A whole year this blog has been lying idle...Am not like some others who will create new blog whenever it rains :P
So I visited again today, saw all the old albums and thought of posting something old on this blog...
Designer kurta-stitched by my sister, ribbon embroidered by me...
Ribbon Emroidered Kurta
Maybe my new year resolution is to start beading again...and maybe I start it a month before New Years :)
Friday, December 4, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Happy New Year :)
Its been a great start to a new year as far as holidays are concerned :) First we had a holiday for 4 days from 25th December to 28th. That includes one Saturday and Sunday too - but the company did give us 2 days off work !!Hurrah! and then wow, we are back in office for 3 days, when we get another day off for New Years, that's a Thursday. So one more day at work, and we are off for the weekend - thats today, this Saturday, which is already over ( too bad :() and tomorrow.
What did I do, well, I read lots and lots of stuff, shopped, started(and almost completed) the November BJP. On the first four day weekend , I read the first 6 books in the Ladies No.1 Detective Agency series. I love love love Precious Ramotswe. This weekend I have already read the first book of Meg Cabot's Heather Mills series and halfway through the second. That too is wow. And how did I, reader of mystery and thrillers and fanatic eschewer of romantic fiction get into 'chick-lit'? I once read a Precious Ramotswe story when in search of a good mystery, and I loved it. Recently, I found out that some people label the Ladies No.1 Detective Agency series as 'chick-lit' so I went looking for more 'mystery' + 'chick-lit' genre - really loving it. As it is , I was getting a bit bored with the whole P.D James, Ruth Rendell, Dean Koontz scene. This is a whole new place for me to explore :)
There are some things I did last year that I didn't post about. Here's an album of two crocheted purses - each took only aroud 2-3 hours to make on a Sunday evening
Friday, December 5, 2008
October BJP...
I'd done my October BJP sometime two weeks ago. I didn't post it, however, as I could only get a very bad picture of it on my mobile phone camera. I'd made plans to go buy a good digital camera, take a good pic and put it up. Camera plans have been temporarily shelved. So I've decided to post the bad pic anyway. It shows nothing properly - not the colors, or anything. I am already months behind, but with the Christmas and all, I hope to catch up before the year end.
Progress Album
Warning: Looking at blurry photos may cause headache
I wasn't moving the mobile around to get such blurred photos. I think it got blurry because of the color of the beads - not sure.
Idea for this times BJP comes from my best friend who has taken this photo
which in turn, is inspired by the cover of the book, The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy. The ATC is not exactly a tribute to the book - the lotus pond image, to me, shows quietness, contemplation, peace - all are things I wish for a lot, in addition to happiness pure and simple, contentment. Sometimes though, I think too much, usually, when I am beading or crocheting, I worry myself about whether the future holds happiness or bad, to the extent that I get all agitated and depressed and have to put my things away and do something escapist like reading. So that's another thing that I've got to learn - that happiness is in the present and now. It's ok to wait for something good, but its not ok to worry to the extent that it ruins your day.
I've started thinking about November BJP - its more in terms of a technique and colour i want to try , than a image i want to represent - hope it works out.
I want to thank all the people who commented on my last BJP - it was really amazing!! I have gone through the straight lines with thread a couple of times in this month's BJP and I think it looks a lot better - thanks so much :). I feel very guilty that I don't do much commenting on others blogs :( - its partly not getting time and partly feeling small and shy.
Progress Album
Warning: Looking at blurry photos may cause headache
I wasn't moving the mobile around to get such blurred photos. I think it got blurry because of the color of the beads - not sure.
Idea for this times BJP comes from my best friend who has taken this photo
which in turn, is inspired by the cover of the book, The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy. The ATC is not exactly a tribute to the book - the lotus pond image, to me, shows quietness, contemplation, peace - all are things I wish for a lot, in addition to happiness pure and simple, contentment. Sometimes though, I think too much, usually, when I am beading or crocheting, I worry myself about whether the future holds happiness or bad, to the extent that I get all agitated and depressed and have to put my things away and do something escapist like reading. So that's another thing that I've got to learn - that happiness is in the present and now. It's ok to wait for something good, but its not ok to worry to the extent that it ruins your day.
I've started thinking about November BJP - its more in terms of a technique and colour i want to try , than a image i want to represent - hope it works out.
I want to thank all the people who commented on my last BJP - it was really amazing!! I have gone through the straight lines with thread a couple of times in this month's BJP and I think it looks a lot better - thanks so much :). I feel very guilty that I don't do much commenting on others blogs :( - its partly not getting time and partly feeling small and shy.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Random Words, Problem Solving and a Card...
