My thought process when I buy a wallet: "Would Wonder Woman be able to save the day with this held in her hand?" The answer is generally no, but in my head there are buzzers going off screaming a big yes.

I really, really do not like wallet/purse/clutch shopping. None of them appeal to me. Brands don't do it for me, most of them have some kind of chunky metal flower or poop-shaped thing involved, and those – I don’t get. Did I miss out on some feminine training growing up or something? I don't know, I guess I'm just a practical girl. I'm drawn to simple and functional stuff and nothing too loud.

If you think about it, a woman's purse/wallet reveals the kind of person she is. Right? Next time you're out, look around. It's kind of interesting. Anyway, since my wallet before plainly fell apart, I've received a weird looking thing my mother insists me on carrying now.
Then we argued over which one of us got to keep it. She reminded me that she was too old to carry off pink. I don't know if she even thought of me while buying it. I suspect not. And then she frowned all day upon my lack of style.

In today’s casual news, I got a haircut. Just a short crop. You know what I mean. The type of haircut that will look charmingly devilish with sunglasses and the appropriate amount of uninterrupted attitude to match. I needed something new, radical and feisty for the summer.


Sometimes I forget how totally kick ass the eighties were. Let’s face it, I was only eight years old when the nineties body slammed the eighties into the past, but there were some good times to be had as a youngster in the eighties, like Genesis and Phil Collins. And listening to his music now brings all the yummy goodness right back to the front. Listen to this track (one of my favourite Phil Collin tracks growing up) ‘In the Air Tonight’ and you’ll be pleasantly thrilled with the drum-heavy explosive bursts, thundering chorus and a general sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia never sounded so good.

Trust me, this track is a good enough song that you should impulsively listen to it from the player below and enjoy it over this holiday weekend. Cheers.

At home, is where I am these days, since I’ve taken a week off work. I live in my worn-out PJ’s, carrying my camera with me from room to room. I sleep on a bed of books and scraps of paper with titles of albums and tracks written on them.
My work table is a moving train that I sit on during the day as I travel through space towards people and music.
The seat I’m on is my whole world.

I have layers of thoughts and spanking new ideas. I have skin so thin that you can melt away with a small number of preferred words. My heart beats out music through my blood vessels and I imagine it will one day mix with photography in a beautiful canvas in my favorite colors…

I think of not complicating my life but I fail in heartbeat.

So starts iced tea season. Once again, we have made the impressive leap from a really hot summer last year directly into hottest summer this year with almost no cold of which to speak. Nothing says "You're in for six months of misery, buddy!" quite like B’lore City in 35-degree heat and rising. Good times, indeed.
I’ve never listened to Stereophonics before. I don’t know why but I guess the band’s name just didn’t do it for me. This will teach me to never assume things before I’ve pressed play. The other day, I followed a friend’s recommendation and I haven’t been able to dump this track from my brain since.

I love the jazz ambience in ‘Maybe Tomorrow’. It sets the perfect subdued mood and lets the music float you along like it was meant to.

By for now - see you soon!

*waving*

The first time I saw my dad’s old point-and-shoot camera and articulated my interest in taking pictures. It sounded something like mammydaaaaadymammydaaaaady can I take pictures puh-leeeeeeeeazzzzzz? And after much hesitation and some detailed training, my father finally handed it to me. But I ignored all instruction, scurried around the house taking shots of everything no matter how unexciting. The kitchen sink, my G.I. Joe line of action figures (my cousin and I would set up some pretty epic GI Joe battles in our living room), my room, my fingers which regularly got in the way of the camera itself, of course not to forget, naked people in the bath tub.

As far back as I can remember my interest in photography was spurred on by my dad. When I was a kid my dad was always with the camera enduringly attached to his face. That, of course, got me thinking about what else I got from him and what’s entirely my own.

Characteristics I got from my dad.

- Interest. Before the internet my dad always bought Encyclopedias and just many books relating to general knowledge. He had no idea what he’d ever do with that knowledge but he always figured it might come in handy sometimes.

- Ingenuity. He loves to write, sing, take photos and read. Without these things, I'm quite sure he’d fade away.

- Intellect. He might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’d like to think he’s quite smart.

- Impetus. I always refer to myself as an idler - but I'm a pretty driven person. Sometimes to a blunder.

- Silliness. 'Nuff said.

Characteristics, all my own

- Being a Perfectionist. With that whole impetus thing comes the element that I'm more than a little hard on myself. I seek flawlessness and strike myself out when I’m not able to be flawless.

