10 Awesome Artworks - Cookie Monsters

THE COOKIE MONSTER-- HE IS DAMN SERIOUS ABOUT HIS COOKIES ;)

Cookie Monster-Knitted

Cookie Monster-Wall Painting

Cookie Monster-Crayon Artwork

Cookie Monster-Real Cookie

Cookie Monster-LA Wall Artwork

You know what I did this summer?? >-)

Alright, so here's a guy blogging (or as most of you would say...contesting) for this contest where 2 women bloggers win all-expense paid trips to an exotic beach location in India. I just hope that they bend the rules in favour of one male and a one female blogger 

As you all know, Kyra is the brand mascot for Lakme’s new product for the summer. She's is fun loving, enjoys her music and loves travelling. Wow, what a coincidence...Me too . Now, getting this contest straight, I'm going to be having an awesome summer spending time with a hawt chic like Kyra(instead of sitting in my office where I'm interning and getting freakishly bored!! ).

Kyra, Me and Goa

No, you can't think this is typical! Oh alright, this is a little typical...(I know you girls are rolling your eyes but please humor me for a second here :P), but Goa has arguably the best beaches in the country. It's a paradise for all. 

Phase1: The Journey

We decided to skip my porsche convertible and take a flight to goa to beat the summer heat. As we got out of the goa airport, it was noon and scorching. We covered ourselves grandly in Lakme Sun Expert before getting out into the open sky. We had a cab waiting for us at the airport to take us to the beach-side resort to spend five magical days. While entering our resort, we checked out the scene at the beach and it was ecstatic. 

Phase 2: The Beach

So, as soon as we reached our room (yes, same room ;)), we decided to change into our beachwear and face the sun. We didn't need to reapply Lakme Sun Expert due to its long lasting ability before heading out in the sun again. I quickly changed into my beach tees and shorts and then it was Kyra's turn. I expected her to wear something not-so-revealing but bold she was. When she came out of the changing room, she was wearing a brand new yellow swimsuit leaving only little to imagination. We were a little skeptic initially about not getting tanned in the scorching sun even with Lakme Sun Expert's long-lasting properties, but we decided to go with our instincts. As soon as we entered the sand turf, we couldn't help ourselves and jumped into the sea. We tuned on our playful moods and started sparkling each other with the salty water. After a while, we got tired and so we went in for a sip of coconut water followed by sunbathing. We were just laying in the sun and soon it was time for the beautiful sunset.

Phase 3: The Nightclub
After a long walk along the shore, we went back to our resort to freshen-up and get ready for the Goan Night Life. We had decided to check out the best night club suggested to us by my friends in goa and so we ended up queuing outside Tito's. It wasn't as grand as we had imagined but whatever was missing, was filled up for me by the presence of a gorgeous women like Kyra (I have a pretty good idea she felt the same way :)) The music was great and so was the crowd; but I had eyes only for Kyra. We swayed to the beats and gradually our personalities merged into one and it was like moving as two bodies-one soul. After dancing for god knows how long, we took a break and hit the bar. I asked Kyra what she'd like to drink and the reply came spontaneously-"MAKE A GUESS". I ordered a cranberry vodka and fortunately it turned out to be her favourite (It was proven that while buying a drink for a womon, you can never go wrong with a cranberry vodka:P).

Phase 4: Bedtime

Let's not go into details here for obvious reasons. Lets just assume for the sake of decency that after returning from our tiring stint at the nightclub, we fell asleep as soon as we fell on the bed. Period.

Phase 5: Beach Breakfast 

Since, I sleep like a troll, it was the sound of Kyra's voice that woke me up. She was standing over me, her face covering the sunlight that was hitting my face. Even though I could only see her silhouette, the feeling of knowing that she was with me was the best thing ever. We decided to have our breakfast on the beach itself wearing hats and covered in Lakme Sun Expert. We delighted ourselves with some fresh sea food-Kyra's favourite again- for our breakfast and then went for a leisure walk.

