The joy of eating

How many of you really eat? Like chew, savor and then swallow? And then, how many of you just swallow? I belong to the latter category unfortunately... Often I find myself short of time and with about 10 minutes to have lunch and so I gulp it down... of course that means that a lot of times, I eat the incorrect quantity of food. Today for a change, I had some time on my hands. And I decided that I would NOT gulp my lunch and wash it down with water, rather I would eat slowly. Sort of like Remy, the rat in Ratatouille, savoring the flavours and chewing each mouthful and relishing the combination of spices in my food. And it was utterly unique and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This was how foodies functioned, perhaps. It lasted 30 minutes, more or less, my lunch break. And it was definitely worth my while. It's one of those things that it's worth waiting and relishing (not when it's the boring canteen food with minimal veggie choices, but otherwise). And I've decided to set aside some exclusive time for lunch though it's at my desk. You needn't live to eat.. but you sure can spare time to eat, right? That's the healthy way.

Softbox

Due to popular demand (well one comment and a couple of GTalk messages) I've decided to share the Softbox secrets, in my possession thanks to S and the internet of course. So, what's a Softbox? It's a simple contraption that basically helps soften the harsh naked light from a bulb. And so what that does is to cast a soft, even glow over the subject and when you play around with it, you can get many interesting configurations of shadows and light (look at some of my thumbnails below if you need examples). It's sort of like a lampshade, just much thinner to allow almost all of the light pass through, except softened.

So, what you need is probably just a bunch of things lying around. Let's make a list anyways (I like to list things... even if there are just 2 things on it... In this case however, it may as well be justified).

Stuff -
1. Cardboard boxes (shoe cartons, courier boxes, anything that is neither too big nor too small)
2. White trace paper
3. Halogen bulbs (say, 500W for the max impact; if you can't find one, go with whatever you get)
4. Extras - tape, lampstands (from table lamps or the likes), scissors and pen-knife.

How -
Fairly simple and self-explanatory!
1. Cut a hole on the back of the box to allow the insertion of your bulb through it. If you are using a 500W bulb, be careful about burning youself unknowingly.
2. Cut away the side/front flaps of the opening of the box so that you can cleanly tape the trace paper over the opening.

That's it! You're pretty much done. That's only the first step though. Positioning the light and then playing with the ISO, WB and other settings of your camera as you light different portions of the subject are the next steps. And it helps if you have atleast two softboxes for even lighting, if you desire. Look at the post below for our setup.

Model in me

Anyone who knows me knows that this post can't do with me modeling anything. But surprise surprise.. it is! Ever since S got very involved with the whole lighting nuances in photography and created everything from a lightbox to a softbox, he's played photographer and obviously, I get to be the model. Here's our current softbox setup (all of this is made from shoeboxes and the likes... the overall investment is under 10€ - have any questions, drop me a line).

And here's a bunch of the results - some are truly scary I accept.. but that's what you get when you attempt ghost lighting amongst other things. Lol. So that was our weekend. Go on, try your own softbox. Enjoy.

A li'l bit of shopping

Ever since I went to the US, I got used to online shopping, particularly for electronics that came as deals on popular websites like deals2buy, edealinfo, etc. In fact many of the people out there would've bought at least one of their many gadgets on one of those sites. I know I did. I bought a whole bunch of stuff. You know the saying, Give an Indian a deal and he can't refuse it. It's pretty much held true. I've bought stuff I didn't really need simply because they were on a good deal and I didn't want to pass it up. And slowly the online shopping transcended just the gadgets. It went on to stuff for the house, like some pasta pans or photo calendars. Books of course were always on that list, courtesy Amazon. But soon the equation threw in clothes and all, especially if you were pretty darned sure about the size. And so it went. In fact, my roommate in Iowa would order groceries online too and for a few extra bucks, it was all delivered "garden-fresh" to your doorstep with no effort lost. Personally I think web shopping is just convenient. You can leisurely look at everything, read reviews then n there, and make a thoroughly informed decision. And most of the time you are spot-on. Sometimes, you need to return stuff and usually that's pretty hassle-free too. Why am I talking about this? I miss it!! No, not that France has a dearth of stores that will send you your stuff home.. they are all too darned expensive anyways. The US had deals, which could be seen online and it made sense to have them shipped for a very low fee or usually even for free. Here, the charge you a shipping, a VAT and anyways everything is just as expensive as the store that there is absolutely no motivation to web-shop. I recently discovered that Overstock was shipping stuff to France. I was delighted for exactly the thirteen minutes that it took me to select a beautiful Anne Klein Peabody coat, a steal for 21€. The shipping would be under 10 bucks, I naively assumed. And off I went to Checkout To discover that the shipping was 33€, the VAT was 15€ and the total was 69.90€. I was semi-heart-broken. Who pays more than twice the amount of the actual item for shipping and handling? Not me. Anne Klein is going to have to wait.

