Food Blogs, and Why I Hate Them!... a.k.a Okay, I Actually Love Them Too Much!

Okay, I have an obsession (this blog just got dangerously personal...)...staring at food...there I said it! People make food, eat food, sell food, buy food, design food, sculpt food...I just stare at it. At the lovely colors, the lovely food photography, the chocolate cake that I can almost taste off the book or computer screen, the roasted chicken I can almost smell in that scrumptiously lighted photograph...

And the best place to appease the hunger pangs coming out of my eyes? Food blogs!! I don't know why I had to say that with double exclamation points, since food blogs are a dime a dozen these days...! exclamation point! (I seem to use a lot of these nowadays, probably because I can't believe myself half the time?? Question marks?

Okay, help me out people...don't tell me no one else in the entire blogosphere has this obsession??...come on!!! Okay, I hear you back there...thanks for the support.

Anyway, I have, like, tons of them subscribed on my reader, and bookmarked left and right, that it takes me hours, every night, to finish oggling at the food. Some recipes, like a few, ...okay, maybe 1 or 2 in the entire time I've been reading these food blogs... I have tried to make. Others, I simply look at, and wish someone would make them for me...not make by myself, mind you...but that someone would bake me that cake, roast me that chicken, saute that asparagus, get me that doughnut, give me that cookie, brew me that coffee...you get the idea .....  siiiiiiiiiighghghghgh! I am really sad now...

But WHY? Why do you obsess over food blogs? Why do you do it? My answer, (channeling Isla Fisher here), "Because when I obsess over food blogs, the world is a better place". Camera zooming in on dreamy eyes (mine), shocked expression on face (yours), violin playing a slow tune, rising to a crescendo (orchestra...Hey, who invited them?!?!)... surreality follows...

So, maybe I am no expert when it comes to blogging (I totally wrote 'globbing' just now...probably delirium from staring at all that sugar!), but these are some of the best food blogs out there...take a peek, and hope you can never look away...and Hey! if you cook some of the food you see here, be nice and send me a sampler, or a big package...I'm not picky that way!

Bakerella You have got to be from some other galaxy, if you are a foodie and haven't heard about this lovely lady. She stands for all that is sweet and cute...lotsa sweet, but the cuteness...ooohhhh, I feel faint already!!

The Pioneer Woman I wish I was one of her kids, no seriously...Ree, will you adopt me...like, not for always, or anything...but only for meal times...please...Pretty PLLLLeeaaaassssse?!?!?  Could I have your Cinnamon Rolls just once, please? Then I can die peacefully... Reader, go to her website, click on the 'Cooking' link, and stay there!

SmittenKitchen The only food blog whose name is a warning of your fate once you start reading the posts! I am smitten, absolutely smitten! There is always a jaw-dropping picture smack in the middle of the page, and...well, that's usually as far as I get! Her recipes list is so long, you could put on weight just by reading it! And I am smitten...but I already said that... Go get smitten, people! You know you want to...after this picture....

Joy the Baker Can't argue with that! What an appropriate name! What joy at looking at all those good eats, and that fabulous personality! I love the little bees buzzing around on her blog...I mean, who can resist food like that, right?

Two Boos Who Eat A lovely couple who love good food, how simple yet yummy can it get?! And they like to stay healthy...important if you have all this yummy-ness going on!

Love and Olive Oil And while we are on the 'couples' thing, these guys are pretty cool, too! Love and Olive Oil, two very healthy, very 'good for you' things...I can't complain about this visual either!

Multiply Delicious Really huge, mouthwatering pictures of food, and this Heath Bar Chocolate Trifle pretty much did it for me! I'm a a fan for life! Mommy Heather and her family of 4, cute family picture, adorable babies, yummy color-scheme,  - win, win, win!!

Fancy That...Fancy This Ameena Din's awesome humor, her cute little baby girl, her humor, her interesting food choices, equally interesting rants about the furniture, and humor! She has some good recipes too! But best of all, she has visited my blog..Yaaay! I have 1 reader that other people recognize!!!!

And, finally, Dad~Baker & Chef Super Dad who makes the best Chocolate Mousse in the whole world, on short-order? Bakes awesome birthday cakes? Cooks delicious Indian cuisine? Takes on a Daring Baker Challenge? Check, check, check, and check...Guilty on ALL counts of Awesomeness! Sheesh, I envy the kids!

Okay, now that I am sufficiently miserable knowing what I'm missing, I will proceed to share the miserableness with my family through dinner...Actually, I am not that bad a cook, just not 'Food Blog' material...so, I wrote this post to get some of that awesomeness onto my blog!!

Enjoy... But first, tell me, do you know of any good food blogs out there? Or do you have one of your own?...Tell me in your comments; I would love to visit!

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I have entered this post in "Things I Love Thursday" over at TheDiaperDiaries. Go on over, and join the party!

