Brunette Turns Blonde ( Changing hair colour in Photoshop )

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER VERSION

Heya ppl.

U knw after playin around Adriana Lima's close-up shot, the next challenge I chose was to
turn a brunette into a blonde. Turning light hair dark, is relatively easier, but brunette to
lighter colour seemed like an interesting task. First thing I did was look for a good tutorial
on this topic, but I was surprised to see that most tuts were recommending a short-cut
method, that dint really give realistic results. I mean they selected all the hair at once like
it was a wig, as a result of which the hair in front, on the sides, hair in shadows, in highlights...all got the same settings, same image adjustments. What I've done is that have selected hair in 5-6 parts, and applied slightly different settings as per their requirement. God, it took me a loooooong time to get this done, and I stopped only coz I got tired of it! But I am happy with the result, though feel that it could still have been better.

By the way, i've taken this image from sxc.hu

Today I made Aloo Chaat!

This time I wanted to experiment with a quickie. After surfing through Sanjeev kapoor's website, for a few mins, I settled for Aloo Chaat. A dish quite famous, but one that I had never tried. Its not really popular on Mumbai streets, nowhere close to bhelpuri anyways. But, the recipe seemed quite nutritious, as it is mostly raw food. The original recipe you can find if you click here. I made it slightly different. And it wasssss yummy. My sis loved it.

Ingredients

Potatoes, cubed

Lots of lemon juice

Little bit ginger, cut into thin strips

Oil to deep fry

Onion cut into thin strips

Chaat Masala, Garam Masala powder, Cumin(jeera) powder, Dhania powder

Green chillies chopped

Fresh coriander leaves chopped

Fried peanuts, and Masala cashews.

Salt to taste.

Procedure: Mix all the ingredients except potatoes, peanuts and cashews in a bowl. I did it with my hands, rather than using a spoon. Well, it seemed more effective that way. Now fry the chopped potatoes, and once done, add them to the mixture. Garnish with the peanuts and masala cashews, and enjoy the yummy treat.

Photoshop retouching - my new love

I am aiming to get established as a professional photo retouching artist. In the process of making

a portfolio and getting some practise now . Heres my first conquest. Think I have a future in dis business??...I think I do :) Practice , Practice

Please click on the image to view large version.

Affirmations - an indispensable tool

I highly recommend this article to people on the path of selfhelp, and to people who have given up
on affirmations.

http://www.emofree.com/palace/palaceof1.htm#4

Click on the article called "Affirmations are sleepers"

Its written by Gary Craig, the founder of EFT ( Emotional Healing Technique )

Drew Barrymore as dark angel

Please click on the image to view a larger version.

Hehe...Drews been my favourite actress since I saw her in 'Poison Ivy'..maybe 15 years back.
And I was just wondering if she would look as pretty had she been dark. And I needed an interesting subject practise photoshop as well. So heres the result....Umm...I think shes better off with white skin :P...the bronze tone looks sexy but it doesnt go with her cute bubbly image.
I think the makeover would have worked had it been Angelina Jolie instead...
Well anyways, this was fun to do. Will appreciate comments :)

Green delight - Methi Palak Coriander sabzi

Heya
Heres the recipe of that green veggie I made last week. I am sooo proud of it :D
Actually what happened is that I had
bookmarked a palak-methi-aloo fry recipe, a day before I was supposed to make this sabzi.
But as luck would have it, my net got disconnected and I was left with no option but to
invent a recipe, and boy wat i job i did! ( hehe) I pretty much included everything that caught
my fancy on the kitchen shelves, and luckily it turned out to be awesome.

Guys, if you find this recipe a bit confusing, dont complain, coz thats de spirit with which
it was made. It was all spontaneous. Feel free to add or subtract ingredients as per your choice. Like you can think of adding mint leaves, fennel seeds, paneer etc

Ingredients:
Paste a) Cashews, Peanuts

Paste b) Dry coconut grated, Chopped Onion, Cardomom, Cloves, Cumin seeds

Paste c) Boiled Spinach leaves ( Keep the water from boiled spinach aside, as we'll use it while making making the pastes and while cooking) , Coriander, 1 Green chilly, some garlic

Paste d) Some Methi leaves ( not boiled )

And : Half-Boiled potatoes, 1 small chopped tomatoe, ginger garlic paste, Garam masala powder, chilli powder, turmeric, more methi leaves.

Procedure:

Step1: Chop the boiled potatoes and fry them in a moderate amount of oil. Fry them till they
are wholly cooked and a little golden fried. Add some chopped tomatoe along the way.
When satisfied with the way it looks, turn off the stove and keep aside.

Step 2: Roast cashews and peanuts in a nice iron wok and then make a paste in a mixie some spinach water.That was our paste number 1. Now roast the ingredients for Paste b and grind it in mixie with some spinach water. Similarly go ahead and grind the paste c ingredients.

Now for Paste d just remember that we want the methi to be visible in the sabzi, so just
take a handful of methi leaves and only half-grind them in the mixie. Keep the rest of the
methi leaves intact, to be added later.

