Look what I found!

Do you remember this photograph? I found it with Vini. I dont know how it got there and she couldnt remember either. Thought that it would bring a smile back on your faces. We looked so different, didnt we? Nads, you and Mashantakka, are the ones who look more or less the same. Pa and Ma had obviously already been to Kathmandu as the cane backed painting of the cranes is already up on the wall.

Tags:

• early days
• ujwala
• family

Pawan left

Pawan left
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

this work remained incomplete and is by now back to clay. i couldnt take a mould as i hadnt finished it so i decided to take some photos instead as a keepsake.

Satya Narayana Pooja

Emailing: Satya Narayana Pooja
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

We performed Satya Narayana Pooja today at Ved Vyas Bhavan. About 100 persons participated. It went off very well.

Paintings by the Jayaramans

Ramesh's mum and dad both made a painting each during their recent trip to Delhi. I wish they'd managed to do more. The painting of the bride has been made by his mum and the landscape by his dad. For his dad this was his first oil painting and he really enjoyed making it. Ramesh's mum has made a few more in the recent past.

FoodieView - The Recipe Search Engine

Nadio this one is for you :D. It's a search engine specialising in locating food recipes. happy hunting!

The Principal - Pen and Ink

Ramesh one of our teachers has been working on Pen and Ink studies in classs while we have been struggling with our Portrait exercise. I've been sorely tempted to copy him but decided that maybe i should do them at home :p. Made this one and one more of me last night in my sketchbook. Mr Vijaymohan's I have made using a photograph taken in class a few days ago as a reference.

Self Portraits

I've put below the new self portrait below along with 3 more that i had made earlier. One difference is that this one and the one right at the bottom are from a photographs and the two sandwiched in between were with the help of a mirror. Which one do you vote for? And of course you have to choose one :D I showed sango the middle one when she was here a week ago. She said that there was a lot of likeness except for the nose. She thought that i was trying to be kind to myself by drawing a smaller nose than the one that i had!! :D

Mariam has finally gone and.....

Mariam has finally gone and
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Iti, Mariam and Jasmine

.......... we now have Jasmine. The girl sitting on the far right. It's still the settling in period for her. A bit of a shirker but as Ramesh says we might as well put up with her as we have her for just a short while more. Till we move!!

Life Drawing with the Principal

3rd Week with the Principal
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

One week has extended to 3 and we're having a great time learning the basics of proportion both for figure and portrait drawing. Havent quite mastered it but the fundas are clearer.

Yoga, Religion and Philosophy

This site has a lot of books on/from the Sivananda School of Yoga in pdf format ready for download. And I have downloaded a few to see what they are like. Will keep you'll posted.

Mummy's 70th Birthday

Mummy's 70th Birthday
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

Here's a photo taken on mummy's 70th birthday.

PXN8.COM - Photos Made Easy

I had recommended another site a while back and later on, while trying it, I discovered that they expected you to email your photographs to them and they would correct them for a fee!!

Well this one is just what you need. upload your photograph from your desktop or Flickr account and make some basic changes - rotating, lighten, brighten, change contrast, crop, red eye reduction, teeth whitening :P etc.. I tried it out with a photograph of mine from Flickr. Nice Results. And like quite a few other things on the web nowadays it is free :)

Papa

Papa
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

I'm sure all of you'll (including mama) will agree that her picture was a better attempt. well, i hadnt done any for quite a few days and decided that i must start again. There are a couple more picts at Flickr. Click on the photo to get there.

Anniversary Photos

Anniversary Photos
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

Here are couple of photos taken on Nov. 23rd, on our wedding anniversary

Anniversary Photos

Anniversary Photos
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

Here are a couple of photos taken on Nov. 23rd, on our wedding anniversary

IVR Cheat Sheet

Paul English of Kayak.com has put together a page which gives you the methods to bypass the recorded voice messages and get directly to an attendant for various companies. The tel. nos and the methods have been given. Nanda, Gala - I thought that this would be of interest to you.

