After a long week, I'm back in Blogosphere!
Just today morning, when I was checking my emails it occurred to me how indispensable "email" has become in our lives.
Back in India, I used to check my email accounts sometime during the day after I've done all other stuff (housework/watching t.v./other mundane stuff), and then I would switch on my computer, and get some more stuff done (yeah, as usual, windows XP takes a looooooong time to boot up!), and then connect to the Internet and wait for the Internet Explorer to fire up, and then press the Gmail button on my Google toolbar, and then get some more stuff done (the pages take time to load!) and then come back to check my mail! Phew! One looooong procedure! Those days email was just a small part of my day. I never used to check my mails more than once a day. Or once during every Internet browsing session.
Now, here in the US, my day starts off with email, and only then I have my morning cup of coffee!!! Internet is fast here, fortunately, but in some ways unfortunately, because now I cant really use the time for the page to load, to do some other stuff! I guess this morning-email-checking syndrome is pretty common here in the US. Especially students like me who come here to study. A very good friend of mine, J, has his laptop right next to his bed making it convenient for him to check his inbox as soon as he wakes up; even before he brushes his teeth! That reminds of me the time when my grandma used to ask me to look at my palms as soon as I wake up; it is said that all the gods are present in the different parts of your palms. Ha ha! Now the "palm" has become "laptop"! And we students consider the people who send us emails as "gods"! I'll explain why I say that.
Receiving an email is quite an exciting experience. I call it an experience because there is a string of emotions being felt consequently.
1. Received email notification
- excitement - "Oh wow! I've got mail! Gotta check it out!"
- anxiety - "Who would have sent me the mail? What does it contain? Is it a job interview? Is it an orkut friend request? Is it from a secret admirer?" add a bit of disgust - "Or is it another stupid spam?"
2. Viewing the inbox
- excitement - "Wow! From someone unknown! Lemme see if its a job interview!"
- surprise - "Hey, this guy/girl hasn't mailed me in years! What does he/she want with me now?"
- disappointment - "(Sigh) A stupid orkut/linked in/twitter/facebook/... notification/ forward. My life is boring."
- disgust - "Aaarrrrggghhh... Spam!"
3. Viewing the mail
- touched - "Awww... What a cute kitty! (forward)", "I miss my mom and dad too! (mails from family)", "Such a sweet friend!"
- excitement - "Wow! I got an interview call!!!" (Very rare for people like me!!!)
- disappointment - "Man! They sent me a mail saying I don't seem to be a good fit for the job! :( "
- disgust - "Oh God! Why why why! Chain mails!", "Damn! Stupid guy from a stupid place telling me that I'm his heir! Stupid spams again, nicely disguised. X( "
- something beyond the most excitement can be - "No class today! Yaaaay!!!!"
4. Appropriate action taken thereafter. :)
Wow! Can you imagine? So many emotions in just a few seconds?! Email surely has changed our life! Nowadays I end up checking my inbox every minute! I always have a tab with my inbox open! Something that started as a very professional means of communication in the corporate world is now an indispensable part of our lives! Heck, even kids in the 1st grade have their email ids!
Oops, gotta go now! Got an email!
XOXO,
Excited 'n' Emailed
P.S. This topic was suggested to me by my roommate S, who also happens to be smitten by the email-mania!
Sixth Sense? Magic? Technology?
Imagine reading newspaper the Harry Potter Daily Prophet way - videos accompanying articles. Imagine looking at a person and being able to know all about the person - his or her interests, what they do etc. Imagine going to the Supermarket, and looking at a product, and knowing everything about it, including the carbon footprint value.
Sounds like magic, huh?? Well... Its soon going to be a reality!
My friend G, yes, the same one who wrote me that testimonial, sent me this amazing video. The video is a demonstration kinda thing of this research done by Pattie Maes from MIT. The research product is a wearable "system", that consists of a camera, project, mirror, mobile phone, and some marker caps. The system understands and processes gestures, giving a sixth sense feeling, in their words. Sounds exciting? Check out the video below!
Purple Poise
Sounds like magic, huh?? Well... Its soon going to be a reality!
My friend G, yes, the same one who wrote me that testimonial, sent me this amazing video. The video is a demonstration kinda thing of this research done by Pattie Maes from MIT. The research product is a wearable "system", that consists of a camera, project, mirror, mobile phone, and some marker caps. The system understands and processes gestures, giving a sixth sense feeling, in their words. Sounds exciting? Check out the video below!
Purple Poise
My BFF wrote me a Testimonial in Orkut!!!
I am sure you all are aware of Orkut. The Orkut ritual goes like this:
Step 1. Create an orkut account.
Step 2. Hunt down your friends who are also in Orkut.
Step 3. Send them invites.
Step 4. Make Legal and Binding Karma Ratings Agreements - "You give me full Karma Ratings, and I give you full Karma Ratings"
Step 5. Make Legal and Binding Fan Agreements - "I'll be your fan if you're my fan"
And finally the most trying of all,
Step 6. Make Legal and Binding Testimonial Agreements - "Write me a testimonial and I shall write you one"
Steps 4 and 5 are pretty easy as you needn't use your brain or check the thesaurus for them. But the last one can be a bit tricky! A bit tricky? Its more of a process; it can take you hours to write someone a testimonial! Of course, if its going to be the usual "Hey, She's an awesome girl, very loving caring blah blah blah...Love you lots!", its going to just take you a few minutes - you only need to type it out!
But what about those testimonials, where you really think about the person you're writing for, about how they have impacted your life, and how they are special to you; where you really mean the testimonial? Those are the ones that really count as testimonials, and to write those, you cant have agreements, you just write them when you really feel like it; they come from the heart, than from the key-strokes on the keyboard.
The feeling of receiving such a heart-felt testimonial is almost equivalent from getting a million dollar diamond necklace! And I got to experience it when my best friend G wrote me a testimonial. I felt so good about it, that I wanted to badly put it up on my blog! So here's it -
Step 1. Create an orkut account.
Step 2. Hunt down your friends who are also in Orkut.
Step 3. Send them invites.
Step 4. Make Legal and Binding Karma Ratings Agreements - "You give me full Karma Ratings, and I give you full Karma Ratings"
Step 5. Make Legal and Binding Fan Agreements - "I'll be your fan if you're my fan"
And finally the most trying of all,
Step 6. Make Legal and Binding Testimonial Agreements - "Write me a testimonial and I shall write you one"
Steps 4 and 5 are pretty easy as you needn't use your brain or check the thesaurus for them. But the last one can be a bit tricky! A bit tricky? Its more of a process; it can take you hours to write someone a testimonial! Of course, if its going to be the usual "Hey, She's an awesome girl, very loving caring blah blah blah...Love you lots!", its going to just take you a few minutes - you only need to type it out!
But what about those testimonials, where you really think about the person you're writing for, about how they have impacted your life, and how they are special to you; where you really mean the testimonial? Those are the ones that really count as testimonials, and to write those, you cant have agreements, you just write them when you really feel like it; they come from the heart, than from the key-strokes on the keyboard.
