Alicia Bock

while procrastinating from essay writing (as usual) I stumbled across the gorgeous photography of Alicia Bock, via the great blog sfgirlbybay that I mentioned here earlier in the week.
Alicia’s photos are so captivating, yet so serene and restful and when I look at them I feel like I am peeping through glass into another magical world where it’s perpetually a beautiful summers day.

They also remind me of the beach that I grew up on in New Zealand, which is strange since Alicia is in Michigan, in the States.

Here are my favourites so far, all available at her online store :

mumbai tonight

…is breezy and hot. A crow is outside my window is caw cawwing it’s lungs out and if i knew for sure it was the one that woke me up at 6am and 6.15am this morning I would have no hesitation in throwing something at it.

I am surrounded by a pile of papers.. trying to study and start a business from the 2 ft square desk area where you also keep all bills, receipts, old journals, fabric samples and orange peels is not so good an idea.. The tangled mess of wires from the new high speed internet is forgiven for the 10% of desk area it also takes up, but I’m sure the novelty will wear off soon.

Mumbai tonight is noisy (when isn’t it?), and horns are honking furiously on the street below, protesting indignantly at that taxi pulling in front of them, or the light which is just about to turn green.

The sea breeze is strong and is rattling windows and blowing the curtains around. My fan is making slow circles above my head and some excel sheets are trying to make a break for it from underneath the cordless phone.

The Word document ‘assignment one’ (due on Friday) keeps intruding on my pleasant internet surfing, as does the pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the room.

Mumbai tonight is just another Tuesday in March.. the promise of a long weekend ahead, the knowledge of 2 more days (of assignment writing) to go…

we are with you Tibet

a cruise around the world wide web

have been reading a few new blogs lately..

sfgirlbybay has some lovely interviews - her latest with Annie Galvin is a lovely peek into the everyday life of this super creative woman - and her photos are always beautifully colourful and atmospheric.

and speaking of great photos Jen of Nectar and Light is another favourite read of mine, she has the most amazing ability to capture light in this soft, magical, dreamy way.

I want the little bunny necklace from Twigs and Heather. ain’t it the cutest? I love the other pieces on the site too - using twigs and bark as a cast is so creative and looks great in chunky silver.

The T-shirt above comes from the site H for Home, which is one super choice site - put together by “three kiwis, living overseas, traveling as much as possible and ignoring our student loans… “
. i love that one above.. (hmm I have a birthday coming up.. anyone?)

I would quite literally kill to be able to get flower bouquets like the one from another lovely blogger -housemartin. Are they not the most beautiful bouquets you have ever seen?! they beat all the lifeless rose + fern combinations which are pretty much all that is available here.

well thats all.. i must go and eat an iceblock, I am recovering from 3 fillings at the dentist today.. i drooled when i went to the pharmacy afterwards so have hibernated at home since, waiting for the anaesthesia to wear off…

connected

today a GREAT man came to visit.. a representative of MTNL, the goverment telecom company, and he had in his hand a special special box containing my super fast triband modem!

I am connected, online, high speed on the great world wide web..and can save the inefficient Reliance data-card (which despite what anyone says is slow and irritating, especially when you are a podcast downloading freak) for travelling.

yipeee 

craftilicious

some more images from the craft fair at Bhubaneswar..

Bhubaneshwar

I have been trying to get this post and photos up for a while now but my frustratingly slow internet connection at home is driving me mental at the moment and it seems i have to rely on hotel wi fi connections to get any kind of decent speed.

so now i find myself in an echo-y (how do you spell that?) beige hotel room in south delhi, going crazy on high speed internet - i can finally catch up my favourite podcasts (I heart Russell Brand), and really find out whats happening in the celebrity world, Oscar fashions and all.. PHEW..

SO anyway.. Bhubaneswar, a wee town (only 2 million people or something.. tiny!) on the east of India in the state of  Orissa, was my destination for a quick trip last week. i wanted to meet a fair trade group there and also check out the local crafts. while trying to find a good hotel amongst the tired old business hotels or inflated tourist chains that were there, I found the great new budget self-service franchise by Tata, called ‘Ginger’. How’s this for a clean modern set up for a hotel in small town India:

 

all for the grand total of Rs.1500 and that bed is freaking comfortable. Oh AND there was a cafe attached to the lobby which means real coffee for breakfast.. wahoo!

But besides all the crafty investigations, the highlight of the trip was a weird circus performance that i was treated to at an All India handicraft exhibition.. I’d spent the past 2 hours being keenly stared at by everyone around me and the finally found someone i could stare at and be part of the audience.