The Jayaramans visit

Photos taken by Ramesh's Dad during their visit to Delhi. I took this one of the two sisters :D

Konkan Recipes??

They've listed the bunch as udupi but phanne and valli etc. all sounded like konkani to me. You might like to try out some.

Gautham

Gautham
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Got this from Vivek earlier on in the evening. He is looking so adorable that I couldnt resist posting it for you guys to see!

Digital Photography Composition Tips

I dont think i've put up this link earlier but i've put one from this site on use of histograms to correct your photos. this technique is very very useful in sorting out exposure problems on photos and is the one standard technique that i use to make my pictures better. all you need to do is move the sliders till you are satisfied with your picts. anyway, i'm rambling, this one is on composition. enjoy!

Hyderabadi Kachche Gosht ki Biryani

A really detailed recipe in making kachche gosht ki biryani. I'm very sure that i want to try it out! Maybe this evening? Let's see if I can organize some meat by then. actually it would have to be tomorrow cause the meat needs to be marinated overnight. Thought that you guys maybe interested. have a look.

Aditya and Diya Sikand

Aditya and Diya
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Asked Dipa to send me a recent pictuer of her kids. Thought that you guys would like the update too.

Bali Boy

Bali Boy
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

come see the new bunch on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ujwala

left profile

left profile
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

We have 3 days for making this portrait. very tight schedule. 2 days are up and i hope i complete it tomorrow. we start on our second portrait on tuesday. I've messed up quite a bit but i guess i'm being easy on myself as it is my first bust. I shall put a picture of the model. just cant locate it at the moment. my model seems to be looking up and the reason for that is that the stand i have is too tall for me... i think... anyway more later. looking forward to some feedback.

Imagination Cubed

This is cool. Looks like GE is hosting this site and drawing application. I shall put up my doodle as soon as i receive the copy that i emailed to myself! Try it out. It's fun!

Great Book Recommendations

All you avid readers are sure to enjoy this one. Feed in the names of a few books and it suggests the names of books that you would like to read. This seems to me to be similar to Amazons recommendations and it is based on the data given by other users of this service. if their suggestions are ones that you have already read add them to your list and look for more. I've just fed in about 10 books and got a nice list of suggestions from the site. Let me know if it helps you find a good book.

Year by Year: 1900-2004

Lots of information available at this site - almanacs, dictionary, thesaurus etc.. i was sent a link for the year by year details and out of curiosity checked out the events that had happened the year that I was born. It is mostly US based but I thought that maybe you would like to check it out too.

New Recipes at Rasbhara

Some new recipes at Rasbhara. If you try any of them out do send me feedback. And mama i'm looking forward to getting some photographs to go with the recipes.


Check them out at Rasbhara Recipes

Nanda

Nanda
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Nads what do you think? i know it doesnt look too much like you but i'm just beginning.


there are some more photos that i've put up at flickr.... will put the paintings up by the end of the month.
Flickr - Ujwala's Photos

Mama

Mama
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Did one of ma last night. I wanted to do a drawing but then this photograph was handier. Ma do you like it?

Gala sketch

I seem to be making her nose progressively larger :P notice any improvement in the last one year?

Posted on October 30, 2004

Gala sketch
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

using pa's account to blog this pict... coz the photos are on his desktop.

have been wanting to try this pict out during this holiday but wanted to do it once gala left! did it finally yesterday evening. what do you think? any likeness?

Seven Technologies That Change Everything

This article by Om Malik in Business 2.0 makes an interesting read. T'will give you a quick headsup on new and emerging technologies. Some you use and are not aware of like AJAX. Have a look.

Shrinivasbhavji in Bhatkal

Shrinivasbhavji in Bhatkal
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

We had a good time in Bhatkal

Simply Recipes

Food and Cooking Blog
Fabulous looking site. Categories based on main ingredient as well as meal time. Check it out. Also has links to many other Food sites in the sidebar.

Outing with the Dalals

Outing with the Dalals
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Have put this up on Nanda's behalf. I'm still waiting for the one with all of them in the photo. Shall change this then.

