Would the maximum ride series be suitable for someone who doesn't like vampire books?
Yes yes yes. They are very good and I love them. They DO NOT have ANYTHING to do with vampires. I hate it when people get the idea it's about vampires, just because one of the character's names is Fang. (But I understand you being cautious, I'm not a big fan of them myself.) But they don't have anything to do with vampires. It is about six kids that were test tube babies and were raised in a lab they called "the school". Their blood is 98% human and 2% bird, so they have wings, and a few other traits that are similar. They have since then escaped, and now live on their own. They are: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. They are constantly on the run from people from "the school" and also Erasers. These creatures that were made at the school that are half wolf half human. (But they are not werewolves) I read them all and I am a huge fan. They are fairly violent, so if you don't like that then you might not want to read them. But if you don't mind that, than I would defiantly recommend them. But they are not so violent that any parents should worry. I don't care how many people say they don't like James Patterson's writing, but I love his work. I hope you read them!
What fictional characters ( from Books, Movies, Comics, Series..) do you associate with each Zodiac Sign?
Aries - Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind (go-getter) Taurus - Woody from Toy Story (loyal, stubborn) Gemini - Jerry from Tom & Jerry (sometimes nice sometimes evil) Cancer - Wilma from the Flintstones (family-oriented) Leo - Johnny Bravo (confident, vain) Virgo - Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory (critical of others, smart) Libra - Jack from Three's Company (flirty, charming) Scorpio - Teddy from Shutter Island (intelligent but disturbed) Sagittarius - Joe from Midnight Cowboy (adventurous traveler) Capricorn - Batman (rich, serious, rational) Aquarius - Dr. House (smart, unconventional) Pisces - Willy Wonka (lives in a dreamworld)
How do you keep yourself disciplined?
During the Indian Police Service (IPS) training, our daily morning PT (physical training) used to start with a warmup run of four laps (total 1.6 KM). It felt super hard in week one. We thought it will become easier once we got used to it, maybe after a few months.Here is the surprise: It never got easier. Running the four warmup laps was always painful, even when we were fit enough to do a cross country of 16 KM.The path of discipline is not easy, and will never be easy. Period.Why is it so hard to stay disciplined?Because we allow our mind to interfere in the path of discipline. Why do we fail to get up early in the morning? Because the mind says, “You are so tired and sleep deprived. Just sleep for 5 minutes more and it will be fine”. Then 5 becomes 10, and it is all the way downhill after that.We allow the fallacy that we will get up early or eat healthy or study well or do the right thing when we get used to it and it becomes a little easier.But it will NEVER get easier. It will never be easy to get up at 5 am, every single day of the year. Not now, not after 10 years.So what should you do? The answer is trivially simple, but also very hard. You have to stop listening to your mind. Just stop. No concession to what your mind says.When you have to do something hard, you have to become a robot. It does not matter how you feel. Who cares? Just execute the plan like a machine. That is the only way.If you decide to go for a run, get up and run. You will feel groggy and your legs will hurt. The pain you feel is exactly the pain everybody else feels. The pain of discipline is the price of happiness.People who win are those who keep going, regardless of how much it hurts.
(TO GUYS) Girl writing in a boy's perspective?
Sorry, I'm not a guy! I am, however, a girl who has been mainly writing from male perspectives for the last 10+ years... I don't know why, I just write guys better... must be because I have brothers. :P Anyways, I've never had anybody suggest that my men aren't believable as men-- and in fact, I'm usually complimented. So. From one dude-writing girl to another, here's my advice: It's better to keep in mind how men and women are the same than how they're different. Men-- just like women-- have desires, petty moments, FEELINGS (I can't stress enough how old the stiff-upper-lip all-american cowboy badass cliche gets, how quickly), foibles, preferences, hobbies, pets, families... are you getting my point here? People might not believe it if you attribute a 30 year old man with "stereotypical" characteristics of a 14 year old girl (gossipy, obsessed with the opposite sex, cries at the drop of a hat) but hey, you could make it work. Some guys ARE gossips. Some guys ARE a little girl-crazy (though maybe not openly, and probably not 30 year olds). And some guys cry all the time. :P Though they probably wouldn't like you to know it. Point is, focus on making the character vivid, interesting and real-- and that means give them great depth of humanity, not specific gender attributes. Edited to respond to cathy: Of course you're right. I'm not saying that men don't act differently from women, or that they act like fourteen year old girls. They don't! And most of the time it would be silly to try. But I think it's important not to focus on making them act like Manly-Manly Men, because you just get stereotypes that way. Don't focus on making them act like men at all, unless something seems "off" to you. Focus on making them act like realistic human beings, period.
What experience most shaped who you are?
Living in a joint family for 22 years.We were a family of 8 living in a small 2 BHK.I slept in the same room as my parents for 22 years. The kind of relation I have with them is something I won't trade for anything in the world. We have seen each other laugh and we have seen each other cry. We had no place to hide. Talking to your parents is the best threpy in the world.Nothing I ever did was a secret. Being the eldest kid, my cousins (they are like my siblings) had access to everything that was mine. My phone was not just mine, my private journals were read our loud and my crushes were announced to the world. Back then, I used to get extremely angry. Now when I look back, I miss those times. Believe it or not, privacy is extremely over rated in today's world.Sometimes I and my cousins managed to save Rs. 10 together. We use to get a packet of chips and have it together. Now that we no longer live together and I have the entire packet for myself, it doesn't taste as good as it used to. Things are always better when shared.My grandmother was extremely strict. If any of us had to do anything, we had to take her permission including the adults in the family. More often than not, she use to say no. Now, when I look back, I realize how just she was and how important discipline and certain restrictions are to keep a big family together.When my little brother was sick, me and my sister stayed up the entire night to take care of him. It taught me that it is not the happy times but the tough times that brings people close.Adults fight often. They may or may not have valid reasons. But never get get your kids involved. Never ever tell them what is happening. Just let them be kids.I got to see the power of money and also what a person becomes when greed takes over all his senses. It taught me to never do business with the one you love. Money can make as well as break relations.We separated almost a year back. Things got a little out of hand, and I was glad that we did.But when it was good, it gave me some of the best and the most memorable years of my life. I miss my brother and my sister very single day I miss our walks, our figths and over sleepovers. They are and will always be in my heart! :)This is a very old picture of the three of us, almost 10 years back. It's one of best I have :)Thanks for the A2A Akshay Vaishnav!