Phase 6: Shopping

It has been rightly said that a goa trip is incomplete without street-shopping and that's just what we went for after our leisure walk. Walking from street to street, checking out the beachwear, accessories and what not. We bought souvenirs for our friends and I bought a special gift for Kyra-A 1836 Portugal Jewellery Box which I later surprised her with. While she was checking out the stuff at the shops, I was secretly checking her out from the corner of my eyes. She caught me a couple of times and then gave me a shy smile making my heart blossom with joy.

Phase 7: Repeat

We mostly repeated the stuff we did from Phase 2 to Phase 6 for the next three and a half days. The exception was water sports. The scuba diving was exceptionally awesome. Otherwise, it was the same stuff; but permit me to say that the fun factor did not reduce but I think it may have even doubled. The reason being that as time passed by, our chemistry grew stronger. I still remember us holding hands while scuba-diving together. It was truly enchanting.

Phase 8: Back Home

While checking out, I was extremely sad inside as I knew that there was very little time left for me to spend with Kyra; but on the outside, I didn't let my crestfallen state show and was acting like a cheery bloke. I remember wishing thatI had brought with me my porsche so as to have a few more hours of time left to spend with Kyra. But I was only left with the hope that after coming back, the same charming and fun-loving Kyra and me would be in touch in this cellphone-internet fuelled generation.

Now before writing this post, I wasn't too sure about calling her. But putting all this in words has made me realize my feelings for her.

So next stop--> Call the fun-loving Lakme girl, Kyra and who knows if I'm lucky, we might as well be holding hands and walking into the sunset as you are reading this post.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Michael Mason

Review:

I commenced reading this novel with the idea that I had read this before fixed in my mind. It is in my nature to re-read books, so I thought nothing of opening the pages and immersing myself in the flow of the story.


Imagine my surprise, Reader, when I quickly discerned that I had not, as I previously imagined, been acquainted with the characters that adorned the pages. I was at a lost on how my memory had failed me, but I quickly rallied and applied myself to the task at hand.


My enjoyment of the book grew as the plot unfurled, the characters were pleasing to myself, their cares and concerns resonated with the inner workings of my own character.


Ahem. Sorry. I’ll stop channeling Bronte.


This was a story of passion, of grace, of human longing to love and to be loved in turn. It was Gothic, it was Romantic, it is a true classic. Sure, it played on not just one typical plot but two, the marriage plot and the inheritance plot, but they worked. Bronte teases one, and then the other, into fitting her characters’ story deftly leaving the core to to play out properly. The core story is of Jane finding someone to love and who loves her back for herself.


Bronte’s other characters are written just well enough to have them not be just caricatures and a few shine on their own, but they all pale to the effort she puts into Jane and Edward Rochester. Rochester fits more along the lines of the Romantic Hero. Far more than Heathcliff. Of course, Heathcliff was the anti-Romantic Hero, so I guess anyone not him would be more Romantic Hero-like.


Rochester is complex character. Bronte sets him up quickly and then lets him him loose in the story. He’s a powerful force, and it takes all of Jane’s willpower to stay independent of his will and drive. That she does it is a given, how she manages it is one of reasons I kept reading it.


I think that the story is better suited for teenage girls than any other group. This doesn’t dampen the enjoyment at all for anyone else, but I think a teenager would really like this book. (If you could pull them away from the cellphone, or IM, long enough to get them started. Maybe bribery?)


I also think that Jane Eyre is more universally appealing than Wuthering Heights, although both books are classics and are well deserving of the title. Wuthering Heights is for a more refined and discerning taste. (He says, adjusting his ascot and peering down from his jeweled pince-nez.)


If you haven’t read this, or haven’t read it a long while, I recommend it.

Download Link: Jane Eyre@ingeniousdexterity.pdf

Happy Reading :)

Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents

Graffiti World, one of my all time favs . Me being a graff enthusiast and always looking for new ideas this book opened up the world of graff like a brand new box of sneakers. One thing I love about this book is the fact that it’s like a trip around the world in only about 3 days. I also like the art style and pictures. And finally I really like the whole layout of the book itself.