EG2:13 Front 2

EG2:13 Front 2
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

I had posted a picture of the front of the house sometime back. Forgot then about this one.

The room on the top left with the windows open is our den. I'm currently sitting at the desk typing away :D

The window to the right of it belongs to the guest room and the windows below the kitchen, which is just above the garage.

Create PDF's for free

there are times when you need to send a document and you're not sure if the recipient has the same application, as you, to open the doc that's when sending it in pdf format comes in handy. here's a site which does it for you.

Sangeeta

Sangeeta
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Charcoal and Chalk from a photograph. Not a very accurate rendering. Better than my earlier efforts - I think.

Jisho - The Japanese English Dictionary

Looks like a very nice, detailed japanese / english dictionary with the japanese word also in (romaji) english script. Unfortunately it is for mac only.

Plantraco's RTF Butterfly - Fly in your Livingroom!

Imagine flying a little plane in your living room and controlling it with a remote! Would make a neat toy for a boy but a it's a bit expensive at 250usd.

Pathshala

Pathshala
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

These little girls look absolutely adorable. They are sitting at one of the entrances to the college courtyard. I pass them every day both to
class and back. I'm enjoying the college experience very much.

Ramesh Sleeping

Ramesh Sleeping
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

This is the homework that I worked on over the weekend. Ramesh is fidgety even while sleeping!! Tell me what you think.

Baba

Baba
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

First week at college was spent drawing and the second week doing this oil painting. His left leg is tooooo long, that I can see. The teacher worked on his face and then I tried to change it and messed it up a bit. All comments welcome :D

Histogram Tips

I think we've all wanted to adjust / correct some of the digital photos that we've taken which were too dark or too bright. One way of sorting that out is using histograms in your photo application. Here are some tips on understanding and using histograms. Do check it out. I used histograms to correct Ramesh's b'day snaps which were a bit too dark. I cant say that I've cracked it but it did make 90% of the snaps look way better - you can now actually see faces!!

The Digital Photography Blog has several other wonderful tips on composition etc. Do take a look when you find the time.

Delivr Digital Postcards

Will send you'll postcards as soon as the search Flickr option starts working.

"Digital postcards for the people by
the people...just select an image from the most recent displayed on the home page, search
all 600,000 images*, or lookup your own pix to create a unique custom postcards."

FREE PHOTO EDITING ONLINE

This seems like an interesting site. I will try it out over the coming weekend and update this post.

Oops! It isnt done automatically online. You need to mail your photograph to the website owners. They will decide whether to adjust the photograph for free or charge you a sum. Sounds highly avoidable! Just forget it.

RJ's B'day Picts

RJ's B'day
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Took too long but a few are finally up! Click on the header to check them out.

Memory Master Main Menu

Looks interesting. Will give you'll an update once I go through it. I certainly wouldnt mind a bit of an improvement in the Memory department.

Google Maps Plugin - Brian Toth

Galsu - this ones just for you! You have a Mac and you live in a place that Google has maps for! do try and set it up on your home machine.

Arrived safely!

Arrived safely!
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Got in yesterday. Jayant met up with us at the airport and took us home. We slept for a bit and then had a lazy evening at home. Went to the bank to finish some work and to some malls and ended the day up with a wonderful foot massage. Jayants brilliant idea.

Hilsa Huggi

Hilsa Huggi
Originally uploaded by Prabhu.

This is one absolutely fabulous recipe from mummy. Enjoy!!

Recipe took more than the day or two that I had promised back in October - Sorry!

Tried the Recipe out on the Mehra family last Sunday. Everybody liked it and it's very easy and you may want to try it out too.

I used a kilo of King Fish (Surmai) instead of Hilsa. Apparently it is a sea fish. As it was a large fish, I could easily get it deboned.