The feeling of receiving such a heart-felt testimonial is almost equivalent from getting a million dollar diamond necklace! And I got to experience it when my best friend G wrote me a testimonial. I felt so good about it, that I wanted to badly put it up on my blog! So here's it -
Part 1
You know, this is so strange, I just got up this saturday morning, opened my laptop and started writing this. I haven't even checked my mails yet! So here goes...
[Purple Poise] is one of the sweetest friends some one can have. I feel ashmed to be writing this testimonial now-I mean, its something I should have done years ago! I've known her from our JEE coaching class days..that ushers sweet memories to me now, that was 7 years back... I remember the days when our folks at home would be so mad at us for spending hours over the phone in addition to spending hours after class, pulling each other's legs and bein total doofs! And then sharing 4 years of college life, all the crazy things we did, btw, she s really good at imitating people (best ones would be the lecturers in college and that arbit guy in kerala selling lingerie! ROTFL!) hehehe u gonna kill me for writing that here? Aww c'mon, let the world know of ur talents! :P Speaking of which, she is also an expert at "arrangements"-u knw what i mean :P
Part 2
[Purple Poise] and I always shared similar interests, probably what made us such thick pals. I'm not sayin we are alike, no, [Purple Poise] is quite unique-never met anyone like her before. I guess the best thing about her is that she never hesitates to help a friend-you can count on her and hey, this is not something I'm writing here cause its a typical testimonial format-NO! She is full of positive energy, doesn't let her spirits be dampened, she has the ability to convince people (read me) and can take things in the right stride. Now, even though we are miles apart, we still talk almost every day (even if at times its only to one another's voice mails ;)) and everything is the same-we still share the same comfort zone, absolutely at ease with each other! TOUCH WOOD!
Part 3
She is fun to be with, except for the non stop chatter-I've learnt one thing being with her-if you are over the phone with her, all you need to do is listen-she does ALLLLL the talking-jumping from topic to topic! :)
Hey I don't wanna sound trite here, signing off with a thanks-for-being-my-friend-boohoo-i-love-u crap... u know it all, don't u!
You must be like "Uh, so what? So you got a testimonial. Ha. Big Deal!" But here's what; inside you must be jealous huh?! That I am lucky to have such an awesome friend? Yeah, I know! OK, Just Kidding! Well, I felt this testimonial is very special, and I just wanted to share it; no, I'm not boasting or showing-off, I'm just expressing out to the world out there, that the testimonial that my friend wrote for me, is truly special, and I thought this was the best way I could express it!
XOXO,
Testimonial-ed 'n' Touched
P.S:
XOXO,
Testimonial-ed 'n' Touched
P.S:
- BFF - Best Friend Forever
- Some of the things in the testimonial need not be true!
- I think its time for me to update the testimonial I wrote for G!
Travel back in time to a Purple Moment in your life: Really?
It is 5:30pm. There's a deadline to meet at 6. Half an hour left. Work worth 3 hours to be done. Aargh. If only I could make time travel slow, or travel back in time, so that I have those 3 hours to complete the work; but then, I would meet myself at this very same instant - 5:30pm, wanting to go back to that starting time of that alternate dimensional me... Yeah, I know, its confusing. But guess what?
Dr. Ronald Mallet, a Physicist at the University of Connecticut, is building a Time Machine, that will let me do just that; i.e. travel in time. Einstein's Relativity Theory (E=mc2 is an outcome of this theory) laid the foundation of his research, and he built over it extrapollations and deductions, to end up with a way to alter the two quantities that matter most to scientists - space and time. This bending of space-time is the key to travel through time.
The time machine he is building, (or has he built it already? I'm not sure) uses ring laser to produce frame-dragging and close time-like curves, which are the very same means by which we can travel in time. In his own words,
EINSTEIN'S RELATIVITY THEORY - SIMULTANEITY
Don't worry, the following documentary is not some fantasy stuff; its all about relativity, quantum physics, and all the other concepts that some of us didn't care to learn that well in school! ;) Luckily for us, he uses very simple and easy to understand examples. Apart from the examples and explanation of his theories, the documentary also contains opinions of several noteworthy people like The Time Machine movie director Simon Wells (incidentally, he's the great grandson of H. G. Wells who wrote the book (pdf) that movie is based on) and also discusses the consequencies of disturbing time in the past, and also the possibilities of such disturbances, which I found was interesting, to say the least.
You can also check out the following videos from the original Youtube Playlist.
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 1 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 2 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 3 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 4 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 5 OF 5
What was fantasy till now, is going to be a reality soon! Or have we already warped into the future?!
Think about it while I think which purple moment in history I'd like to go back to!
Purple Poise
Dr. Ronald Mallet, a Physicist at the University of Connecticut, is building a Time Machine, that will let me do just that; i.e. travel in time. Einstein's Relativity Theory (E=mc2 is an outcome of this theory) laid the foundation of his research, and he built over it extrapollations and deductions, to end up with a way to alter the two quantities that matter most to scientists - space and time. This bending of space-time is the key to travel through time.
The time machine he is building, (or has he built it already? I'm not sure) uses ring laser to produce frame-dragging and close time-like curves, which are the very same means by which we can travel in time. In his own words,
"In Einstein's general theory of relativity, both matter and energy can create a gravitational field. This means that the energy of a light beam can produce a gravitational field. My current research considers both the weak and strong gravitational fields produced by a single continuously circulating unidirectional beam of light. In the weak gravitational field of a unidirectional ring laser, it is predicted that a spinning neutral particle, when placed in the ring, is dragged around by the resulting gravitational field."
"For the strong gravitational field of a circulating cylinder of light, I have found new exact solutions of the Einstein field equations for the exterior and interior gravitational fields of the light cylinder. The exterior gravitational field is shown to contain closed timelike lines.The series of videos below is the documentary that was shown on Discover Channel. Before that, here is a small demo on Einstein's Relativity Theory, that might help you understand what Dr. Mallet explains in the documentary. You might also want to check out this link, which is more like "Einstein's Relativity Theory for Dummies"!
The presence of closed timelike lines indicates the possibility of time travel into the past. This creates the foundation for a time machine based on a circulating cylinder of light."
EINSTEIN'S RELATIVITY THEORY - SIMULTANEITY
Don't worry, the following documentary is not some fantasy stuff; its all about relativity, quantum physics, and all the other concepts that some of us didn't care to learn that well in school! ;) Luckily for us, he uses very simple and easy to understand examples. Apart from the examples and explanation of his theories, the documentary also contains opinions of several noteworthy people like The Time Machine movie director Simon Wells (incidentally, he's the great grandson of H. G. Wells who wrote the book (pdf) that movie is based on) and also discusses the consequencies of disturbing time in the past, and also the possibilities of such disturbances, which I found was interesting, to say the least.
You can also check out the following videos from the original Youtube Playlist.
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 1 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 2 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 3 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 4 OF 5
THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE - PART 5 OF 5
What was fantasy till now, is going to be a reality soon! Or have we already warped into the future?!
Think about it while I think which purple moment in history I'd like to go back to!
Purple Poise
A Purple Spring!
