A stranger walked up to me in the Bellevue downtown park today, and told me that he saw me on CNN recently. That reminded me to share the news with you all. I was on CNN 2 weeks back, talking about my forthcoming series on human migrations and the economies of India and America. The reporter had a tight deadline, and since I am a Journalist, I could totally understand his pain. What added to the mix was my extraordinarily casual appearance when he called my cell. I was out and about, glasses, faded blue jeans, Old Navy pink shirt that I sometimes wear to bed, over a 7 yr old lilac sweater. I slam rushed home, mentally preparing notes on this extensive subject over I-90 traffic which I was to traverse again in 35 mins to go to the studio with the remote linkup since the reporter was on the East coast. My immd task was preparing an outfit that'd look ok on TV (hehe, not an easy task, but not too tough either considering my clotheshorse wardrobe, courtesy hubby's patience), and putting my heels on (seeing me in heels, people, is always such a wonder to behold, I sway, I wobble, but I am a Strong, Modern woman, and I CHUG ON. Kinda like Sandra B. in Miss C).

I also did a story recently on makeup for Indian skin tones in America for the PI, and that story had taken me to all the cool salons of town, where ace make up artists gave my face their best shots! So, armed with all that info, and kicky products, I was all ready to rock it, when my eyes stopped on my brows! Overgrown as hell since my regular non-English speaking brow waxer girl had vanished 3 weeks ago without any info on where I could stalk her at this hour! Man, was I stressed for a sec! Then I put all of my meditative power into making the scene better, and got my tweezers out for a die hard 4 mins of pulling action. Oh how I missed my sister, who I've left in India, to both, laugh with me, and complement me on my agility, strength and resourcefulness, going through my mental notes on the subject in between each pull of a brow hair and the second long gap between OUCH! THAT HURT! and Wow, Glad It's Over!

Somehow I made my way to the studio, walking hard in my heels, and resulting from how my phone hasn't stopped ringing ever since the story aired that evening with calls from all over the country, India and Europe, I'm thinking my brows really didn't distract from the subject at hand. Maybe I should even give classes to women on how to maximize productivity under duress. But first I must find another reliable brow waxer in Bellevue.