Ingredients - 1kg fish, 1 coconut grated, 12-15 whole red chillies, one tspn of imli, 10-15pcs of Tirphal (must have ingredient), 2 tspns of salt

Method - Put the Tirphals in some water in a small bowl and set aside, cut the fish into approx 1 and 1/2" cubes, apply haldi and salt liberally and set aside, grind the coconut, red chillis, imli, salt into a rough paste, add the water in the tirphal bowl while grinding, pound the wet tirphal seeds and add to the masala, wash the salt and haldi off the fish pieces and mix in with the masala in a bowl.

Set the oven to 200deg or cake baking strength :P, take a oven proof dish and spread a thin layer of oil to prevent the huggi from sticking to its surface, spread the fish and masala evenly in a single layer, add in the remaining masala into the gaps, put in oven for half an hour, check after 20 mins to see that the top is not getting too dark, if it is and the fish is cooked (feel with fork) shut oven and leave inside.

Serve Hot.

posted at Rasbhara Recipes too

On the Go with Blogger Mobile

Gals, Nada - you guys have MMS on your phones right? Quite a few US Mobile Service Providers are listed including Verizon and T-Mobile. Please sign up and send photos from your phones to the blog. :P I am not giving up as yet!

BackPack - your online organizer

backpack_logo-small
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

This allows you to have your ToDo list and notes online hence, accessible anywhere. It also sends you automatic emails (sms in the case of the us and a few other countries/service providers) for reminders. It even allows for collaboration - sharing etc. Try it out.

Erma Bombeck

Got this one from gals.

In honor of women's history month and in memory of Erma Bombeck.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the
earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it
melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was
stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried
much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the
fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about
his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer
day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more
while watching life. I would never have bought anything just because it
was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a
lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished
every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the
only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later.
Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love
you's." More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every
minute...look at it and really see it .. live it and never give it
back.

Stop sweating the small stuff.

Titles of some of her books
1. The Grass is Always Greener over the Septic Tank
2. If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I doing in the Pits?
3. Family - The Ties that Bind ... and Gag!
4. Motherhood - The Second Oldest Profession
5. Just Wait Till you have Children of your Own!

Garden Estate, Gurgaon

EG2:13 Front 1
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

The weather was truly gorgeous this morning. It had cooled down considerably as it started drizzling. Decided to run down and take a few pictures to send to you all. This has been taken from across the road on the left side. Some more details when you click on the photograph.

Sculpture

Atal 2 - low relief
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

I've worked on 5 pieces so far. The first one was almost completely made by the teacher! Sadly other than the first none of the others have dried well. Each and everyone of them is broken. Actually the last one we will have to wait and see as it is as yet incomplete. It's different from the other as it's a high relief. I really never thought much of faces in 3D mostly coz you usually see them in photographs. I'm using magazine covers for references hence the large no. of politicians!

Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clicking on the header above will take you to an article on Hinduism on the Wikipedia which has been compiled through group effort and you can go and submit changes if you find any of the facts are incorrect or you want to add something to the article. Most words will have links which will take you to new pages which have more details on the word/subject clicked.

and the link below will take you to the main wikipedia site.
Wikipedia, the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. In this English version, started in 2001, we are currently working on 546046 articles.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Creating and Maintaining Terrariums, Landscapes in Miniature

A Terrarium as defined by the Columbia Univ Press Dictionary
a miniature garden in an artificial environment, in which small plants and animals may be kept as ornament or for educational purposes. Fish bowls, small fish tanks, large bottles, and carboys are often employed as containers for terrariums; such vessels permit the necessary entrance of light for photosynthesis by the plants, and are suitable for display. The most important aspect of a terrarium is its relatively high humidity, maintained either by using a container with only a small aperture or by keeping the container covered. The humid atmosphere enables mosses and other sensitive woodland plants to flourish.

I've been thinking of trying this out for a while. The advantage is that since it is sort of sealed, it needs to be watered once every 2-3weeks!! Currently I'm trying to grow a Green Chilli Plant. Not in a Terrarium as yet! Ma, do you want to try it out?? The Aquarium is still at home isnt it? I shall keep you'll posted if I start one.

My Collection of Recipes

Only 6 Recipes so far and no photographs of the dishes but those will come by and by. Till then let me know which other ones you'd like to see here and send me some of those that you've collected for me to put up here for all of us.