"Baby Einstein Made My Child Dumb"! Yeah, Right!

Learning begins at home. I am a staunch believer of that view point, and take my responsibility as my daughter's first teacher very seriously. My husband and I try to fill our house with fun-yet-educational toys, lot of colorful books, and educational DVDs. Debbie is perfectly happy looking at her books or playing with her toys. She also has loads of time to play outdoors, and loves running around the house hollering and chasing a ball as much as playing a tame game of 'cooking' indoors.

She is also a BIG FAN of children's videos on YouTube, and educational DVDs. She loves Baby Einstein videos, Sesame Street songs, Dora the Adventurer (her favorite!), and anything with lots of toys or animals, colors, and loud music! I admit that I have a very selfish reason for letting her watch them... that's the only time I can get her to stop hating food long enough to eat it!! Don't get me wrong, we do have really fun eating time, when we don't watch TV and concentrate on finishing what's on the plate. Debbie can feed herself, and she does enjoy doing it. But sometimes, she gets it into her head that she can live on love and fresh air! and there is nothing a mother can do to change her mind... other than switching on the computer or the television...

Apart from the obvious value of these videos and DVDs (!), I really believe they are useful to a child's learning process. Which is why I was shocked at the study published by the University of Washington, that the Baby Einstein DVDs make children... dumb... (to be very blunt)! The study says:

The scientists found that for every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them. Baby DVDs and videos had no positive or negative effect on the vocabularies on toddlers 17 to 24 months of age.

Well, I don't know about that. Baby Einstein videos have pictures of these large and colorful toys in the shape of animals and other shapes that a child needs to learn about. I think it is much better to let a child learn the names of shapes, animals, fruits, vegetables etc. through song, music and fun than through getting a book out, pointing at objects and loudly repeating the names!

And anyway, unless parents simply dump their children in front of a TV or computer for hours together, I don't think these DVDs are going to do any major damage. If parents want to take the easy way out and let their children watch TV all day, I think the children were destined for limited intelligence, DVDs on not! As a parent, it is my responsibility to decide how much time my child watches videos, how much reading time she gets, and how she learns about the world. If I go wrong with my planning, I don't think I have the right to blame any one else for my bad judgment.

The Baby Einstein Company seems to be doing something good for children across the world. They are parents too, so I am guessing they must possess some parenting experience! Give them a break! Come on!! They are normal parents who decided to make a fun video for their kids... we're blaming them that they did not do their research?!!? Ok, so the scientists who made nuclear bombs do a lot of research, so I guess wiping away an entire country is acceptable... I mean, criticising their work is one thing, but thinking people deserve a refund!?!?! Really now!

Too many people now are looking to shift the blame on some one else for just about anything. If your baby is not an Einsten before he is 2, maybe that DVD is to blame; if your boy is roughing up classmates in school, maybe the teachers are to blame; if your child broke the law, maybe the society is to blame... when a person commits murder, maybe the people who ignored him at work are to blame...

When did mistakes stop depending on the wrong choices a person made, and start depending on everybody else's behavior? When do WE take responsibility for our mistakes? And when will we teach our children that when they become adults, THEY are answerable for their mistakes, and that they cannot shift the blame?

I for one cannot believe that some DVD is being blamed for children's lack of learning. What do you think?

Wolfram Alpha - Alpha? Really?

The Wolfram Alpha, launched on May 15, 2009, claims to be a computational engine that has all the answers to your queries.  It has initiated much discussion on whether it will kill Google, taking over as the ultimate search engine, or will simply be a ‘nerdy’ assistant on someone’s science project.

The Atlantic carries an article on the useful features of Wolfram Alpha, and how it really provides answers while search engines like Google and Kosmix only claim to do so.  The writer says that Google only shows us the direction to pages that it thinks are relevant.

ZDNet wonders if Wolfram Alpha is a Wikipedia Killer, while SearchEngineLand.com says that WA is what they would call “Un-Google”. Pretty high praise, also seconded by ITProPortal.com and DailySEOblog.com.

Others are not so sure.  Epicenter says WA simply fails the cool test.  Ryan Singel describes it as “the nerdy kid the other kids only talk to when they need help with a physics exam…”!  I have to agree on that.  WA brings up only facts and figures, no matter what the search term is.  Google, on the other hand, brings up results from all spectrums, from facts and trivia to entertainment and Twitter updates.  If facts are all you want, we do have Wikipedia, which is the input of many people, whereas WA is one entity’s research.  Blogs.com says that Wolfram Alpha is a huge nerd, in spite of its winning computation moments.

Mashable’s post on Wolfram Alpha lists out 5 things that WA does better than Google: complex queries, localization, precision, calculation, and comparison.  I can only imagine a silver-haired science professor working on his post-doctoral, staring with admiration at Wolfram Alpha, lapping up the facts and figures it doles out.  I simply cannot picture me or any other Internet surfer looking for some normal useful info on Wolfram Alpha.