The whole thing started out with these two sweeties, the younger girl must’ve been around 4 or 5, the older about 9 or 10 I think…

 

and then mum and big sis came out to perform on a very dodgy and very wobbly bamboo contraption…

the audience watched, fascinated:

and the musicians played faster and faster:

and for her last trick..

spinning on a small metal pin that sticks out the top of the bamboo pole. while in the lotus position.. and she was spinning fast..

pretty impressive..

india travel ideas

I have been getting itchy feet in the last week or two, and have been surfing around the net trying to decide where I would like to go for my next indian holiday.. On the south east coast of India I have only been to Chennai, and that for only a day or two, so i am eager to explore more. Pondicherry is my new fixation.. as is this hotel, part of the Neemrana chain -

Hotel L’Orient

Or then there is the wilderness of Uttarakhand (previously called Uttaranchal), located kind of north east of Nepal - with Himalayan mountain views, the sources of holy rivers the Ganges and the Yamuna, forests and national parks, including the Jim Corbett National Park and Tiger Reserve, access to white water rafting and trekking trips, and the stunning Valley of Flowers:

 Which sounds like a fairytale name and looks just amazing.. something like 500 species of flowers can be found in this valley which is surrounded by snow capped Himalayn mountains and the whole area has been a protected site since the 1930s.It is only open between June to October as the rest of the year it is covered with snow. There is a lovely travel blog post here about the Valley.

Then there is the east of India and the lure of the historical hill station of Darjeeling and the tea plantations in Assam..

(view of Darjeeling, from questhimalaya.com)

or a cool hill station in the south, like Kodaikanal or Ooty.. or a deserted beach in Goa, or a palace in Rajasthan, or the Tibetan plains in Ladakh.. how do you decide where to go when you have such spectacular choices!?!

sourcing supplies

i have been spending the last few weeks trying to identify products and sources for my online store - Rose and Sunder. I had planned to work with fair trade organisations only, but then wondered if I’d get what I was looking for - plus there are only so many fair trade groups in India, so how will i get something different?

today i came across a blog post that firmly made up my mind - it’s fair trade or nothing.

 this post on child labour in Delhi is heartbreaking.
Spend a couple of minutes and find out where some of the lovely jewelry and crafts that you may have bought in India , or even in your own country, may have been made.

a morning jog

this morning we went for a jog along marine drive. we arrived before sunrise, when the sky was just beginning to lighten and the air still had a chill to it. as we ran the sky turned from a hazy grey to pink to blue and the back of the air india building was awash with colour. i only made it halfway before having to walk and K carried on ahead to chowpatty. the air is still fresh and cool and slightly bracing in the mornings, through our ‘winter’ is surely over now. everyone enjoyed the 3 weeks of wearing sweaters and socks in the evenings - i wore shoes and socks everyday for the first time ever in Mumbai, and quite enjoyed it. the smog is still there, the layer of dirt that hangs over mumbai and from marine drive looks like it envelopes malabar hill. the new apartment building at the end is only thing tall enough to peep through the top of the haze and the windows of its upper storeys sparkle and glitter as the sun rises.

the laughing club were there as always, warming with deep ho ho ho’s and ha ha ha’s; old men in white dhoties and starched white shirts were gathered to talk politics and grandchildren; a woman in a bright red chiffon sari, clanging gold bangles, kohl and lipstick strode past, her look only ruined by shiny white running shoes; the chaiwalla carried his steaming jug of hot tea and called out for customers ‘chai garam cha-iiii, chai garam cha-iiiii’; the street dogs stayed curled under the trees, enjoying their warm spots and ignoring the hunger in their bellies while the crows angrily searched the gutters for breakfast.

I walked back to the car and at the Hilton hotel flight attendants were boarding a bus while the Gucci store was getting it’s morning window wash. A treadmill jogger was framed in a 3rd floor window, watching the comings and going below him  and enjoying the airconditioning of the hotel gym.

And now the sun was up, the air warming quickly. K arrived back, sweaty and panting and it was time to head home and get ready for the day ahead.

grand old dames of Mumbai

I went for a wander today and took a few snaps of the grand but crumbling old buildings in our area. Mumbai is packed with these buildings - imposing and majestic old dames who are slowly losing the fight against monsoon rains, determined banyan tree roots and gravity. There are some lovely details in these buildings, and as I’m not architecture student I won’t try to wax lyrical about them, just to say that I find them very intrigueing and grand and they are one of the reasons I love Mumbai.

mumbai on a sunday

i have spent most of this weekend glued to my computer … now i have left the job the feeling of panic at the pit of my stomach seems to be growing quite rapidly.. I am reading and writing and cramming and learning about marketing strategies and cash flow projections, while surfing for commercial photographers in Mumbai  and trying to decide which webhost and ecommerce solution woul be best for me, while (of course) keeping up a game of scrabble in facebook.. I think my computer thinks I’m mental as I always have about 15 different windows open at the same time. this chaos cannot continue though and I have sent up some task lists for this week to bring some order into my life, and to make sure I get off the computer and get doing stuff.

I did manage to get out of the house for an hour to stretch my legs. i wandered south from our place, to the Afghan Church close to Navy Nagar in Colaba and had a peep inside. unfortunatly i arrived the same time as a couple of busloads of tourists so I missed out on getting that quiet calm that i enjoy in churches.