Planning to blog on my reading of Edward De Bono's "How To Have Creative Ideas". The book revolves around the use of random words to get you think in so many directions. I'm a big fan of "stimulants to thinking" ever since my English teacher of 9th grade, Mrs. Arcy demonstrated its power in a class. She made us take out a piece of paper and asked us to write - not a straightforward essay - but something like "a letter explaining benefits of blood donation and requesting to hold a camp". Obviously there was no pencil mark on my paper at the end of the allotted time as I considered myself to have absolutely no idea on the subject of blood donation. Then she asked us to write questions like "What", "Why", "Where", "When", "How" etc on the subjects in question. Soon the paper was covered with lots of points. It was a dramatic revelation to me -all those points were buried in my head - yet I sat there thinking of what a difficult question this was, till some questioning brought them out. So on to the first "game" in the book..I'm going to use the blog as my notebook sort of..
Task 1: New ideas to make a bank more attractive to its customers
Random word : Spinach
My thoughts: Spinach, talks about health to me. Physical health, healthy investments - having better relationship with the customers, maybe give them a free checkup with the doctor, invite them to a health seminar, most banks have an insurance division, they could do some business out of this, but it should not look like the seminar was for boosting business, people wouldn't give any credibility to the doctors then. What about healthy investment ? many young people are earning straight out of college, but not knowing well the many good investment opportunities. What about advising on very low-risk good opportunities for investment? Spinach speaks to me of good old-fashioned advice and care - building personal relationship with your customer - how nice it would be to have a friendly personal banker!
Task 2: Problem of graffiti being painted on buildings in a town
Random word: cigarette
My thoughts: Cigarette speaks of addiction, dangerous to health. Graffiti drawing is also an addiction. Need to kick the habit - by reducing the dose ?
Another idea that comes to mind is officially designated graffiti walls, competitions with prizes for drawings on the walls - would that alone fight the impulse to break the law? make it hard to break the law? not always feasible to have such strict policing...but some strict policing initially should lead the graffiti artists to "reduce the dose" and take to the "official graffiti walls" (nicotine patches). Later on the craving would lessen.
Task 3: The problem of cars going too fast on a straight stretch of road.
Random word: Fare
My thoughts: Toll booth or check post in the middle of the road? Was the offbeat idea i got other than usual ideas like speed bumps, camera etc.
Task 4: New ideas for a newspaper
Random word: Corner
My thoughts: Corner for different people ..like bloggers! hey, I'm talking about the good old columnists :) but blogs would be a good avenue to find some really good writers for the paper. A corner for the main college in town. All college students would look at the corner to see the photographs and news. Book Corner, Food Corner, Cooking Corner - all old ideas? Photography Corner, Crafts Corner? Corner based layout - change the look of the magazine - maybe old readers wont like it - so have a supplement in a contemporary dramatic format and make smaller changes to the main paper
Hmm... that's all for today...
I wanted to make a card day before yesterday..I got the random word as cocktail..somehow it made me think of a cocktail of green colors...and so, here's the card...
By the way, the book is not about having creative ideas for art or music - its about having creative ideas for business and solving problems. Still a random word is a good starting point when you know you want to do something but need a starting point.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Pooh stories...
I have been reading Winnie - the - Pooh, the oh - so - cute story of the 'Bear of Little Brain' and his friends. The reason i love children's books is that, beneath that innocent layer of simple storytelling and fantasy, they bring out, very simply told, so many truths about the human state. It brings such an 'aha' moment to see some such character, incident or idea that I can relate to. I guess what I'm saying is that all children's books are to some extent an allegory.
Eeyore, for instance, how he manages to makes himself miserable and mope about!
------------------------------------
Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" -- and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.
------------------------------------
Most of the time he didn't know what he was thinking about , and why he was thinking such sad things that he would rather not have been thinking about. Reminds me of how I make myself miserable sometimes, and how silly I must look if i were written down as a character in a Pooh-book. His pessimistic and uncharitable thoughts about everyone - Moping with a capital M as Pooh puts it....
The grand Owl, speaks in such words, that no one can understand him.
Those conversations will have you laughing out loud and reading again and again..
------------------------------------
"I say, Owl," said Christopher Robin, "isn't this fun? I'm on an island!"
"The atmospheric conditions have been very unfavourable lately," said Owl.
"The what?"
"It has been raining," explained Owl.
"Yes," said Christopher Robin. "It has."
"The flood-level has reached an unprecedented height."
"The who?"
"There's a lot of water about," explained Owl.
"Yes," said Christopher Robin, "there is."
"However, the prospects are rapidly becoming more favourable. At any moment -- "
"Hallo, Pooh," he said. "How's things?"
"Terrible and Sad," said Pooh, "because Eeyore, who is a friend of mine, has lost his tail. And he's Moping about it. So could you very kindly tell me how to find it for him?"
"Well," said Owl, "the customary procedure in such cases is as follows."
