deponti

I've shown you tees for autism



ALS, and other illnesses...

But did you know that Nike actually made tees for other, rather less sympatico, illnesses?

Just back from a very enjoyable trip to

the City of Brotherly Love

Thanks to Madhumsita and Kusi, I had a whale of a time:




(Philadelphia is ..er..phill of murals.)

Lots of photos to follow, but meanwhile:

I got the following photograph quite by chance...votzit? One guess allowed per person :)





Off to sleep now...

The more I love someone, the more nicknames that person has...

Here's the "Fuzzy-Head Airlines" taking off or landing...



That quilt was made by one of DnA's friends from college.






The quilt in the photo above was made for her by murthys_r_us.... M is a super-expert quilter at this time, and she manages a baby, household and a very demanding, highly-skilled job as well!

Now we present a highly-skilled, intellectual conversation between dad and daughter, while Mother is shovelling in more calories to run off later:





I hope everyone noticed the serious tenor of the discussion.

It's so rewarding to visit friends on other blogs too...today, from Ani's blog, I got this:

http://abduzeedo.com/fantastic-optical-illusion-artworks-rob-gonsalves


Reminds me of the work of

M.C.Escher

..it really needs imagination and so much painstaking work to come up with each of those!

And a simple, clear illustration of how a sewing machine works, from

Mekin

http://bitsandpieces.us/2009/08/26/how-a-sewing-machine-works/

Friends are such interesting people...come to think of it...people are so interesting!

* IF you want masala chai:

* for each cup of chai that you want, take half a cup of milk, and half a cup of water.

* with a pestle, smash ginger, cloves and cardamoms (about 1/2" piece of ginger, one clove and one cardamom for 2 cups of chai) at the bottom of the pan in which you will make the chai.

Or, you can add ginger powder, elaichi powder, and clove powder to the milk/water mixture.

If you don't want to make masala chai, leave this step out.

* Add the chai to the milk/water mixture. If it's Taj Mahal, Yellow Label, or Lipton Red Label (the two varities most easily available in the US)...add a rounded tablespoon (yes!) or a measured tablespoon and a half, per cup. If you can let the mixture steep for a while, it's better.

* Now boil the whole thing, let it boil for about 15 to 30 seconds, and then switch off and cover for about half a minute.

* Strain the chai, and serve (sugar can be added while boiling, but I prefer not to, as drinkers can add the amount they want.)

This way, I find, that whether there are 3 people or 30, I make exactly as many cups as required, and there is no wastage!

Microwave:

Microwave the whole tea-steeped mixture, with or without masala, in the microwave UNTIL it boils (use a large enough container so that it doesn't overflow). Take out, strain AFTER half a minute, and serve.


*You need to add enough chai to make a nice brownish chai, it shouldn't be too white!

I love 3 Roses Tea in India for making chai. chaibacca's favourite is Society Tea, available only in Mumbai, alas!

I couldn't use gmail or gtalk, and was-- of course-- wondering what I was doing wrong...and then DS posted me this:


http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/01/218209/GMail-Experiences-Serious-Outage


Ah. Wonder how it affected various people.....

Here's what gaur36 has to say...

http://gaur36.livejournal.com/107478.html


It *does* exclude many good photographers for no good reason that I can see.

Why cannot these competitions have an honour system, requiring participants to declare that the image has not been manipulated in any way?

yathin, amoghavarsha, shivakumar_l and other photographers that I know....what is your opinion on this?

I got an email from a friend in Chennai, I quote verbatim:

"seepa tho i dont write often to u ..U know i am there to tell happy and sad events...we just saw in paper that R and RVS and RS..all 3 of whom u know well ...passed away...just keepin u informed...i opened mail box to write and tell u when i see a brief mail frm R that she is rushing back frm usa today"

The background...just last week, a friend of ours died suddenly, in a car crash in Korea..five people died in the accident.

RVS, R, and RS are siblings, and R and RS are particularly close friends of mine...so you can imagine what I felt when I saw this email. RS lives in Tanzania, and R,who lives in Chennai, often visits her daughter in Chicago...so I was wondering if all of them had been together for a wedding or something and had a bad traffic accident....the newspaper headlines, which I desperately googled, didn't carry anything that indicated such a terrible event...