- Mood. I've not been exactly hush-hush when I've gone through moments of melancholy and apprehension.

- Attentiveness. I like to multitask. But in reality I don't multitask very well. Because my concentration sucks.

- Patience. I'm an instant gratification kinda girl. Fortitude aint my strong suit.

- Irrational. No surprise but I'm a little coo- coo about things.

I will freely admit that when this track was given to me by a friend I clearly grunted “oh no, not another sad and depressing tune by Snow Patrol.” Thankfully I was wrong in presuming that this band was going to produce another similar sounding song. They’ve found a way to incorporate the extravagant with the forlorn and yet make this track something to sing along to. Featuring Martha Wainwright this one is brilliant.

"Set The Fire To The Third Bar" is worth a listen (and if you choose to play this track you simply must listen to it till the very end).

Wish I Was A Morning Person

I am a bitch in the mornings and I hardly ever wake up on the right side of the bed. So it takes me quite a long time to get up and get cheerful, as sleeping is one of my much loved activities and I dislike not being able to partake in it or having it interrupted. My folks and my colleagues have to constantly put up with my disgraceful morning mood several times a week. The fact that they are still around after being exposed to my behavior is evidence of their endurance. Or madness. Either one.

Mornings at the office are cruel, but I manage to survive to blog once again. Yes, I may be Miss. Grumpy Pants for this thing called "Morning" that ceaselessly happens every eff’in day and I start to wish I had the gift to set fire to fellow commuters and office staff with just a stare until I've had breakfast and a cup of tea. Then, and only then, am I the fun girl that charms the entire world over.

My Valentine's Day - I have to admit, I don't totally buy into the whole holiday thing. But it's a nice idea and I certainly have had a lot of Valentine's Day loving over the years to be thankful for. This year while I wasn’t dating anyone, I got to air-kiss my favourite valentine – cute co-worker. And it’s back to work so, you know - poof! - good, nauseatingly loving moment ended.

To begin the music section of this post, you know I'm a big music fan. You know that I'd give my left boob to be on a big-ass stage just once and contribute to the hearing loss of thousands.

Artist: Damien Rice

Album: ‘O’ and ‘9’

It’s rare that I find an album which impresses me right off the bat. Even rarer is the album I'll listen to multiple times immediately after I get. But this is one of 'em. Damien Rice combines indie rock, folk and rock elements into subdued yet powerful albums called ‘O’ and ‘9’, released in 2002 and 2006 respectively. And the strengths lie not only in his music but his lyrics. His songs are thoughtful, well-written and spin around things with which we can all identify. If nothing else, this album is proof that not everyone feels the need to be a pop star or a nu-metal growler. Rice puts songwriting and instrumentation foreground and with Lisa Hannigan as accompanying vocalist the outcome is truly inspiring.

Highlights: Volcano

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day...

....And if you’re on my Facebook list you’ll know that I am trying to think of all possible ways to complain but all I can come up with is to dip candy hearts in turpentine and gall and go around handing them to star-struck lovers. Then I picture the face my cute co-worker would make after swallowing my affectionately offered candy. I don't think my heart could handle it.

In the meantime, in the last 6 months I have gone from dating several hot men to dating no men at all. I'm not quite sure how this happened but I charge them responsible. A guy who liked me from work (who is funny and smart but horribly anti-social and rude), wanted me to only date him. Since I had been seeing him for exactly a couple of weeks, this made perfect sense to me. So I told young-singer guy, who is cute but not exactly the smartest guy on the planet, that I thought we were not meant to be going out. Then things between the work dude went awry and when I suggested to young-singer guy that maybe I'd been wrong (telling myself that hot and talented, while not as good as smart and funny, is better than nothing at all) he said no, that he'd had enough of trying to get my attention, and I should date somebody I really liked instead.

I suppose I should reflect on this as a lesson in the fact that two birds in hand are better than none in the bush, but, frankly, I could have figured that one out all on my own.

This track goes out to my audience and to my cute co-worker who I’ve been crushing on lately. Since Frou Frou has been such a hit on my blog, I’m going to play another track by them called ‘Must Be Dreaming’.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Tranquility, Adoration and Contentment

It is vital to keep in mind that with better clearness of vision comes better understanding.

So to the techies who insist on getting into the elevator, despite it being really overcrowded, I clearly understand that if you insist on getting into an already crowded one tomorrow your ass will only cause you to be injured by my foot as I stick it out to kick you. And then I will feel great.

Om.