"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."That is Spring for you in the words of Charles Dickens. Such simple words phrased with so much poise - Ah! Spring is indeed magical; purple!
Poetry and literature try to capture the beauty of spring in words, but even the greatest of the great poets will agree that words are not enough to express the magic in the air. This unspoken beauty didn't strike me so powerful and magical, until today.
I looked out of my patio, and saw the sunlight pouring in like golden strands of fire, and thought that it was the best day to dry my clothes out. So I packed my unwashed clothes, and opened my front door to go to the Laundry Room of our residential complex, to be embraced by a cool breeze; cool enough to make a tiny chill run down my spine. Should I really wash my clothes then? I walked past the other townhouses in the row, coming out of the shadow thrown by the houses, to be basked in the sunlight, the same sunlight that had urged me to wash my clothes! The cool breeze, reluctant to let me go from its chilly grasp, engulfed me once again, and now, I was back in the shade. Wow! One moment I wanted to hug myself to feel warm, and the next moment, I wanted to dab a huge amount of sunblock!
I went into the laundry room, and put my clothes into the washer, and started walking back to my house, when I decided to take a quick stroll within the residential area; I don't usually do this, but something urged me to do so, today. With every step I took, a new feeling kept rushing into me, in so many dimensions. It was getting warmer and cooler; I was feeling tired and rejuvenated; I was happy and sad, because I couldn't be happier; I wanted to just run and skip about and scream like a kid, letting myself go, and I wanted to contain myself, and just revel in the moment silently, all by myself...
So many feelings, so many emotions, so many moods... all at one. And that is when mother nature spoke to me, in her magical tone, enunciating the poise in her way of doing things. Truly purple; a mixture of red and blue - the hot and cold - the sunny and the chilly.
A purple spring, indeed, bursting out with poise that can not be seen, heard, or said; but only felt!
XOXO,
Enthralled 'n' Enchanted
Purple digs the New Macbook!
Finally, an actual post that isn't a recipe! I guess you might be tired seeing just recipes! I have some good news and bad news to share with you guys.
First, the bad news. My old laptop, a HP Tablet PC stopped working! :( It just wouldn't switch on! :(
The good news:
I bought a new laptop! And it isn't just some laptop, it is the new Macbook Aluminium!
Since I started working with Macs, I've loved it; well, one of the places where I work, I've been given an iMac workstation, and the other place, a Macbook itself! Mac seems to be all about the user interface! It was difficult to adjust in the beginning, after 20 years of using Windows, it would take a considerable amount of time to switch to a "no-Start-Menu-and-no-ctrl-with-command-key" system! And I needn't wait for hours for the laptop to boot up. Its quick and easy! And as Macs come with Apache built in, I can host my own website, WOW! Take a look at the specs and a video and several impressive pictures at the Apple Macbook site.
The minute I decided to buy it, I went to the Chandler Fashion Center, rushed to the Apple store, checked out a demo there, and then, Kaching! On their side, though! Hehe! Thanks to the discount I got through ASU, an impressive Macbook was in my hands for an affordable price; the mac was worth it! It was only after I bought the Mac that I started admiring the ambience of the mall! I was that crazy about the Mac!
Now, about the mall, I went quite late, around 7:30pm, so didn't have enough time to check out most of the places, but I did watch the musical fountains there. I stood there for a purple moment - the fountain swaying and dancing to the cadence of the music, and inside me, there were purple butterflies dancing about, in a shiny purple background, hey, it was the purple (both in color and in a magical sense) background of a Mac desktop!
I was so immersed in the moment, that I didn't realize that the "moment" was actually an entire span of 20 minutes! I didnt know if there were people around me, or if anyone saw me, or if anyone thought I was autistic - my face had a big grin and I was apparently staring into a faraway galaxy, indeed, the background image of the Mac! I didn't care. To me all that mattered was the macbook! So deep and intense is my love for it, that I put away blogging for two days; I wanted to spend all my time with my macbook!
Aah... Talking about it makes me miss it soooooo much! I need to get back to my mac and spend time with it!
Oh, before I leave, here is one pretty flower arrangement I saw at the mall. Thought I'll take a picture and share it with you guys!
XOXO,
Mac-ed 'n' Mesmerized.
First, the bad news. My old laptop, a HP Tablet PC stopped working! :( It just wouldn't switch on! :(
The good news:
I bought a new laptop! And it isn't just some laptop, it is the new Macbook Aluminium!Since I started working with Macs, I've loved it; well, one of the places where I work, I've been given an iMac workstation, and the other place, a Macbook itself! Mac seems to be all about the user interface! It was difficult to adjust in the beginning, after 20 years of using Windows, it would take a considerable amount of time to switch to a "no-Start-Menu-and-no-ctrl-with-command-key" system! And I needn't wait for hours for the laptop to boot up. Its quick and easy! And as Macs come with Apache built in, I can host my own website, WOW! Take a look at the specs and a video and several impressive pictures at the Apple Macbook site.
The minute I decided to buy it, I went to the Chandler Fashion Center, rushed to the Apple store, checked out a demo there, and then, Kaching! On their side, though! Hehe! Thanks to the discount I got through ASU, an impressive Macbook was in my hands for an affordable price; the mac was worth it! It was only after I bought the Mac that I started admiring the ambience of the mall! I was that crazy about the Mac!
Now, about the mall, I went quite late, around 7:30pm, so didn't have enough time to check out most of the places, but I did watch the musical fountains there. I stood there for a purple moment - the fountain swaying and dancing to the cadence of the music, and inside me, there were purple butterflies dancing about, in a shiny purple background, hey, it was the purple (both in color and in a magical sense) background of a Mac desktop!I was so immersed in the moment, that I didn't realize that the "moment" was actually an entire span of 20 minutes! I didnt know if there were people around me, or if anyone saw me, or if anyone thought I was autistic - my face had a big grin and I was apparently staring into a faraway galaxy, indeed, the background image of the Mac! I didn't care. To me all that mattered was the macbook! So deep and intense is my love for it, that I put away blogging for two days; I wanted to spend all my time with my macbook!
Aah... Talking about it makes me miss it soooooo much! I need to get back to my mac and spend time with it!
Oh, before I leave, here is one pretty flower arrangement I saw at the mall. Thought I'll take a picture and share it with you guys!XOXO,
Mac-ed 'n' Mesmerized.
RECIPE: Shrikhand
After looking at the simple recipes I've been posting, you must be thinking that I know nothing but simple recipes, that every Tom, Dick and Harry can make, right? Well, I'm going to prove you wrong by this recipe here.
Shrikhand has always been my favorite dish, since I was a kid. My mom used to make it quite often, and I would never tire of it. It is a Gujarati dish, and is also a part of Maharashtrian cuisine. We usually have it with pooris or just chappathis, but you can have it just like that too. Its really delicious, and if you're a yogurt lover, you are bound to go ga-ga shrikhand, the way I do!
Note: I made shrikhand with the curd that I make at home from milk. I'm posting the recipe just from the curd part.