But wait, I thought: in the very next sentence, she writes that R is rushing back from USA....how confusing...but it also gave me some hope that it was not, after all, a terrible tragedy.

So I called my sis in law in Chennai and asked her to look at the local newspaper...and heaved a HUGE sigh of relief when I realized that it was their MOTHER (old and ailing) who had passed away in Chennai.

Frankly, for about an hour after I realized what had happened, I would not have minded inserting an obit announcement for the abovementioned friend , the one who emailed me and spoilt my entire morning!


I do wish she would write emails properly, and that she had READ what she wrote before sending it off.

And yes, at such times, I hate the way people use SMS lingo in emails, too. I suppose the practice of typing "gr8" and "u" and "r" because they may be charged if their character counts exceeds a certain number...carries over into all other forms of communication too!

Call me old-fashioned....but I want an email that talks of a bereavement to be "properly" written....but I guess that dates me.

Beauty is but skin-deep, I often like telling myself..mainly because my beauty seems to stop short of even my epidermis. The closest claim I can lay to beauty is when my friends, who see photographs of me when young, exclaim (with great surprise in their voices) "You look good in a PHOTOGRAPH!" or "You looked good when you were young!" I don't mind the words, but I am NOT happy at the surprise in their voices!

All my life I have had people telling me, "You would be beautiful if you were taller." Or...fairer. Oh, my dark skin...has been, you would think, my besetting sin! "If only you were a little fairer..."..to this I would add, "or juster.. or kinder..."

Or there would be what I call DC...Deadly Compliments. "D is the kind of person who is beautiful from within, she has no need for outside beauty," is a gem I always remember. This wonderful remark was matched by another aunt who saw me after a few years and in genuine concern, exclaimed for all the guests at the marriage to hear, "enna.... eLecchu, karutthu, karuvAdA pOyittai?" (Why have you thinned out, darkened, and shrivelled up?) Wonderful words to hear!

Then came the comments that my short haircut occasioned. People in India have NO compunction about passing personal remarks, and indeed, the first thing they refer to when they see you is your personal appearance. One of the memorable remarks about my hair was, "Why do you have a 'I hate men' haircut?" Oh my goodness, I didn't know that my hair had anything to do with my attitude to men..I thought it was mostly about my attitude to swimming! (My hairloss has completely stopped since I cut my hair short, but that's another story.)

But all this has a very good side too...I have never been (or given the chance to be) vain about my looks, and have, consequently, been very comfortable in my appearance (and my dark skin, alas!) I was not overly attached to the long hair that I could sit on, and could chop it off so that swimming and indeed, general maintenance became easy. The arrival of a mid-life paunch on a waistline that was once (yes, really) 23 inches did not trouble me at all. To me exercise is not a way of looking good, but of feeling good..and being fit.

Recently, I asked KM how I look and in all honesty, he replied, "Your face has caved in, but you are OK otherwise." I know of uxoricide, but I cannot get its antonym...but that's what was about to happen that day!

I do not have a dresser-full of cosmetics, and I have never been to a parlour to have my eyebrows done, or various parts of me waxed...ever. I have never had a facial. Simple and inexpensive cosmetics suffice for me, and I am so glad about it!

(Only one person has called me beautiful, and I must say, I still *glow* (from the inside, of course!!) when I think of it!

Similarly, I may enjoy good looks when I see them, but to me, a good-looking person without a happy smile is NOT good-looking, and to me, all my friends ARE good-looking. I'm sorry, I am NOT able to see where the so-called ugly faces are. When a friend smiles at me....I can only see that smile and its beauty...

I know someone whose face is very scarred, and several people asked me, "What happened to her?" But after the first look, when I started talking to her, I liked her so much...that the scars just sort of vanished, as far as I was concerned. She later told me that most people found it hard to even talk to her because they were distracted by the scars. I felt that she had great strength of mind to face the world without wanting to improve her looks; to me, that made her even more beautiful. Was this very idealistic of me? I don't know....but too often, I have seen the vanity and the lack of substance that can go with extreme good looks. I rarely compliment people on their physical beauty, as I think it's not something they can take credit for! To me, an intelligent, alert look, a good-natured smile, a helpful nature, these are more beautiful..