CHOCOLATE MATH

YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH
DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute ....
Work this out as you read ...
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!   This is
not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would !
like to have chocolate  (more than once but less than 10)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator .
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1755 ....  If you
haven't, add 1754.
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.
You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number
(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).
The next two numbers are
YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)
THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2005) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND
WHILE IT LASTS.

Gregory H. Largent
Church website  www.firstchurchsaginaw.org

2 weeks of South Beach finish today!

I'm below 70. well just about and pretty proud of myself for having survived. Lost about 3 kgs which is not much but a good start. Now that I go into the next phase the w.loss is going to be much much slower. so expect me to be on a diet for the rest of the year at least!!

Jag Mandir, Udaipur - Elephants

Elephants
Originally uploaded by Dey.

Saw this wonderful picture and gals i had two thoughts
1. that you might enjoy it
and
2. you might have some similar picts from your wedding that i could use for my paintings :P

CIOL : Accenture buys Capgemini health arm

Well the news has reached the papers in New Delhi too. For details click on the header.

101 Cookbooks

here's what looks to be a promising site... for nado...

Epicurious.com: the World's Greatest Recipe Collection

Nado you've been to this site right? If not, check it out. Ma and Pa you might want to check out the other one that nado recommended Bawarchi A site for indian recipes...

Going on a Diet - The Glycemic Index

Eat food with low glycemic index and low glycemic load. Pa this is the advise for people with diabetes as well as a part of the diet program for those who want to lose weight. Gals you might also want to take a look at these pages which give a listing of food with these indexes. What i found interesting is that they have a listing for Indian food like dosa, idli, chapatti, daal etc. I'm planning on starting the South Beach Diet from tomorrow. I have a copy of the book that Pa bought for me last year.
For the record... 72.5Kgs

Gujrathi Kadhi

Welcome to Sify.com
Nado has tried this recipe out and highly recommends it. I thought that Pa and Ma might want to check it out too.

Smile, You're on Liquid Camera

This is drool worthy. Looks like a good technology to look out for. Foveon the other technology hasnt come up as much as I had thought. I hope this doesnt fall on the wayside too.

Watching Farida Khanum Live!

click on the headline to get the full article at The Hindu : Life Delhi : The diva keeps a promise
Wow! What a truly wonderful treat it was. And I had to push myself to leave before it ended. She has a wonderful voice - truly. She e'en sang my favourite - Uzr aane mein bhi hai. If ever you get the chance, grab it and go watch her. This is one of the things that I like about Delhi. Easy access to concerts. This one was my fourth! .... and so far the best!!

Guess Who?

Part of the paintings that I did while at the hotel in Delhi. I'm waiting for Broadband to upload the others. First person to guess correctly will get super brownie points! This was (is??) RJ's favourite.

Save your favorite show forever!

5451347468167779
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

this one is for Galu...
Bit of an exaggeration... here's instructions on how you can use the new Tivo to go option to transfer programs that you want to save to your computer allowing you save more stuff on your Tivo!! have fun!
(as always click on the header to go to the site with the info.)

eBook: Learning Digital Photography

Aperture and Depth of Field
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

This an entire book on Learning Digital Photography on the Net. Available to you, free, to read at your leisure. You will find details about using a digital camera, about the various settings and then how to make corrections to the pictures that you've already taken. I thought that Mummy might like to spend some time reading this and trying it out on some photos.

Photography Tips

canon_title
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Even though this is a site for their Digital Rebel camera, you will find a lot of useful tips and tricks for using your Digital Camera. have a look.

HallMark eCards

latest_greatest
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

Got this really cute hallmark b'day ecard from Gala 'n Rajeev. T'was my first hallmark one. Check it out you might like to use it the next time you send out a card. You'll find some really nice ones.

PMA

pmalogo
Originally uploaded by HughPee.

This is the place to check out all the new camera announcements for 2005 and the place to check how much the prices of earlier models have dropped. Nanda, Gala do check it out.