The bond between my brain and my fingers has been a little slow lately (mmm, work) so I've been sloppy on the blogging. Hoping to make it back to the office tomorrow for the last day of work this week (on a dose of pain killers). Regular blogging to resume soon.

Who better than Frou Frou's (Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth) 'Let go' to ease you into your week. This song falls under the “it’s been stuck in my head for more than a day so I thought I should post it and pass the obsession along” variety. Oh and I assure you that you’ll be silently dancing to it well into the next month. Enjoy.

I’ve been waiting for a special day when I needed a shop kick to complete my photography project - and I’m feeling so happy right now about having done it. So this week the time came when I put 6 x 8 prints of my favourite shots into my bag and went to M.G Road after work. I should’ve taken some photos in there I guess, so you could all see it, since I personally would looove photos if any of you visit Gangarams or any Art stores… *hint hint*

This is what I got:

A glue stick, some adorable looking bookmarks (always good to have more of them), small coloured sized cards, a tiny stapler, and CD’s and covers. A nice album for prints (60 leaves) and some smiley magnets…

Yes and a cute ‘Art of Dating’ book (hehe).

It is unlike me to go crazy over stationery… But sometimes unexpected things happen and you see things differently than before.


The project that I’m currently working on will contain some of my best pictures taken from last year with my Kodak cam. I will tell you more about it later, I promise. I’m mainly doing it for my self, because I would like to save what I did last year in one document, but you will be able to get a look at it. I just didn’t know how much work it would be when I started this! But it is fun, and it gives me lots of ideas for future projects that I want to do.
And as for the sleepless nights. It is not only small photography projects, but bigger ones as well that are swirling in my mind right now.

...taking a momentary diversion from discussing photography to focus on something really important. Beer.

A couple years back - after being a strict vodka drinker for no apparent reason - I decided I'd to start drinking beer again. Not like binge drinking. No, I'm not in college again with my girls throwing a PJ party and make-up night. It’s just having about a beer or two whenever I can. I think I have a better appreciation for it now more than ever. And because it’s more likely to be cheaper.

Beer is good. It tastes yummy, particularly on a nice warm day. And while beer is perhaps, without help, to blame for some crazy nights, the special accidents and impulsive moments around the world, it is one of the oldest foods. I was going to say bread, but then I remembered that there are assumptions that bread was a byproduct of beer production, so beer wins.
Below is a track titled ‘Raggamuffin’ by a lesser-known artist who goes by the name Selah Sue. What really struck me is the impressive way she sings them and after listening to this track you’ll know it too. It always amazes me what talent and originality lies covered amongst the rubble strewn about Myspace and Youtube alike. Selah Sue is a talented young musician who deserves a listen and one thing is certain, there is great potential here.

Oh my peter!* I'm feeling pretty banged up this morning. I'll blame the late nights and interrupted sleep. I do apologize for the lack of posts during this past week. I really must apologize. But I’m back. As always I thank everyone who stops by on a regular basis and those who de-lurked to leave a comment last week.

This past weekend, on a delightful Saturday night, Pete and I went to E-Zone, a club in Marathalli, to catch a bit of music. Fortunately for me my friend is an avid listener of everything great and he had stumbled upon this band named ‘Something Relevant’ from Mumbai.
On this night the cover was 150 rupees, the beers were 200, and the music was more than worth the long ride back and forth on the frozen evening. Fortunately their performance was quite honestly brilliant. It’s the type of brilliant that lets you know that these boys, will, in fact be on the top ten lists of Indian bands at the end of the year. It’s the type of brilliant that blacks out all other bands for a solid amount of time while you attempt to sate your addiction on whatever songs you can get your hands on. ‘Something Relevant’, lived up to their billing as they played through a set of funk infused jazz with a cover of Smooth Criminal, and quite possibly the best live version of anything I have ever heard since Soulmate. And the fact that they managed to cram all of this fun onto a tiny little stage in one corner of this ground just added to the night.
This band was quite dazzling in a live setting, easily surpassing studio recordings. Might I add that the saxophonist, the trombone player and the vocalist are quite possibly the best I’ve ever heard. If I’m a sucker for anything it’s a good saxophonist, especially one that looks similar to Eric Marienthal. You got me good ‘Something Relevant’ (wonderful band name by the way), you got me good. Get the album ‘Feels Good to Be Live’, thank me later.

The playful nature of the vocalist, Aazin Printer, also presents itself very well in a live setting and I strongly encourage anyone with a chance to catch them live to get out and see a set. It’ll be a fun evening.

* an expression Elvis frequently used to express surprise.