 

 according to my good friend Wikipedia, the Afghan Church was consecrated in 1858 and was built to commemorate the First Afghan War of 1838, in which and estimated 12,000 British and Indian troops were killed fighting Afghani soldiers.

photos from Sualeh Fatehi’s flickr set

Then I wandered up to Colaba post office area, and checked out the Art Quest Gallery - they have some really great pieces that I hope to get into stock for Rose & Sunder - I liked their ‘Kitchen Art’ the best, everyday items painted in bright colours.. they would look nice on a sideboard-

and this is a pretty vibrant ‘bed table’:

this is my favourite-

 

how cool is that? (literally.. it’s an ice box..)

(pics via artquestindia.com)

spent another hour doing my favourite thing ever - wandering the streets, exploring bylanes and window shopping and meandering until i eventually made my way home. tomorrow I plan to go out again and do some building photography, there is some seriously amazing old buildings around our area and some of the features I would love to catch on film and share with you all. tomorrow.. my first day as a self employed woman!

first date

one of the very first dates that K and i ever went on was a sunrise motorbike trip, to take photos around South Mumbai. It was very romantic, depsite the fact that we met up at 6.30am, and we covered most of south mumbai, giggling at traffic lights and exploring small by-lanes together. during a clear-out of my work computer today i came a cross a few of my favourite photos from that morning:

 

work poop

this is an oldie but a goodie.. and really, there’s nothing better than a good ol’ joke about poop to make you giggle right?

The Work Poop

As much as we try to convince ourselves otherwise, the WORK POOP is inevitable. For those who hate pooping at work, the following is the survival guide for taking a Poop Dump at the office.

CROP DUSTING: When farting, you walk really fast around the office so the smell is not in your area and everyone else gets a whiff but doesn’t know where it came from. Be careful when you do this. Do not stop until the full fart has been expelled. Walk an extra 30 feet to make sure the smell has left your pants.

FLY BY: The act of scouting out a bathroom before pooping. Walk in and check for other poopers. If there are others in the bathroom, leave and come back again. Be careful not to become a FREQUENT FLYER. People may become suspicious if they catch you constantly going into the bathroom.

ESCAPEE: A fart that slips out while taking a leak at the urinal or forcing a poop in a stall. This is usually accompanied by a sudden wave of embarrassment. If you you release an escapee, do not acknowledge it. Pretend it did not happen. If you are standing next to the farter in the urinal, pretend you did not hear it. No one likes an escapee. It is uncomfortable for all involved. Making a joke or laughing makes both parties feel uneasy.

JAILBREAK: When forcing a poop, several farts slip out at machine gun pace. This is usually a side effect of diarrhea or a hangover. If this should happen, do not panic. Remain in the stall until everyone has left the bathroom. This can help you avoid being caught doing the WALK OF SHAME.

COURTESY FLUSH: The act of flushing the toilet the instant the poop hits the water. This reduces the amount of air time the poop has to stink up the bathroom. This can help you avoid being caught doing the WALK OF SHAME.

WALK OF SHAME: Walking from the stall, to the sink, to the door after you have just stunk up the bathroom. This can be a very uncomfortable moment if someone walks in and busts you. As with farts, it is best to pretend that the smell does not exist. This can be minimized with the use of the COURTESY FLUSH.

OUT OF THE CLOSET POOPER: A colleague who poops at work and is damn proud of it. You will often see an Out Of The Closet Pooper enter the bathroom with a newspaper or magazine under their arm. Always look around the office for the Out Of The Closet Pooper before entering the bathroom.

SAFE HAVENS: A seldom used bathroom somewhere in the building where you can least expect visitors. Try floors that are predominantly of the opposite sex. This will reduce the odds of the same-sex pooper entering your bathroom.

TURD BURGLAR: Someone who does not realize that you are in the stall and tries to force the door open. This is one of the most shocking and vulnerable moments that can occur when taking a poop at work. If this occurs, remain in the stall until the Turd Burglar leaves. This way you will avoid all uncomfortable eye contact.

CAMO-COUGH: A phony cough that alerts all new entrants into the bathroom that you are in a stall. This can be used to cover-up a WATERMELON, or to alert potential Turd Burglars. Very effective when used in conjunction with an ASTAIRE.

ASTAIRE: A subtle toe-tap that is used to alert potential Turd Burglars that you are occupying a stall. This will remove all doubt that the stall is occupied. If you hear an Astaire, leave the bathroom immediately so the pooper can poop in peace.

WATERMELON: A poop that creates a loud splash when hitting the toilet water. This is also an embarrassing incident. If you feel a Watermelon coming on, create a diversion or if you have time, quickly placing a piece of toilet paper under the bomb can be effective. Also see CAMO-COUGH.

HAVANA OMELET: A case of diarrhea that creates a series of loud splashes in the toilet water. Often accompanied by an Escapee. Try using a Camo-Cough with an Astaire.

UNCLE TED: A bathroom user who seems to linger around forever. Could spend extended lengths of time in front of the mirror or sitting on the pot. An Uncle Ted makes it difficult to relax while on the crapper, as you should always wait to poop when the bathroom is empty. This benefits you as well as the other bathroom attendees.