Of course, I wish I was good-looking, too, because good-looking people...the TFH (Tall Fair Handsome) or SFB (Slim Fair Beautiful) people have such an advantage over the rest of us poor slobs! They get smiled at first, served first....oh well, in my next birth, perhaps!Right now, let me take my caved-in face to sleep....

Apparently it was Friendship Day a day or two ago (actually, all these days can be called Greeting Card Day or Help Archies or Hallmark Become Rich Day)...to me, every day is a day in which I revel in the friendships that sustain me.

So...here's a loving wish to all my LJ friends; whether I have met you in person, or not, you are all very dear to me.






Friends are the greatest treasure that I can have. Thank you!

I took this today in Forest Park...those are the battlements of the main building of Washington University, where A took her double Masters' degrees.

It was interesting, earlier this week, to have

Stephen Silha

and his friend and co-facilitator


Peggy Holman

Steve is very caught up right now with two projects:

Journalism That Matters

and the

Big Joy Project

I do subscribe to the concept of Big Joy..in fact, I think I have been a practitioner for many decades now! I believe in experiencing the joys of life thoroughly!

However, it was the former that brought them to Missouri, as the

journalism school at the University of Missouri

is rated one of the best in the country

Funding, as usual, is the crux of any initiative, and they are hoping that good things...and some big joy...will come out of their meetings in Columbia, Mo!

Steve is one of the people who came over to attend the DnA wedding, and it was good to exchange notes with him in the very limited time that we had. And Peggy is a fascinating person, widely-travelled, and with a very interesting perspective on her work.

Changing journalism proactively, when forms of communication are changing so rapidly in today's world, is indeed a great challenge.

Here they are, at our front door:





Then they decided to do a Big Joy photograph!




I had tried to make a trip to Seattle and Vashon Island last month, but it didn't work out...so it was great to have Steve visit us instead!

Sandalwood has been a close friend for some time now; he is a childhood friend of amoghavarsha....without being a computer science student, this guy is so knowledgeable about software and hardware...and is one of the sweetest-natured people I know! KM and I ask him for advice on how to maintain our computers, and he has been unfailingly helpful. He is also a keen hiker, and I am thankful to him for introducing me to places like Turahalli.

He too knows of my interest in ...interesting...signboards, and here are some notices that he sent me recently. He says he too received them as forwards, so we don't know where these were taken....

If anyone has any information about their location, let me know!

We *think* we know what this one says:




I can understand the part about "a pride man is below to pig"




but that "one rope released donkey"...what's that? Chandan explained to me that the first few lines mean, "it's better to be an egg that the snake eats, than be in the mouths of people as the subject of gossip"....

This one sort of starts of being understandable...even though "environment less is effect to human life" is difficult...



but why the exhortation that's there's no hurry to be rich?

Next,



I agree that "where and there toilet usings" is the "work of animals, not human"...but why, suddenly, that talk about "loan arrangement"?





"All most all is one of the meaning less" just about sums it up!

The propriter of Hotel Shringar, wherever it is, has a lot to explain...

I am sure to face protests that I am being elitist. But I think that if someone is paying for public interest notices being put up, that person should also get something translated from the Kannada into English that is understandable! For example, "greenery is our health" (hasirE nammellara usiru) should have been translated as "greenery is the breath of life"...

The Muny

(which is how the Municipal Theatre Association of St Louis--the word "theatre" is spelt that way, not as "theater", on the home page-- is referred to)

has been a great place to go to, and I have watched three musicals there already...

( If you want to read more about my experiences at the Muny )


There's also so much music to listen to, over here. Today I wanted to go for

Mozart and Beethoven at Washington U

...but Eli/Biddles decided I was going to keep her company! ND takes precedence over all else...

To a dear friend who's taken the rough with the smooth....





Oh, I do like the way the morning light falls...it's a palpable blessing from the sun!