SERVING SIZE: About a medium-sized bowl (250 g. or 8.8 oz)
PREPARATION TIME: 2 days (to prepare the butter for it), 10 mins. to mix actual ingredients.
INGREDIENTS:
EXTRAS NEEDED: A thin cloth big enough to hold the curd, preferably a muslin cloth. I used a towel (thortham or thundu) because I don't have a muslin cloth with me!
METHOD:
Do the pictures tempt you? Maybe you can try it yourself someday, and give yourself a good treat for studying hard! ;)
Now let me go and enjoy my shrikhand!
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
Shrikhand has always been my favorite dish, since I was a kid. My mom used to make it quite often, and I would never tire of it. It is a Gujarati dish, and is also a part of Maharashtrian cuisine. We usually have it with pooris or just chappathis, but you can have it just like that too. Its really delicious, and if you're a yogurt lover, you are bound to go ga-ga shrikhand, the way I do!Note: I made shrikhand with the curd that I make at home from milk. I'm posting the recipe just from the curd part.
SERVING SIZE: About a medium-sized bowl (250 g. or 8.8 oz)
PREPARATION TIME: 2 days (to prepare the butter for it), 10 mins. to mix actual ingredients.
INGREDIENTS:
- Yogurt or curd - 1 quart
- Sugar - 8-10 tbsp. preferably icing sugar (Depends on sweetness preferred.)
- Sliced Pistachios - 2 tbsp. (unflavored)
- Cardamom Powder (Elaichi Powder) - A small pinch
- Saffron Strings (Kesar) - Half tsp.
EXTRAS NEEDED: A thin cloth big enough to hold the curd, preferably a muslin cloth. I used a towel (thortham or thundu) because I don't have a muslin cloth with me!
METHOD:
- Spread the cloth in a large open vessel.
- Pour the thick curd onto the cloth.
- Tie the ends of the cloth to make a small pouch that holds the curd in it.
- Suspend the pouch from a nail or hook or wherever you can hang it.
- Place a vessel under the pouch, to collect the water that is strained from the curd.
- Leave the pouch suspended for an entire day and a half, until almost all the water has been drained off.
- Then, place the pouch on a vessel with holes and place something heavy, like a pressure cooker over the pouch; the idea is to drain the last few drops of water in the curd. Leave it this way for about 2-3 hours.
- Untie the pouch and the curd would have left back the butter.
- Put the butter on a a bowl. Scrape the cloth to get all the butter. It would look like in the picture below.
- If the sugar is granular, grind it in the blender to make it fine and powdery. Grind the sugar with the cardamom powder to get the flavor of cardamom even.
- Add the ground sugar and cardamom powder to the butter.
- Mix well.
- You will notice that the butter that was hard gradually becomes soft and creamy.
- Add the pistachios.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Add the saffron strands and mix well again.
- The saffron strings will impart a beautiful "poised" yellowish color after sometime, and mix again nicely, to spread the yellow color uniformly.
- Shrikhand ready!
- You can add mango pulp to make it Amrakhand.
- Adding slivered almonds too will make it nice and nutty!
- You can add other fruit syrups too, like apple, or strawberry etc. to get a different flavor. Even tiny fruit pieces might be a good idea.
- Along with the cardamom powder you can add more spices like nutmeg powder or even a dash of cinnamon powder.
- Making it from home-made curd is much better than making it from the curd you buy here, because it is usually mixed with cornstarch and gelatin, and may not be a healthy as the one made at home.
Do the pictures tempt you? Maybe you can try it yourself someday, and give yourself a good treat for studying hard! ;)
Now let me go and enjoy my shrikhand!
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
RECIPE: Grilled Quickies - Grilled Bread Sandwiches
I'm sure you guys must be bored with the breakfast we have as students in the US. The same old boring cereals, oatmeal, bread and peanut butter, pancakes, waffles... Aargh! The same sweet taste! No salty or spicy flavor! :( Back in India, mom used to make idlis, dosas, upmas etc. I totally miss the Indian taste in breakfast. How about making something really simple, that still gives us an Indian taste? Here's what I made yesterday morning.
Grilled Bread Sandwiches - I prefer to call them Grilled Quickies! :) Hmm... two bread recipes in a row? Well, you might think I'm trying to get rid of my loaf of bread! Well, yeah, that's kind of right, its expiring tomorrow, so I better use it up! And plus, I needn't put much effort to make these. So here goes.
SERVING SIZE: 2 Sandwiches
PREPARATION TIME: 3-5 Minutes
GRILLING TIME: 5 Minutes
INGREDIENTS:
APPLIANCES NEEDED: Sandwich Griller
METHOD:
PURPLE TIPS:
Sounds easy and quick right? Try it out and let me know if you come up with more ideas for the inside stuffing!
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
Grilled Bread Sandwiches - I prefer to call them Grilled Quickies! :) Hmm... two bread recipes in a row? Well, you might think I'm trying to get rid of my loaf of bread! Well, yeah, that's kind of right, its expiring tomorrow, so I better use it up! And plus, I needn't put much effort to make these. So here goes.SERVING SIZE: 2 Sandwiches
PREPARATION TIME: 3-5 Minutes
GRILLING TIME: 5 Minutes
INGREDIENTS:
Bread - 4 Slices (white or brown)- Tomato - 1 nos. (small)
- Onion - 1 nos. (small)
- Grated Mozzarella Cheese - 2 tbsp.
APPLIANCES NEEDED: Sandwich Griller
METHOD:
- Wash and chop the onion and tomato finely.
- Place the two bread slices on each section of the griller.
- Add the chopped onion and tomato over the bread slices and sprinkle some cheese over it.
- Place the other two bread slices like a sandwich.
- Close the griller, plug it in to an electric point, and let it grill the sandwiches for sometime - approximately 5 minutes.
- Take out the grilled sandwiches after they become as brown as you desire them to be.
- Now you can have your grilled quickies with some ketchup!
PURPLE TIPS:
- You can add some more veggies like capsicum, carrots, cabbage etc.
- You can add some grated paneer or tofu too.
- If you're in a hurry, you can just put cheese alone.
- Add some salt, pepper, chili powder, green chillies, or any other seasoning to get better taste.
- You can stuff in anything you want, including last night's dinner curry that was left over!
- One very delicious stuffing I often make - Mashed boiled potatoes with chopped onions and green chillies and some salt to taste. You can use frozen hash brown instead to save time boiling the potatoes, peeling and mashing them.
- Have a sweet tooth? Here's a sweet alternate - some jam or honey inside; or even better and healthier, some raisins and dates(with their seeds removed).
Sounds easy and quick right? Try it out and let me know if you come up with more ideas for the inside stuffing!
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
RECIPE: Bread Upma
On Monday, I was about to have my evening snack, when I thought, why not take snaps and post it up along with the recipes! I made Bread Upma and some strawberry milkshake! I know that's a really weird combination, but hey, its something to eat! And leading a student's life in US means, eat whatever you can! Hehe! I've updated the Pink Quickie recipe with snaps, so don't forget to check that out!
