Change of Heart

You know that feeling – when someone tells you about something (or someone else) and you just nod and follow along? When you know that a lot of people think agree – that thing (or person) is phenomenal, but you don’t seem to agree. And then comes one day, when you happen to experience it first-hand, and your mind is blown away.

In an instant, you realize that you were wrong after all and become a convert?

Well – I don’t know whether (or how often) have you experienced this… Me – I listened to Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” yesterday.

Melodies

This last weekend was fairly hectic for us. We went out shopping, had a leisurely lunch, drank good coffee, baked a cake.. the works.

We also attended a birthday party.

It was in a bowling alley, and the host had reserved three lanes. The kids were all happy, and I don’t think anyone bothered whose name showed up on the screen above – they just grabbed balls and threw them as and when and where they could.

Above the lanes, speakers adorned the rafters. Spread out everywhere, they were belting songs from the 80s. Some of the ones I remember:

• Eye of the tiger
• Dancing Queen
• Brother Louie
• etc.

All wonderful songs, and they brought back memories of my childhood, when I would swap audio cassette tapes with my friend DSP (and occasionally Jayvijay).

Back home, late in the evening, I turned on Pandora. My default radio station there is “R. D. Burman”, and I was treated to songs from

• Sagar
• Hare Krishna Hare Rama
• Ijaazat
• Aandhi

What can I say? The 70s/80s aren’t revered for a trivial reason.

Nice and clean

Kenosha pass, fall of 2011. The bright red & yellow leaves all around us, and the white aspens providing a splendid contrast. I took out my camera & tripod, and started shooting away to glory.

Sqauw Pass Road, fall of 2011. Once again, we hiked into the forest, and I started clicking away.

And many other, similar, incidents.

When I look back at these pictures, here’s what I see:

1. Experiments with shutter speed
2. Experiments with depth of field
3. Lots of background clutter where I try for a shallow depth of field

Sure, there are a few snaps that are good – but there’s a feeling that I am missing something. I think it’s time to start experimenting with bright colors and clean, sharp lines. Time to experiment with images that bleed outside the boundary.

And I believe that my pictures are ready for some negative space.

Bad Parenting

Yesterday my infant son met his first American doctor – so far he has only had appointments with pediatricians in India. The doctor went over his records, vaccination schedule and advised the nurse about the shots to be administered. Then, it was time for some Q&A.

After speaking to the doctor for about 15 min, realization hit my wife – we are bad parents! At least, that’s what the doctor thinks:

1. We feed the baby whenever he’s hungry, not at predetermined intervals that are convenient to us
2. Not only do we sleep in the same bedroom as him, but when he cries in the night, we console him and put him to bed again – instead of let him cry himself to sleep
3. And worst of all – we spend too much time with him, instead of having him spend time in a day-care center

It looks like the doctor doesn’t agree with what we consider to be “Good Parenting”. After deliberating about this, my wife and I have finally reached the inevitable conclusion – we need to change doctors.

Bad Throat

A few weeks ago, my throat rebelled against me. In the beginning I thought that it was an infection, and fought back with syrups, gargles and the like. But two weeks later, I finally gave up and paid a visit to the doctor.

He looked into my throat and nose and declared that it was not an infection after all – just a very dry throat. A lot of hydration, regular flushing of my nose & continued gargles should be enough.

“Colorado does that to you,” he said. And to confirm his hypothesis, asked whether I had trouble swallowing.

I replied in the affirmative – for even the smallest thing caused me a lot of trouble. Banana slices, cream cheese, even sips of water would result in excruciating pain for an instant.

But then if you are used to swallowing your pride, there’s nothing else that you cannot.

A tough choice

Should you do:

1. What you want to do?
2. What you think your audience wants you to do?
3. What your audience actually wants?

It’s a tough choice, isn’t it? I think the best thing that can happen is for #1 and #3 to coincide.

My fingers are crossed.

Thought for the day

If a deja-vu happens to you all over again… and again… and again…

What do you call it?

..

..

I don’t think I need to name it, though. “Yet another deja-vu” is good enough for me.