That's on Lindell Boulevard, which faces Forest Park.

I suddenly decided, if I could make "kOlams" for our festivals, why not one for Independence Day?

I was walking along Delmar Loop when I saw a street artist with some chalk. I didn't like his work at all, but paid him a few dollars for his trouble, and then bought two chalk crayons from him. One was yellowish-white and one was blue on one side and pinkish red on the other: I knew I had the material to create my own 4th of July kOlam:




That shadow is me, documenting my own work! Sorry, I could do only 9 stars, the other 41 will have to be imagined!


Happy Independence Day, all you Americans. And one day in advance, happy birthday to idahoswede, who is off on a boating trip having a great time!

On LJ, as on other social networking/blogging sites, "friends" need not always be *friends*, I heard someone say. But for me, that doesn't work. Friends have to be friends. Most of my LJ friends are actually people whom I have met face-to-face, whether before or after they have become my friends on LJ. And many, whom I have not met, I email or call on a personal basis!

So today I would like to talk about some friends on LJ, who are A's.

One A, whose real name does not begin with A, but whom I have come to refer to by her LJ name. She delights me, because she lives so thoroughly in the moment, and absorbs and enjoys her surroundings through all her senses...and writes so well about the experience. She has a great sense of fantasy; sketches, paints, and photographs those fantasies, too! She's a real delight, and very rarely do I find negative posts on her blog.... thank you for being my friend, asakiyume.

One A, whom I befriended because I thought he was a birder, always writes very well; he is a very good wordsmith, and is always honest about himself and his experiences, at work or elsewhere. I enjoy his short poems a lot. It's been nice to get to know him personally, and his delightful wife, who is also an A. Thank you, birdonthewire.

One A, who is really an A, started commenting on my posts, and then I found that she posts a lot of stuff that I like very much, particularly when it comes to film music! She's a person who has braved adversity, and yet has not lost her sunny outlook on life! Thank you, inspirethoughts.

One A, who is an A both on LJ and in real life, is a very interesting and complex person. He does a lot of pro bono work in the fields (pun intended) that he is interested in, and is interested in a lot of varied things, too. He's helped me so much with a lot of software stuff, and often disagrees with me about a lot of things....and the debates are fun! Thank you, anushsh.

One A, who is also an A BOLJAIRL (Both On LJ And In Real Life), is someone I met on a wildlife trip, and with whom I share my love of wildlife, and whose photographic skills I really appreciate. I have watched him go through ups and downs, and grown into a confident person...he's always sent me great music, and his sense of humour is infectious. Thank you, amoghavarsha.

Wow, let me stop right here before the list grows any longer.

You know, I started this list with one A, and kept adding to it...because each of my friends on LJ is very special in unique ways....!

I know squirrels are extremely common animals, and are sometimes regarded as pests, but they are so interesting to watch!

They watch you from the ground...




They watch you as they climb the tree quickly, to get out of your way...




They continue watching you carefully after they are in the tree (oh, I really loved photographing that beady little eye!)





But when they *think* you're not watching....they do have fun!





And..you want to know what traction is?







Here's asakiyume's post about a squirrel and his tail...

I really wish I could write fantasy the way she, or inspirethoughts, do...but I guess I am a very factual and dry person; my fantasy life is very poor indeed!

Folks..meet Karen of Crane Creek, El Portal, Yosemite National Park.




In fact, given that the population of El Portal is....wait for it...635, I was wondering, why not rename Crane Creek as Karen Creek? :)

I had met Karen when Uma , a fellow NTP member, introduced me to her when we went birding in Nandi Hills


Here's more info about them .


On Saturday May 30th, yathin decided that we would see as much of Yosemite as we could before coming back to roost for the night, so by the time I reached the Amstutz home, it was past 10.30pm! Things were not helped by our mistaking another house for that of the Amstutzes and having that homeowner (Karen says he is quite grouchy...trust us to pick the only grouchy neighbour, possibly, in El Portal!) tell us he didn't know where the Amstutzes lived (they lived some houses away!)....so I just went in and crashed, and decided to have all the interaction in the morning...but even in my tired state, the beauty of the guest room (they have enclosed a patio to make this) was stunning:





( More about the Amstutz home, and the wonderful morning I spent there )

You'll agree, that's a very beautiful home, in tune with the surroundings of El Portal! I also enjoyed myself hugely, watching Lupin riding a horse...