Here's the recipe for Bread Upma. That's a quick and healthy recipe too. Psst... if you have got a loaf of bread, about to expire soon, and are bored of peanut butter sandwiches, you can just make this - it will give you the authentic Indian masala taste and you can finish off you bread too!
SERVING SIZE: 2 Plates
PREPARATION TIME: 5-10 Minutes (Depends on how long you take to cut veggies!)
COOKING TIME: 10-15 Minutes
INGREDIENTS:
Try this recipe sometime when you can, and let me know how it turned out. And please do suggest your own ideas! And stay tuned for more recipes.
Until then,
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
Here's the recipe for Bread Upma. That's a quick and healthy recipe too. Psst... if you have got a loaf of bread, about to expire soon, and are bored of peanut butter sandwiches, you can just make this - it will give you the authentic Indian masala taste and you can finish off you bread too!SERVING SIZE: 2 Plates
PREPARATION TIME: 5-10 Minutes (Depends on how long you take to cut veggies!)
COOKING TIME: 10-15 Minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- Bread - 8 slices (white or brown)
- Tomatoes - 3 nos. (small) or 1.5-2 nos. (medium)
- Onions - 2 nos. (small) or 1 (medium to large)
- Green Chillies - 1-2 nos. (depends on how spicy you want it)
- Oil - 3 tbsp.
- Cumin Seeds (Jeera) - 2 tbsp.
- Salt - 1 tsp.
- Wash and chop the onions and tomatoes finely.
- Wash and slit the chillies.
- Cut the bread into small cubes, as shown.
- Heat oil in a non-stick vessel; maybe a "Kadai".
- Add the cumin seeds to the oil and heat until the seeds turn golden brown.
- Add the slit chillies to the vessel.
- Add the chopped onions and saute until they turn translucent, as shown below.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for sometime.
- Add the bread cubes.
- Saute until the bread is fried to some extent; as shown below.
- Add salt and mix well.
- Bread Upma Ready!
- You can add capsicum or more of your favorite vegetables - it would make it healthier and tastier.
- Adding some ketchup would give a more tangy taste.
- You could even add a few drops of Soy Sauce to give a Chinese touch.
- If you want the bread pieces to be crisp, you can toast the pieces separately, and then add them to the kadai.
Try this recipe sometime when you can, and let me know how it turned out. And please do suggest your own ideas! And stay tuned for more recipes.
Until then,
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
A "Poised" Performance by "Shrishti - The Creation"
The Fine Arts Association of Arizona and Sampradaya Dance of India ( a dance institute in Phoenix) came together with other sponsoring associations to present Krishna Bhakthi Mala, a thematic dance presentation by the group Shrishti - The Creation, on Saturday March 7th, 2009. The image below is the flyer for the presentation.
Before I start reviewing the presentation, let me tell you guys, I am no dance critic! I am a dance student myself, learning Bharatnatyam since I was 4 years old. I learn dance from Yuva Kala Bharathi Sri. R. Vijay Madhavan, who is inturn a student of Padmasri Smt. Chitra Visweswaran. I had my maiden dance performance (Arangetram) on November 26th, 1999 and since then have been giving several solo and group dance performances. About my dance exploits - some other time! So, here is what I felt about the performance, from my point of view - from a rasika's point of view. I have tried to be as unbiased as possible, but if you think in some places I'm wrong, please forgive me! After all, this is just my opinion, and I guess every person has a right to voice their own opinion!
While the overall performance was graceful and inspiring, I feel the dance should have been a bit more vibrant and should have been exploding with energy. Group dances are always expected to be colorful and a treat to the eyes, and the dancers did justice through their perfect co-ordination, colorful costumes and colorful lighting and stage decorations - indeed a treat to the eyes. However, the theme could have been conveyed in a more convincing manner. I felt the performance was rendered at the surface level, when it could have delved a bit deeper. The theme chosen, Krishna Bhakthi Mala, revolves around Krishna - the tiny tot of Yashoda, the hearthrob of the Gopikas, the consort of Radha, the slayer of Kalinga the Serpant, the protector of Panchali, and so on.
The dancers opened with a Mallari followed by an invocatory piece - Gaaiye Ganapathi. Mallaris are part of the traditional temple repertoire, performed on the Nadhaswaram - a wind instrument. It is believed that during the Shiva Tandava, the anklets of Lord Shiva gave rise to the four syllables - Tha Dhi Thom Nam. All percussion instruments resonate these four syllables in various permutations and combinations, to give out creative jathis and sollu-kattus. Mallaris are performed in the raga Ghambiranattai. The dancers performed the mallari gracefully, though it could have been a bit more energetic, and being the opening item, it could have contained more brisk movements that would have kept the audience in rapture. The dancers acted out the story about how Lord Ganesha got his elephant head, in the sanchari of Gaaiye Ganapathi. I feel the dancers could have researched more into the meaning of the words in the song. There was one instance where the dancers gestured the face of Lord Ganapathi, when the lyric was "Vinayaka". Vinayaka means the one who has no leader or master above him. Clearly, the dancers' expression and the lyrics didnt match there. They should have probably worked more on getting their gestures right for the right words. The next item was a Jugalbhandi, that was elegantly rendered with apt costumes - one team wore skirts and the other team wore pants, or pyjamas. The choreography matched the music as well as the costumes. One major plus point in the entire performance was the dancers' attention to their positions. Each formation was neatly executed, leaving no scope for the audience to be confused - something very critical to a group performance. Exceptional sense of position. The varnam was performed next. The chosen varnam was tuned to Ragamalika, with Hindi lyrics. Varnam means color. Of course, the varnam truly was colorful - but colorful more materialistically than holistically; but that's what I felt. There were colorful costumes and colorful lights. But there wasn't much color in the expressions, where there could have been more. The sanchari of Krishna playing with the Gopis and Krishna eating mud and showing the entire universe in his mouth to Yashoda were nice, but maybe, they could have been a bit more dramatic. The main thematic presentation, Krishna Bhakthi Mala, did not start until the second half. Here, several episodes from Krishna's life - from the birth of Krishna, to the Kalinga Nardhanam, to the Panchali Vastraharan were depicted. A notable aspect of this presentation was the display of apt pictures of Krishna in the background as slides as the presentation went on. I was surprised that out of all the several episodes in Krishna's life, the dancers left out Govardhana Giridhara - the episode were Lord Krishna single-handedly lifts the Govardhana mountain to provide shelter to the people of Brindavana and protect them from the rains and thunder caused by an angry Indra. I felt the depiction of Kalinga Nardhanam lacked the power and aggression it deserved. Of course, the dancer who assumed the role of Kalinga, amused the audience by snaky gimmicks; no pun intended! But, it was a weak and vulnerable Kalinga, totally opposite to the strong and egotistical personality of his - it looked like even I could kill the snake! The duel between Krishna and Kalinga was not that powerful, it lacked vigor. It was only graceful; but here, I don't think grace is the right element to be used. The Panchali Vastraharan could also have been more dramatized. Dramatization is a very important element of dance - especially in a thematic presentation such as this.