So, who is WA for? CNet News carries the comments of some users who say that WA is for ‘the tech crowd – the kind of people who want to dig into the data’.  Another user says he would not recommend it to normal users as WA is very picky about search terms and accuracy of words and spellings, which difficulty you would never face on Google (italics is mine).

In a lighter vein, one user says how he entered his own name into Wolfram Alpha, and the engine responded with a very curt “Wolfram Alpha isn’t sure what to do with your input”!  I received the same response when I searched for this 'Ad Libitum', whereas on Google I would have found my Twitter account, a post from this blog, and at least one other human being who has a blog with the same name.

In conclusion, go to Wolfram Alpha by all means, but only when you have some serious facts and figures to crunch, or when your science paper is due tomorrow.  For a more thorough search of the entire online world use Google, or if you want them arranged according to your interests, use Kosmix.  If you want a scholarly look at the topic, look up Wikipedia.

Wolfram Alpha has a long way to go if it wants to nudge out these big fellas…!

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Other sites I referred to:

Technology Review

Geeks are Sexy

LockerGnome.com

Kosmix.com: Searches Everything!

I came across Kosmix.com on a blog post today. This is a search engine that is completely different from Google. It organizes the search page into topics like Reference, Media, News & Blogs etc. When you search a term, the results are arranged again as Twitter feeds (which I totally loved!), online discussions, Q&As, Videos and more. At one glance, I had it all. It is easy to use, and a refreshing change from Google.

Okay, I am not saying that Google is no good. I love Google search, and it is absolutely my browser homepage. Still, I am happy I found Kosmix.

Kosmix.com was founded by Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman. These guys also created Junglee, a shopping search engine (!!) which was later bought by Amazon.com.

So, these guys are all about search engines with a difference. You'll understand that from the article on Wikipedia. Well, I recommend this search engine, so that you can get a different perspective of things. Check it out and tell me all about it.

The Lake House

I saw the movie The Lake House. Those who do not like a good, soppy, sobby, predictable romance.... stop reading. You might give your self a hemorrhage! Those who love the stuff just described, join the club!

Why am I like this ?I love soppy romances. As soon as I see the font of the Movie Title, the name of the lead characters and listen to the opening music, I can more or less predict that it is going to be a romance movie. Then, fifteen minutes into the movie, I can usually predict what's going to happen, how exactly the hero and the heroine are going to cross paths, and whether they are going to get along. Then, even worse, one hour in to the movie, I can usually predict how it is all going to end. The last one, I bet, is a no-brainer, because the ending of a romantic movie is always happy, right?! If it is sad, then they probably have another name for it in Hollywood! So, why do I actually sit through the whole movie, why don't I just go on to the news? That's totally unpredictable and shocking..or is it?!

Anyway, The Lake House was no different. I mean, it was predictable as ever. Also, I am no fan of Sandra Bullock. However, she stumped me in The Lake House. For starters, she was a doctor; then she drove safe and she spoke slowly. Moreover, she had the habit of writing letters. Even in 2006, who ever wrote letters??

Keanu Reeves I have always loved. He is the strong silent type in all his movies. You can call it a stereotype, but I call it consistency, and I like it.

So here's Keanu Reeves in 2004 and Sandra Bullock in 2006. They supposedly write each other letters and pop it into the mail box at the lake house where they both used to live. And then they finally meet up when Sandra Bullock manages to stop Keanu from meeting with an accident that happened two years ago and then, they finally manage to meet in the present. When the movie begins, actually, Keanu Reeves dies in the first ten minutes, even before the audience gets to know about him properly. I know!

Yet, I watched it. And cried during the end of the movie.

Why..why am I like this?

Why are we such suckers for romances and happy endings?

The same reason why we laugh at comedies and why we watch movies in general. Because it is not happening to us.

This kind of whirlwind romance, this crazy, unpredictable and absolutely swept-off-the-feet romance, flowers and white weddings does not happen to everyone. Yes, we are happy with what we have, but there is always the fantasy, the dream, the wish. And all these people who seem to be normal folks like us are getting it all. So instead of feeling envious about them, we pay money to be part of their lives for a few hours. What if the characters of The Lake House started living in real life. Would they last forever? I mean, she is a doctor who works long hours and has to run away from the hospital every time one of her patients dies. She cannot handle the stress of her work. He has a history of disappearing from a situation, too. And then there was the plan for a law firm he made with his brother that he backed out of. How many plans will he make with the girl and then back out of? Will they even manage to get married?

Who is going to pay for the renovation of the Lake House? Does the guy have a job? He did quit the previous one, right?

See what I mean? This is real life.