Eliza is so responsible, that Karen left the other two in her care and came away to spend Sunday with us; and the little neighbourhood is so known and safe, that the children could wander around for the day! Can one imagine such a quality of life in larger towns in any country?

I loved your home, and the warmth of your family, Karen...thank you for making a memorable visit to Yosemite possible!


I'm off to a guided tour of Forest Park this evening..pity it's on a day when the temperature is 36 deg C!...but I don't want to miss the opportunity!

I realize that half of humanity will not empathize with this post; but "parenthood" is NOT the same as motherhood.

Motherhood..is such an intense state of being. From the minute one becomes a mother, one realizes that one is so totally responsible for another (or several, as the case may be) living being, and its survival depends entirely on the care one gives.

The tie of the flesh is something incredible. My daughter says, "My body is telling me that the baby will wake in a few minutes and ask to be fed...." and so it is. Within minutes, the little almond eyes are open, and the mouth forms a hungry O and emits wails which mean "Feed me! Now!"

Sometimes fiction is better than reality...here's fiction by home-naturalist inspirethoughtsabout what she thought was a couple but which were, actually, a mother sparrow and its little one!

And here's a really beautiful (as always) sequence from yathin on the same subject .


Now that you've seen those fabulous photographs, here's a mother-and-child (this time, it's the COMMON GRACKLE .





"Feed me! Now!" says that open beak, and the urgent fluttering....

On a mailing list to which I belong, there has been a discussion of "top-" and "bottom-posting"...that is, when replying to an email, whether one should type one's responses over the reply, or under it.

Someone gave this example of how top-posting can be confusing:


The problem with this practice (top-posting) is neatly summed up by the following FAQ
entry:

A: No.
Q: Should I include quotations after my reply?



Someone else then pointed out that this was not a valid example:

The fallacy with that example is that no one has viewed the question
("Should I include ....?") before the answer pops up. Whereas in real
mailing list conversations, the answer is always (99% of the cases at any
rate) 'below' the question in the temporal axis. (that means, the response is posted AFTER the first mail message...that's a more precise way of saying it!)

There are many things to be said in favour of proper quoting and bottom
posting on publicly archived mailing lists, but using the above example to
"prove the point" is improper and misleading to say the least.




Hmmmm.....



I do enjoy such witty ways of making a point; no offence is given, but the point is carried, and because of the humour, probably carried better than a "you-should-do-it" stricture. And since it's generalized, it's not aimed at anyone in particular.

A: 'Sugar' is the only word in the English language where 's' is pronounced as 'sh'.

B: Are you sure?


There, is, I think, an art to correcting people and perceptions; it's easy to say "you're wrong" to someone's face and correct it...but others take the trouble of talking to/emailing the person separately, and correcting them. I find the latter practice to be so much more pleasant, and I think it's more mature.

It happened to me recently. In the sleepiness of the middle of the night, I had mixed up a lot of photographs, and posted them with wrong ids.

Several people immediately pointed out the mistake; now this in itself, to me is a Good Thing. People who don't care would have just looked at the post, said, "oh, wrong id's!" and carried on. These people who corrected me, did take the time and trouble to do so.

But asakiyume....she sent me a separate email, rather troubled, with a suggestion (!) that my id's might not be correct. It did not make me feel bad about having made a mistake, and allowed me to correct the lapses, too. And yet...it left room for the possibility that I might be right, after all...that was what I found most mature about it!

Having said that, though, I would agree with the view that the example (given above) is a fallacy....the point being made may not necessarily be the "right" one! I would, for one, be carried away by the wittiness of the argument, and only later realize that it's not something I agree with...by which time it would be irrelevant to go back again to the discussion!

Conversation, and rebuttals in conversation, are fascinating. It's so interesting to see the thrust-and-parry of two people who have their points well-thought-out, and who can express those points wittily...and quickly.