I noticed that there were redundancies in the performance - Krishna being born out of Devaki's womb, and being brought up under Yashoda's care were repeated both in the varnam and in the main presentation. This could have been avoided, and instead they could have shown other episodes from Krishna's life - maybe the friendship between Sudhama and Krishna? or as I said earlier, the story of how he lifted the Govardhana mountain.
On the whole, it was a nice and poised performance, but I feel it could have been much better. To me, it felt like it lacked soul in it. The songs selected were apt, and showed that the dancers put in a lot of care while selecting songs. Enna thavam seidhanai Yashoda, a very popular padam by Papanasam Sri. Sivam in Ragam Kapi, set to Adi Thalam was one of the songs in the Krishna Bhakti Mala medley. One of Purandaradasa's compositions in Ragam Arabhi, Aadithano Ranga, which is on the Kalinga Nardhanam of Krishna, was also used. (This particular song is very dear to me. The story behind that would be another post! ) And the dancers did justice by performing without any mistakes, but they failed to produce the vibrations to touch our souls, with the exception of a few dancers. The dancers could have contributed more from within than with just coordinated movements. I feel they had a very nice theme, a very popular theme, and they had very good songs, and good props, and costumes too, but maybe they could have exploited all that to the fullest capacity.
The idea of having a few dancers demonstrate a summary of the next item to come is really good, and very necessary for a foreign audience. That way, the audience can follow through the performance. I remember such demonstrations from the dance programs I have seen as a kid, when I was in Dubai, when my Grand Guru - Chitra Visweswaran (we call her Chitrakka) used to demonstrate the items she was going to perform by explaining the gestures, their meanings, and their interpretations.
Several dancers all around the world do presentations based on Krishna Bhakti. I believe each dancer or choreographer, should demonstrate their individuality, their strong points, in their presentations, and these presentations should enunciate their thoughts, opinions, or interpretations. Krishna Bhakti could be interpreted in so many ways. Bhakti itself can be interpreted in several ways. And how you interpret Bhakti toward Krishna, and how you demonstrate your interpretation is what makes you unique from others. Otherwise, you would be just one another piece thrown out of the factory. Dance is a medium to communicate wih the audience, yes, but it is also a medium through which you communicate with yourself, you seek the Paramaathma within yourself. Dance is an experience - your experience in the journey toward the soul. So, perhaps the dancers could have gone that extra mile to put their mark or signature to their performance, to make it a unique experience for the audience. I dont say this as a dancer, but I say this as part of an audience. I might have not seen all the performances in the world, but I have seen enough to understand why some performances are an experience, and why some are just concerts.
So those were my thoughts. I am in NO WAY critiquing the performance. I am just sharing my thoughts on it. As a dancer myself, I have a LOT to learn, and every performance is a learning lesson for me; every performance I watch and every performance I do! A dancer grows not just by learning and performing more, but he or she grows more by watching, understanding and synthesizing what he or she learns from each performance that he or she watched. So, my advice to all the dancers out there like me, in fact, all the budding fine artists out there, please make an effort to watch others' performances. Only then you would be able to learn more. Well, I have more on that, which would pave way to another post! Stay tuned!
Until then,
XOXO,
Purple Poise
Before I start reviewing the presentation, let me tell you guys, I am no dance critic! I am a dance student myself, learning Bharatnatyam since I was 4 years old. I learn dance from Yuva Kala Bharathi Sri. R. Vijay Madhavan, who is inturn a student of Padmasri Smt. Chitra Visweswaran. I had my maiden dance performance (Arangetram) on November 26th, 1999 and since then have been giving several solo and group dance performances. About my dance exploits - some other time! So, here is what I felt about the performance, from my point of view - from a rasika's point of view. I have tried to be as unbiased as possible, but if you think in some places I'm wrong, please forgive me! After all, this is just my opinion, and I guess every person has a right to voice their own opinion!While the overall performance was graceful and inspiring, I feel the dance should have been a bit more vibrant and should have been exploding with energy. Group dances are always expected to be colorful and a treat to the eyes, and the dancers did justice through their perfect co-ordination, colorful costumes and colorful lighting and stage decorations - indeed a treat to the eyes. However, the theme could have been conveyed in a more convincing manner. I felt the performance was rendered at the surface level, when it could have delved a bit deeper. The theme chosen, Krishna Bhakthi Mala, revolves around Krishna - the tiny tot of Yashoda, the hearthrob of the Gopikas, the consort of Radha, the slayer of Kalinga the Serpant, the protector of Panchali, and so on.
The dancers opened with a Mallari followed by an invocatory piece - Gaaiye Ganapathi. Mallaris are part of the traditional temple repertoire, performed on the Nadhaswaram - a wind instrument. It is believed that during the Shiva Tandava, the anklets of Lord Shiva gave rise to the four syllables - Tha Dhi Thom Nam. All percussion instruments resonate these four syllables in various permutations and combinations, to give out creative jathis and sollu-kattus. Mallaris are performed in the raga Ghambiranattai. The dancers performed the mallari gracefully, though it could have been a bit more energetic, and being the opening item, it could have contained more brisk movements that would have kept the audience in rapture. The dancers acted out the story about how Lord Ganesha got his elephant head, in the sanchari of Gaaiye Ganapathi. I feel the dancers could have researched more into the meaning of the words in the song. There was one instance where the dancers gestured the face of Lord Ganapathi, when the lyric was "Vinayaka". Vinayaka means the one who has no leader or master above him. Clearly, the dancers' expression and the lyrics didnt match there. They should have probably worked more on getting their gestures right for the right words. The next item was a Jugalbhandi, that was elegantly rendered with apt costumes - one team wore skirts and the other team wore pants, or pyjamas. The choreography matched the music as well as the costumes. One major plus point in the entire performance was the dancers' attention to their positions. Each formation was neatly executed, leaving no scope for the audience to be confused - something very critical to a group performance. Exceptional sense of position. The varnam was performed next. The chosen varnam was tuned to Ragamalika, with Hindi lyrics. Varnam means color. Of course, the varnam truly was colorful - but colorful more materialistically than holistically; but that's what I felt. There were colorful costumes and colorful lights. But there wasn't much color in the expressions, where there could have been more. The sanchari of Krishna playing with the Gopis and Krishna eating mud and showing the entire universe in his mouth to Yashoda were nice, but maybe, they could have been a bit more dramatic. The main thematic presentation, Krishna Bhakthi Mala, did not start until the second half. Here, several episodes from Krishna's life - from the birth of Krishna, to the Kalinga Nardhanam, to the Panchali Vastraharan were depicted. A notable aspect of this presentation was the display of apt pictures of Krishna in the background as slides as the presentation went on. I was surprised that out of all the several episodes in Krishna's life, the dancers left out Govardhana Giridhara - the episode were Lord Krishna single-handedly lifts the Govardhana mountain to provide shelter to the people of Brindavana and protect them from the rains and thunder caused by an angry Indra. I felt the depiction of Kalinga Nardhanam lacked the power and aggression it deserved. Of course, the dancer who assumed the role of Kalinga, amused the audience by snaky gimmicks; no pun intended! But, it was a weak and vulnerable Kalinga, totally opposite to the strong and egotistical personality of his - it looked like even I could kill the snake! The duel between Krishna and Kalinga was not that powerful, it lacked vigor. It was only graceful; but here, I don't think grace is the right element to be used. The Panchali Vastraharan could also have been more dramatized. Dramatization is a very important element of dance - especially in a thematic presentation such as this.