Read my mind

I figure everyone thinks in a different language, a language that may not be your thai-mozhi (mother tongue). I know I do. I think in English... Even when I pray to God or am mentally hoping for something, it's all in English. I think I saw it in Dasavatharam, where one of Kamal Hassan's dialogues says that he thinks in English. I totally identify with that. But that does not affect the delivery or the continuum of my speech or writing in any of the other languages that I am fluent in... But it does play a big role in French. Maybe part of the reason is that the sentence formations in the two languages are very similar. And do I find that I form a sentence completely in English and translate it word for word to French. And I realized that just today when I had a conversation in excess of 5 exchanges each with a colleague. I think for like a second before responding to the question. And in that second, there is a substitution process going on in my head. I don't know if I'll ever fluently think in French. It's unlikely. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am learning a new language after eons and I never really paid any attention to techniques when learning the other languages as a kid. And now I know that's why some other people's English sounds funny. They are translating it from their own languages... I bet that's what my French is to them as well. Funny. So what language do you think in?

Spare the hair

I was just talking to SS about this one. For as long as I can remember, I have never been encouraged to cut my hair by my family. Not when I suffered with lice when I was very young, or with hair fall from the water change from Kuwait to Madras... not when my hair suddenly became curly in XII grade and in return became as unmanageable as a dense forest (I swear I had insanely straight hair till then.. something that was plait-able and we used to tie it in half with a ribbon, typical of the south Indian innocent school girls). I guess I stopped caring about their opinions once I got to college. Even then, it only extended as far as getting a trim. I suppose it is part and parcel of the TamBrahm expectations that the girl keep growing her hair infinitely. Not that it follows the plans you have for it. My own hair stops at a threshold level for a very long time, awaiting a cut or something else. This is somewhere mid-back for me I think. For almost 2-3 months, there is absolutely no appreciable growth in my hair. But once it gets past it, there's no stopping it. Not just does it lose all its conformality and has the mid section growing away leaving the sides limping behind, but it also loses its tendency to curl a lot. In other words: Time for a haircut. I chop it down to just past my shoulder and the cycle repeats itself. Only since I went to the US, I have stopped mentioning my haircuts to the folks back home. It is invariably followed my a lament... Yen di cut panne? Adhu batuku valandhundu irundhudhu (Why did you cut it? It wasn't like it was a bother). Wasn't? Er... excuse me.. what about the weekly (sometimes, twice-weekly) routine of oiling, shampooing and conditioning my hair? And then to comb the knots out of it... it's insane. No sooner am I done with one section of my hair, the very same section develops more miraculous knots. Not just that... with hair like mine, the best days for it are close to hair-bath day when it's a bit flat. Or else, I am like Medusa, with springs of hair in every direction, rather than snakes... I don't know what's with the TamBrahm girls-should-grow-their-hair obsession in any case. It's a bit absurd. But no one reacts to it normally. There's a dramatic hush and lowered tones and there's a plea not to tell the dads. Previously it was like, kalyanathuku epdi jadai veppom? (How would we attach the false hair thing for your wedding?) Now after, it's more like - onoda aathukararke onnum illaina naanga enna solla (If your husband doesn't mind, neither do we). Girls, the solution is right in front of you - find a modern man. :D

Virtual reality

This post is dedicated to my secure friends network.

Know how you can be completely in touch with people in this day and age of technological advancement? "The world has shrunk", says the now-popular adage. Do you know of this other feeling then? Of chatting with someone almost every single day... or catching up on gossip on telephone.. but still merely wishing wistfully that they lived a few blocks away so you could just drop in for chai and live gossip? I do. And I envy my husband for this. Not that his friend's circle is intact. But there sure is a bunch around on whom he can drop in on at any given point of time (touch wood for that). I don't have that here. And sure there are busy days when it never strikes me. But there are also lazy Sundays when I could just give all I could for someone to actually develop teleporting. Ah that would be bliss! I have a tonne of friends elsewhere though... which is perhaps the reason that one can almost permanently see me signed on to GTalk. That's just 'coz that's what I am left with right now.. to keep in touch with everyone through these virtual means. And not being a TV person or someone who can browse endlessly on the laptop leaves me with the one other option - books (when you don't want to go skipping out due to inclement weather). But fading light has a way of making book reading unappealing to me (yeah, all vague n weird reasons). Besides I have always enjoyed books most when I am uninterrupted, i.e, I don't have to cook-clean-laundry or any of the Sunday-wifely chores that one tends to have i.e, when I was back home in India and could become the 'virtual deaf person' who had no eyes or ears for anything other than the page turning. And after all these experiences, I am now sure that Virtual Reality is a misnomer. Nothing virtual can be real. It's never the same. It's a great substitute though. Which is why some of my online conversations are the most treasured (and yes, it's easier saying something to someone across the computer rather than face to face, especially something sensitive). :D. So I guess the message in this post is two-part, one, a thank you to my husband's friends (and the husband himself, of course), who have whole-heartedly adopted me into their scheme of things and two, to all my terrible close friends out there, that no matter what, you guys can't be replaced. And those of you who have your gang around, appreciate that and cherish the times together!