D

Post 6. Recipe for "Everything" Omelet

Post 5. Weekend's up!

Post 4. One more...

Post 3. It's That Time of The Day...

Post 2. Search Never Had It So Good.

Post 1. Because it's better to be late.

Subject: Do I know you?
Between Md.Ashraf Hussain Shaon and You