I noticed that there were redundancies in the performance - Krishna being born out of Devaki's womb, and being brought up under Yashoda's care were repeated both in the varnam and in the main presentation. This could have been avoided, and instead they could have shown other episodes from Krishna's life - maybe the friendship between Sudhama and Krishna? or as I said earlier, the story of how he lifted the Govardhana mountain.
On the whole, it was a nice and poised performance, but I feel it could have been much better. To me, it felt like it lacked soul in it. The songs selected were apt, and showed that the dancers put in a lot of care while selecting songs. Enna thavam seidhanai Yashoda, a very popular padam by Papanasam Sri. Sivam in Ragam Kapi, set to Adi Thalam was one of the songs in the Krishna Bhakti Mala medley. One of Purandaradasa's compositions in Ragam Arabhi, Aadithano Ranga, which is on the Kalinga Nardhanam of Krishna, was also used. (This particular song is very dear to me. The story behind that would be another post! ) And the dancers did justice by performing without any mistakes, but they failed to produce the vibrations to touch our souls, with the exception of a few dancers. The dancers could have contributed more from within than with just coordinated movements. I feel they had a very nice theme, a very popular theme, and they had very good songs, and good props, and costumes too, but maybe they could have exploited all that to the fullest capacity.
The idea of having a few dancers demonstrate a summary of the next item to come is really good, and very necessary for a foreign audience. That way, the audience can follow through the performance. I remember such demonstrations from the dance programs I have seen as a kid, when I was in Dubai, when my Grand Guru - Chitra Visweswaran (we call her Chitrakka) used to demonstrate the items she was going to perform by explaining the gestures, their meanings, and their interpretations.
Several dancers all around the world do presentations based on Krishna Bhakti. I believe each dancer or choreographer, should demonstrate their individuality, their strong points, in their presentations, and these presentations should enunciate their thoughts, opinions, or interpretations. Krishna Bhakti could be interpreted in so many ways. Bhakti itself can be interpreted in several ways. And how you interpret Bhakti toward Krishna, and how you demonstrate your interpretation is what makes you unique from others. Otherwise, you would be just one another piece thrown out of the factory. Dance is a medium to communicate wih the audience, yes, but it is also a medium through which you communicate with yourself, you seek the Paramaathma within yourself. Dance is an experience - your experience in the journey toward the soul. So, perhaps the dancers could have gone that extra mile to put their mark or signature to their performance, to make it a unique experience for the audience. I dont say this as a dancer, but I say this as part of an audience. I might have not seen all the performances in the world, but I have seen enough to understand why some performances are an experience, and why some are just concerts.
So those were my thoughts. I am in NO WAY critiquing the performance. I am just sharing my thoughts on it. As a dancer myself, I have a LOT to learn, and every performance is a learning lesson for me; every performance I watch and every performance I do! A dancer grows not just by learning and performing more, but he or she grows more by watching, understanding and synthesizing what he or she learns from each performance that he or she watched. So, my advice to all the dancers out there like me, in fact, all the budding fine artists out there, please make an effort to watch others' performances. Only then you would be able to learn more. Well, I have more on that, which would pave way to another post! Stay tuned!
Until then,
XOXO,
Purple Poise
RECIPE: Pink Quickie - a Healthy and Easy Strawberry Milkshake - UPDATED!
UPDATE: A friend of mine suggested putting up some photos for the recipes, so I've added the snaps!
Okay, I know this is a really lame recipe to post, but its something to start with. And well, I've though of posting recipes as I make them, so it is more of a recipe-diary entry!
The color pink has always been associated with good health; you might have heard the phrase "In the pink of health". I imagine that this phrase came about by the general notion that healthy people are kind of pink in color! More specifically, if you pinch them, their skin turns a nice pink - to show very good blood flow. So pink means healthy, and now I have here a recipe for my Pink Quickie - a healthy and easy-to-make Strawberry Milkshake.
The ingredients are the ones you definitely have at home. And also, its healthy because it doesn't use ice-cream, like they make it conventionally.
SERVING SIZE: 2-3 Glasses
INGREDIENTS:
METHOD:
Add a bit of magic with these tips.
Try it out and let me know how it came out. Also, please feel free to throw in your ideas.
Waiting to hear from you,
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
Okay, I know this is a really lame recipe to post, but its something to start with. And well, I've though of posting recipes as I make them, so it is more of a recipe-diary entry!The color pink has always been associated with good health; you might have heard the phrase "In the pink of health". I imagine that this phrase came about by the general notion that healthy people are kind of pink in color! More specifically, if you pinch them, their skin turns a nice pink - to show very good blood flow. So pink means healthy, and now I have here a recipe for my Pink Quickie - a healthy and easy-to-make Strawberry Milkshake.
The ingredients are the ones you definitely have at home. And also, its healthy because it doesn't use ice-cream, like they make it conventionally.
SERVING SIZE: 2-3 Glasses
INGREDIENTS:
Strawberries - 12 nos. (small to medium sized)- Chilled Milk - 1 glass
- Ice cubes - 6-8 nos. (depends on the consistency you want)
- Sugar - 3-4 tbsp. (depends on how sweet you want it)
METHOD:
- Wash the strawberries and cut off the leaf heads.
- Put the strawberries into the blender along with the other ingredients.
- Blend all the ingredients together.
- Pour, sip and drink!
Add a bit of magic with these tips.
- The number of strawberries depends on how strong you want the flavor to be. Put more to get it more berry-ish.
- The number of ice-cubes and how you blend them would depend on the desired consistency. If you want the consistency to be smoothie-like, then you can just crush the ice separately, and just blend it slightly with the rest of the ingredients. If you want the shake to be thick and more milky, then put less ice.
- You can add in more fruits if you like, and even a bit of vanilla or some other essence. You can even try to spice it up with sprinkles of cinnamon or cardamom (Elaichi) powder.
- Substitute sugar with honey to make it a healthier drink.
Try it out and let me know how it came out. Also, please feel free to throw in your ideas.
Waiting to hear from you,
XOXO,
Purple Poise.
Purple drinks pink!
MMMmmmmmmmm....... Aahhhh.... Smack....
That was me relishing a cup of strawberry milkshake! Aah... Strawberries!! What would I do if the world were without them? I'd go red! No pun intended!
I didn't do much today, except go for work in the morning - hurriedly packing last night's left overs for lunch, and rushing to the Metro rail station to catch the train to my workplace at the Downtown Campus; only to return around lunch-time! Talk about ironies! And I ended up having "lunch" at 5 pm! Ha!
Okay. Now back to the milkshake. It isn't a real milkshake, rather its a modification, a much healthier mod! Hey, maybe I can post recipes of dishes I make! That's one way to keep a good post count! The recipe would be the next post! :)
Its 7:20 pm now. What do I do next? Oh yeah! Post the recipe for Healthy Strawberry Milkshake! Apparently, the mug in which I'm drinking is pink! So here's Purple Poise signing off, drinking the "pink" shake in a "pink" mug!