This book is like wham...it’s like a roller-coaster ride. I mean they take you from the Americas to Europe in like 100 pages. The smashing and crashing of how walls are destroyed in other countries fractionates me to the fullest, and being able to travel the world to see them all is so great...especially since I don’t have to leave my room.

The explosion of art in this book is friggin overwhelming. I like opened the book and wham I was hit by a train of art. The art styles they had in other parts of the world were like really crazy...from wildstyle to doing different throw-ups and various tags. And every time I open this book I see something brand new...and well it’s awesome.

The books layout is just really cool. I love how the pictures just flash out with color and they are all original. I even found some computer-programming artists that do their work on the computer. Take syndrome studios, an organization that makes graffiti on the computer. I looked them up and they also did some work with rap artist in making music videos. The research that went into this book was really extensive and well done. 

In conclusion all I have to say is that this book is the ish and I really enjoy it. The trip around the world in some amount of pages, to the crazy graffiti pictures that were taken. And the fact that this book gave me something outside of its pages was just great.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Book Review

In the madness of its quickly-turning pages, I found a lucid moment. That moment planted itself in my brain and stemmed into an interest that has yet to be sated. My borderline obsession with mental hospitals and the inner workings of the human mind has expanded to a changed preference in movies, writings, and readings. What makes one sane? If reality only exists in one's mind, then what exactly is imagination?







Chief Bromden, labeled mute by his fellow patients, narrates the story of his stay with newcomer McMurphy. McMurphy faked his insanity to escape a prison sentence for statutory rape, but soon finds the condition of his new home worse than the jail cell he left behind. However, his constant rebellions against Nurse Ratched more often than not land him, and the other patients, in hot water. The final struggle between them builds into a chaotic climax befitting of Bromden's capabilities to narrate, and ends in a way I would have never expected.

Riddled with symbolism, figurative language, realism, and tragedy, I cannot emphasize how greatly I admired Ken Kesey's work. His narrative is as ambiguous and winding as the human mind. The hints he expects readers to tie together are subtle, yet beautifully placed and worded. He breathed life into each character in a way that made them nearly impossible to detest, despite how they are 'supposed' to be viewed by the outside world. And although McMurphy is your classic antihero, you cannot help but push your moralities aside and, like Bromden, silently cheer him on until the very end.

To Kill a Mocking Bird Book Review

Each time I read this book, a different “universal truth” jumps out at me. When I was younger, I pondered the themes of prejudice, kindness, and dignity that run through the book, but now that I’m considerably older, what stuck out to me this time were the themes of innocence, and loss of innocence running through the whole book.


This reading I was particularly caught by the child-like perspective that the book gives each of the events. From the kids all thinking anything that touches the Radley property is poisoned, to Scout’s minimal understanding of the words used in the trial, but her complete understanding of the concepts. Likewise, with the exception of the trial, throughout the book innocence trumps experience. A particular example was when Scout first finds the goodies in the Radley tree. She finds the gum, ponders its origins, and decides that she’d like chewing the gum better than being all grown up about it. Jem, who always represents a more mature (but not much more until near the end) perspective, and he makes her spit it out when he finds out where she got it from. In the end though, Scout’s innocence let her get a good chew out of a wad of gum.


I think the fact that the book takes place over three years helps show the contrast between the innocent time at the beginning of the book, when Scout was six, and Dill, Jem and she played as relative equals, to Scout’s first day of school where Jem begins to brush her off as the “little sister.” By the end of the book, when Scout is nine, she may be physically older, but it seems that she is even more sheltered by Jem, who thinks the concept of the trial may be too grown up for her. He moves through the story from her equal to her protector, which only helps to keep Scout innocent through the book.


In the end though, the book really proves that there is something magical and golden about innocence. There is a purity and truth in innocence—whether it’s a dignified response to an unfair world, or simply an acceptance of things even if they are strange and different.

PS- Download Link will be posted as a comment ;-)