separate's always better when there's feelings involved

Kalanjali has replaced Crate and Barrel in my affections. Actually, that's not entirely true, but since Crate and Barrel is half a world away, while Kalanjali is only half an hour away, I am left with little choice in the matter. Also, Kalanjali cannot provide me with the sundry kitchen gadgets that Crate and Barrel has forced upon me over the years...but it does have a prodigious supply of bedding. They must love me there, as I acquired my third and fourth bedspreads there today; I delved into their supply of reds, and came away with a lovely red silk set, as well as a more fun dark-red cotton spread with interesting cut-outs filled with red organdy. The best part of the Kalanjali shopping experience is that they have possible the most inefficient check-out system known to man. After choosing the bedspreads (quite the task, requiring two men to unfurl half the bedspreads in the store in a successful attempt at temptation), they were rung up at the register nearest the bedding section. However, you cannot pay at that register; instead, they hand-carry the bedspreads to the checkout area so that shoppers can continue to search for merchandise unimpeded by previous purchases. I looked around and found nothing else to suit my fancy, and so proceeded to the checkout counter. The counter is v-shaped; one side is labeled 'payment', and the other side is labeled 'delivery'. You go to the payment side, hand the man your receipts from the first register, and he rings you up again and takes your payment. He then hands you your receipts, and you take four steps to the left so that you are in the delivery section. The man at the delivery counter, after having leisurely watched you pay for everything, proceeded to check all the receipts, matching them to your bags of merchandise, and rubber-stamping 'delivered' on all of the receipts. He then gives you your receipts, as well as some pink slips. You take ten steps to the exit, and at the exit, you have to present the pink slips to the security guard so that he knows that you have paid. This whole process required four different exchanges of receipts, the last three exchanges all occurring within ten feet of each other. Fascinating.

I was quite lazy today; I did a bit of work after breakfast, and then went to Kalanjali with Arod. This took awhile, since the traffic was bad; and, the salesmen sensed a willing victim and so spent prodigious amounts of time displaying their wares. We got home around 4:30, and I started reading 'Friday's Child' by Georgette Heyer. I finished it tonight, since I can't stand to put down a book once I've started it; that should explain to you why my language is even more stilted and Victorian than usual. While I was out, I picked up a copy of the newest Harry Potter book, but I did not start to read it yet as I was feeling more in need of a romance than a dark children's fantasy. I had a quiet dinner at home with Lauren, and took a break from the book to watch TV with her. We were going to watch the Tour, but it was interrupted for a cricket match (blasphemy! replacing one ridiculous sport for another!), and so we watched HBO India instead. While HBO in the States prides itself on running current movies, even if those movies are of dubious quality, HBO India runs movies that are at least five years old, and possibly up to twenty. We got sucked into 'Urban Legends', and it was terrible; it might even be capable of giving 'The Order' and 'Reign of Fire' a run for their collective money, although I doubt that anything can break my heart more than Heath Ledger's disastrous turn as a defrocked priest who becomes a Sin Eater (if you haven't seen it, you won't know what this means, but I encourage you to protect your innocence and remember Heath Ledger from better endeavors, such as 'Ten Things I Hate About You', 'A Knight's Tale', and 'The Patriot', dubious as even those movies are). 'Urban Legends' did have a Theoden-esque level of so much death--it seemed that someone died every five minutes or so, usually in an impossibly bloody way. So, it was entertaining in a completely mindless way, which was fun.

Since I did very little today, I have nothing to report, and so I should probably go to bed. My bedroom is rather uncomfortable, since the air conditioner started leaking on Thursday and only ceases its attempts to flood my room when I turn it off. It will supposedly be fixed on Monday, but until then I am left to the ineffective ministrations of the noisy ceiling fan. But, 'Hey Ya' just came up on my random iTunes playlist, which enthuses me to no end and gives me the strength and fortitude to conquer my overly-warm sleeping conditions. Goodnight everyone!