XOXO,
Pinked 'n' Pleasured
That was me relishing a cup of strawberry milkshake! Aah... Strawberries!! What would I do if the world were without them? I'd go red! No pun intended!
I didn't do much today, except go for work in the morning - hurriedly packing last night's left overs for lunch, and rushing to the Metro rail station to catch the train to my workplace at the Downtown Campus; only to return around lunch-time! Talk about ironies! And I ended up having "lunch" at 5 pm! Ha!
Okay. Now back to the milkshake. It isn't a real milkshake, rather its a modification, a much healthier mod! Hey, maybe I can post recipes of dishes I make! That's one way to keep a good post count! The recipe would be the next post! :)
Its 7:20 pm now. What do I do next? Oh yeah! Post the recipe for Healthy Strawberry Milkshake! Apparently, the mug in which I'm drinking is pink! So here's Purple Poise signing off, drinking the "pink" shake in a "pink" mug!
XOXO,
Pinked 'n' Pleasured
A new purple beginning!
Finally! I made it! So many of my friends asked me to start my journey in Blogosphere, and so here I am! There's a story behind how I started, though.
It was a lazy Thursday afternoon. I had just had my lunch - Onion Uthappam with Tomato Chutney, yes, I made them myself, except that I used a ready-made batter for the Uthappam. I was sitting on my red papasan chair, comfortably settled, and browsing through the world wide web with so many mixed thoughts in my head, and it suddenly occurred to me, why not weave a blog of my own?!
The next big moment was The Naming Ceremony! I was wondering what to name my blog. I wanted it to sound kind of dramatic - perhaps the influence of the drama in my life - and I also wanted it to relate to my life in the best possible way. I also wanted it to have a color's name in it, and the first color that popped in my mind was Purple! I knew purple meant royalty - I've always dreamt of marrying a prince - and for some reason, I always thought there was something magical about purple, and lo, what did the Google Magic Wand give me? What purple symbolizes! Here's what it said:
Okay, now I'll go on to the "Poise" part of it. I wanted the name to have a grace element to it, and so poise, also because it begins with "P", same as purple! I know, I know. You're like "Duh...."
What I intend to mean by "Purple Poise" is that, well, its a bit complicated. So here goes. I use purple to mean magical. One interpretation can be, that life, amidst all the ups and downs, still is graceful, magically! So, it isn't really graceful (You've heard of "life is tough") but is made graceful by some sort of magic, and this magic is nothing but the different elements of life itself. In short, life is poised, in spite of being tough, because of the toughness itself, which is unexplainable, thus magical or mysterious! What is life without all the drama in it?! So, get it? Another interpretation would be, it is somewhat similar to the first one, life is charming - there you go, charming has a bit of magic in it, and a bit of grace in it! So, graceful life is magical, poised life is purple, and hence, Purple Poise!
So that is the "magical" story behind the name of my blog!
Hmm... Here comes a weird phrase from the top of my head - Life is a magical phenomenon! Hehe!! I know, an oxymoron, sounds weird and makes no sense, yet makes sense!
Okay, I'm moving to the next part - setting up the layout. Honestly, it took me 4 hours to decide on a template, customize the colors and finally save the settings! I just couldn't make up my mind! But at any cost, I wanted to publish my blog. And so, I've set up this template; I tried to get a purple one, but couldn't find one, and I was too lazy to write a CSS of my own. So, in the near future, hopefully, I should upload my own template.
After I got the settings done, I sat down to write a post, when it was time to cook - it was my cooking turn. I made "Keerai Sambhar" (Spinach Sambhar) and Beans Poduthuval (or Poriyal). And it was time to eat! And finally, I started writing this first post, and now, its time to sign off!
So here is my blog, and it is here to stay, with Purple Poise!
XOXO,
Excited 'n' Exhausted.
It was a lazy Thursday afternoon. I had just had my lunch - Onion Uthappam with Tomato Chutney, yes, I made them myself, except that I used a ready-made batter for the Uthappam. I was sitting on my red papasan chair, comfortably settled, and browsing through the world wide web with so many mixed thoughts in my head, and it suddenly occurred to me, why not weave a blog of my own?!
The next big moment was The Naming Ceremony! I was wondering what to name my blog. I wanted it to sound kind of dramatic - perhaps the influence of the drama in my life - and I also wanted it to relate to my life in the best possible way. I also wanted it to have a color's name in it, and the first color that popped in my mind was Purple! I knew purple meant royalty - I've always dreamt of marrying a prince - and for some reason, I always thought there was something magical about purple, and lo, what did the Google Magic Wand give me? What purple symbolizes! Here's what it said:
And hey! Today is Thursday! The day I was completely motivated to start blogging! And know what? I am wearing a purple tops! I know, lame! But hey, cut me some slack! I'm a newbie blogger!
"Purple is the color of good judgment. It is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a good color to use in meditation.
Purple has been used to symbolize magic and mystery, as well as royalty. Being the combination of red and blue, the warmest and coolest colors, purple is believed to be the ideal color. Most children love the color purple. Purple is the color most favored by artists. Thursday's color is purple."
Okay, now I'll go on to the "Poise" part of it. I wanted the name to have a grace element to it, and so poise, also because it begins with "P", same as purple! I know, I know. You're like "Duh...."
What I intend to mean by "Purple Poise" is that, well, its a bit complicated. So here goes. I use purple to mean magical. One interpretation can be, that life, amidst all the ups and downs, still is graceful, magically! So, it isn't really graceful (You've heard of "life is tough") but is made graceful by some sort of magic, and this magic is nothing but the different elements of life itself. In short, life is poised, in spite of being tough, because of the toughness itself, which is unexplainable, thus magical or mysterious! What is life without all the drama in it?! So, get it? Another interpretation would be, it is somewhat similar to the first one, life is charming - there you go, charming has a bit of magic in it, and a bit of grace in it! So, graceful life is magical, poised life is purple, and hence, Purple Poise!
So that is the "magical" story behind the name of my blog!
Hmm... Here comes a weird phrase from the top of my head - Life is a magical phenomenon! Hehe!! I know, an oxymoron, sounds weird and makes no sense, yet makes sense!
Okay, I'm moving to the next part - setting up the layout. Honestly, it took me 4 hours to decide on a template, customize the colors and finally save the settings! I just couldn't make up my mind! But at any cost, I wanted to publish my blog. And so, I've set up this template; I tried to get a purple one, but couldn't find one, and I was too lazy to write a CSS of my own. So, in the near future, hopefully, I should upload my own template.
After I got the settings done, I sat down to write a post, when it was time to cook - it was my cooking turn. I made "Keerai Sambhar" (Spinach Sambhar) and Beans Poduthuval (or Poriyal). And it was time to eat! And finally, I started writing this first post, and now, its time to sign off!
So here is my blog, and it is here to stay, with Purple Poise!
XOXO,
Excited 'n' Exhausted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