"What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean?" said Pooh. "For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words Bother me."
"It means the Thing to Do."
"As long as it means that, I don't mind," said Pooh humbly.
"The thing to do is as follows. First, Issue a Reward. Then -- "
"Just a moment," said Pooh, holding up his paw. "What do we do to this -- what you were saying? You sneezed just as you were going to tell me."
"I didn't sneeze."
"Yes, you did, Owl."
"Excuse me, Pooh, I didn't. You can't sneeze without knowing it."
"Well, you can't know it without something having been sneezed."
"What I said was, 'First Issue a Reward'."
"You're doing it again," said Pooh sadly.
"A Reward!" said Owl very loudly. "We write a notice to say that we will give a large something to anybody who finds Eeyore's tail."
"I see, I see," said Pooh, nodding his head.
------------------------------------
Too funny!!
Vanity of the little characters are revealed in so many ways - When Piglet sends Pooh a message in a bottle, Pooh can't read it, so he says to himself...
------------------------------------
"It's a Missage," he said to himself, "that's what it is. And that letter is a 'P,' and so is that, and so is that, and 'P' means 'Pooh,' so it's a very important Missage to me, and I can't read it. I must find Christopher Robin or Owl or Piglet, one of those Clever Readers who can read things
------------------------------------
But what does he say when he reaches Christopher Robin? He says..
------------------------------------
"On my boat," said Pooh proudly. "I had a Very Important Missage sent me in a bottle, and owing to having got some water in my eyes, I couldn't read it, so I brought it to you. On my boat."
------------------------------------
My only complaint is that it finished too soon. I'd wish for a huuuge book. By the way, the disney cartoons - or whatever they show on TV - are not a patch on the book.
Eeyore, for instance, how he manages to makes himself miserable and mope about!
------------------------------------
Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" -- and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.
------------------------------------
Most of the time he didn't know what he was thinking about , and why he was thinking such sad things that he would rather not have been thinking about. Reminds me of how I make myself miserable sometimes, and how silly I must look if i were written down as a character in a Pooh-book. His pessimistic and uncharitable thoughts about everyone - Moping with a capital M as Pooh puts it....
The grand Owl, speaks in such words, that no one can understand him.
Those conversations will have you laughing out loud and reading again and again..
------------------------------------
"I say, Owl," said Christopher Robin, "isn't this fun? I'm on an island!"
"The atmospheric conditions have been very unfavourable lately," said Owl.
"The what?"
"It has been raining," explained Owl.
"Yes," said Christopher Robin. "It has."
"The flood-level has reached an unprecedented height."
"The who?"
"There's a lot of water about," explained Owl.
"Yes," said Christopher Robin, "there is."
"However, the prospects are rapidly becoming more favourable. At any moment -- "
------------------------------------
"Hallo, Pooh," he said. "How's things?"
"Terrible and Sad," said Pooh, "because Eeyore, who is a friend of mine, has lost his tail. And he's Moping about it. So could you very kindly tell me how to find it for him?"
"Well," said Owl, "the customary procedure in such cases is as follows."
"What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean?" said Pooh. "For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words Bother me."
"It means the Thing to Do."
"As long as it means that, I don't mind," said Pooh humbly.
"The thing to do is as follows. First, Issue a Reward. Then -- "
"Just a moment," said Pooh, holding up his paw. "What do we do to this -- what you were saying? You sneezed just as you were going to tell me."
"I didn't sneeze."
"Yes, you did, Owl."
"Excuse me, Pooh, I didn't. You can't sneeze without knowing it."
"Well, you can't know it without something having been sneezed."
"What I said was, 'First Issue a Reward'."
"You're doing it again," said Pooh sadly.
"A Reward!" said Owl very loudly. "We write a notice to say that we will give a large something to anybody who finds Eeyore's tail."
"I see, I see," said Pooh, nodding his head.
------------------------------------
Too funny!!
Vanity of the little characters are revealed in so many ways - When Piglet sends Pooh a message in a bottle, Pooh can't read it, so he says to himself...
------------------------------------
"It's a Missage," he said to himself, "that's what it is. And that letter is a 'P,' and so is that, and so is that, and 'P' means 'Pooh,' so it's a very important Missage to me, and I can't read it. I must find Christopher Robin or Owl or Piglet, one of those Clever Readers who can read things
------------------------------------
But what does he say when he reaches Christopher Robin? He says..
------------------------------------
"On my boat," said Pooh proudly. "I had a Very Important Missage sent me in a bottle, and owing to having got some water in my eyes, I couldn't read it, so I brought it to you. On my boat."
------------------------------------
My only complaint is that it finished too soon. I'd wish for a huuuge book. By the way, the disney cartoons - or whatever they show on TV - are not a patch on the book.
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