Still, when you watch that movie, you decide to forget all that, forget even the issues in your own life and then allow your self to believe the happiness, the bliss that these people offer you. That, in literature, is called 'willing suspension of disbelief'. Like when you allow your self to believe your husband when he says that he will remember your daughter's recital. Like when you allow yourself to believe your friend when he says he will return the loan in a week. Like when you allow your self to believe the claims of that fairness cream.

You know, happiness is what we make of it. Too much thinking about something destroys the thing itself. Try thinking about your ability to read, and you will suddenly forget how to read! Seriously, try it! Think about how you breathe and you will feel your lungs closing up on you!

I am almost done with this post and at the end of this, I just figured out that just as we should never take anything for granted, so also we should never take anything too seriously. Take success, failure, love, achievement, kids, your husband, your sense of humour and yourself as they come, and you will find that things are less complicated.

I think for now, I will look out for the next soppy romance. I'll watch The Wedding Singer...again..for the 100th time! And..cry at the ending...!

On Looking Inside the Grecian Urn - A Preface

I envy people who travel. Life must be exciting to them, almost every single minute. I traveled from Coimbatore to Bangalore once, a day-and-a-half trip by train, just to visit to the local libraries. It was more work than pleasure. Yet, I could recount at least two interesting things that happened, which I would never have experienced inside Tamil Nadu. So I can imagine how people who travel often, especially for pleasure, would have so many tales to recount.

For people like me, rooted in the motherland, and no immediate change of address in sight, a book is the next best alternative to travel.

There are two types of reading that a person would do – one, reading for enjoyment; and two, reading for information. No, reading the newspaper does not fall into reading for information, because chronic newspaper readers, much as they would like to claim that they are reading for information, are actually addicted to the thing. Try denying them the morning edition one day and you will find out!

So, what would classify as reading for pleasure? Well, anything from your favorite author, favorite bed time story, favorite love letter (!) and …well…your favorite magazine that would give your mother a heart attack! Reading for information is a different story all together. You have to read it, or else! You simply have to read your Grammar text book in sixth grade, you have to read the road signs if you don’t want to get your car’s face relocated and you have to read melodramatic plays, maudlin fiction and ambiguous poetry if you are a student of literature. You also have to read critiques by men who did not find success as writers or poets. This is the final cut…

Incidentally, this last category is what I was up against for my Mphil. Exams that I talked about earlier! So you can imagine that reading up for my examination was no party at all. As every student assumes, I too thought that I was not really going to use, much less enjoy, every thing that I learn.

My reading of excerpts from Letters by John Keats changed all that. What started out as reading for information gradually transformed into reading for pleasure, as I discovered the greatness of the man called Keats. The world is quite familiar with ‘Junkets’, as he was fondly referred to by his friends, but for me it was a discovery of sorts.

Adequate justice is not done to his genius, in the study of the works of this great poet. Schools prescribe Shakespeare and Milton because every literarian, critic and teacher in the world claims that they are truly phenomenal poets. Keats, on the other hand, is read, not because he is a great poet, but because his poetry is beautiful, quaint or just plain familiar. My aim is not to undermine the worth of Shakespeare and the likes; only, to throw light on the thought that, in our bid to extol the greatness of poets already hailed for their greatness, we must not forget other lesser known poets who also possess true greatness, but were not around long enough to seep into the psyche of their society.

To truly enjoy his poetry to the fullest and know the heart that beat so fervently behind those verses, one needs to delve in to the life of this man called John Keats, the man who saw so much tragedy and loss and went through such mental and physical agony and yet produced some of the finest, most delightful poetry the world has ever seen.

In the following posts I would like to share with my readers the wonderful, breathtaking discoveries I have made for myself in the life and works of John Keats the poet and the sensitive soul.

Hope this endeavor will be as refreshing to you as it will be for me.

Kindred Souls!

This is just a poem I read in one of those devotional cum motivational books. I can absolutely relate to what this mother has to say. It has an uncanny resemblance to any day of mine, too! Read on... It's called:

A Mother's Dilemma

Baby's in the cookie jar,
Sister's in the glue,
Kitty's in the birdies cage
And I am in a stew!

Time for dad to come to lunch
Someone's spilled the roses
Breakfast dishes still undone
The twins have drippy noses.

Junior has the stove apart
Dinner guests at eight.
Neighbours' kids swoop in like flies
How can I concentrate?

Telephone keeps ringing wildly
Someone's in the hall
Fido's chewed the rug to bits
The preacher's come to call!

Would mothers like to chuck their load?
They couldn't stand the rap
Easy, mild existences
Would cause their nerves to snap!

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Thank God I have just one child... and no pets,... yet! Still, I guess life wouldn't be as beautiful without Debbie to make it interesting, joyful and, well, maddening! We enjoyed life before she came, but it's only after her arrival that we find real joy in life. As someone once said, "Babies are such a nice way to start people"!