Now that our pastes are ready, all that we hv to do dump them in the vessel. But heres
how we'll do it :
1) Heat oil in your favourite wok. Add Paste a ( the cashew-peanut one ) . Stir a bit,
enjoy the smell, and add paste b . Stir some more, and now add the ginger garlic paste, garam masala powder, chilli powder, and turmeric. Also, add the spinach water to this, to avoid
burning. Stir on, and now add the green paste, more spinach water and the rest of the methi
leaves (sparingly chopped). Let this cook for a few minutes, and then add the pototoe-tomatoe stuff we had made at the beginning. The potatoes will add thickness to this sabzi. Add lots of spinach water to the sabzi. When the water evaporates, leaving a thick rich dry-ish sabzi, your job is done. Dont forget to add salt, before turning off the gas. Tra-la-la, enjoy with rotis.

The Cooking bug

I am inspired. I am feeling alive. And I have been bitten by the cooking bug.
My creativity has found a new outlet - cooking. Well, I always enjoyed tinkering around
in the kitchen a few times in a year, but since the past week, my laziness has flown out
of the window, and I find myself making new recipes everyday. Annnnnd the cherry on
the cake, is that they turn out reaalll yummy.

Yesterday I made a terrific ( well, dats wat everybody said ) sabzi of Aloo Palak Methi.
I'll put up the recipe soon. Hmm...I think yeh Reiki ka asar hai. I havent felt down or
lazy for days ( 9, 10 days ) now. And it keeps getting better. I have even started my
illustration again. Yippee! Yimminy!

Another dish that I learnt to make was fried shrimps. :)

Heres the humble little recipe:

Keep cleaned shrimps, in a plate. Sprinkle rice flour, red chilli powder and if you want any
other spicy powder ( I added some readymade chicken masala wen Mom wasnt looking).
Now mix this well, so all the shrimps are covered with flour and spice.

Now chop an onion, and fry it in a pan with oil. Wen onion is goldenish, add the shrimps.
Spread the shrimps in the pan, and cover with plate. Let it stay for sometime,
and then turn all the shrimps over so their other side also gets cooked.
Let cook for a while and delicious red shrimps are ready to serve. For added fun, serve with
chilled beer. If at home, pair it with rice and some homemade fish curry. Yummmmy.

Shreela ban gayi gentlewoman!?!

Hey!
You know till now I always had a strong aversion to anything formal - formal clothing, formal dining, formal meets. The word formal itself seemed like a sum total of adjectives like
dull, boring, artificial, shrewd and unnatural. But every coin has two sides. I mean formal
could also mean organized, punctual, stable and consistent. This is my new outlook.
Anyway point is that lately I find myself getting attracted to formal clothing...sexy formal
clothing. I almost wish we had really cold weather in Mumbai, so that I could wear black
stockings and ooh-la-la overcoats. I sure wouldnt mind looking like these women here... ( but not everydayyyyy!! i need my reds, yellows, oranges, purple, greens...)

back back

hi

i slipped once again. sorry blog, dat i forgot abt u for a month!

I been out of job, but busy fixing the holes in my life.

My online portfolio

Hi
Well if anybody wants to look at some the work I've done since about the past two years,
they can take a look at the following links.
http://www.sabamangal.com/shreela/Emailers.html
http://www.sabamangal.com/shreela/For_Myspace.html
http://www.sabamangal.com/shreela/templates3.htm
http://www.sabamangal.com/shreela/myspaceprofiles.htm
http://www.sabamangal.com/shreela/Posters_justforfun.html
Ofcourse I've done a lot more, but that would be too much to post, and I think
these samples are enough as an overview. I hope to add some kickass work
over the next few months, until then chew on dis :P

Positive energy

I was beginning to feel lost again, so looking for something inspiring, I went on youtube and found Dr.Judith Orloff's video. Side by side, I googled 'positive energy' and randomly clicked
away, only to find myself reading an article that was also written by Dr. Judith. Wat a
co-incidence. Actually I definitely dont believe in co-incidence at all.
Thank God, there are people like Judith, who care enough to write such things. I am a big
sucker for self-help. Its not that the books tell me something that I dont know....but they
remind me of the things of i hv forgotten. I dont knw abt u guys, but i have lost my way
so many times. But everytime I have recovered a bit faster than the previous time. It really
is like a spiral staircase - that goes round round and up, up at the same time..my life. I grab all the help I can get. A month or two back, I had come to the conclusion that I've read all the
self-help I needed. And then, jus like that, I just happened to read Louise Hay. Wow, I changed so much, againnnn, after that. I had forgotten so much, dat book gave me a much needed push.
And this kinda push I need every once in while. I think my Dr. Judith is going to push me next.

Heres the article googled gave me :

By Judith Orloff, M.D.Adapted from Positive Energy, Harmony Books, April, 2004
A basic dynamic of energy is that we attract who we are--the more positive energy we give off, the more we?ll magnetize to us. Ditto for negativity. It works like this: Love attracts love. Grumpiness attracts grumpiness. Passion attracts passion. Rage attracts rage. The explanation? This human form of ours is a subtle energy transmitter. We?re constantly sending out signals which others on similar frequencies pick up on, and gravitate towards--an instinctual call we may not be aware of. Why opportunities do or don?t show up in our lives is a function of this. Energy doesn?t simply have an on-off switch. Just as a radio has a volume control, you can adjust your energy. Here?s how to boost your positive signals.Identify your best parts and speak from themPinpoint your finest qualities. Perhaps irreverence, sensitivity, compassion, humor--then project them to the world. By speaking up and stepping out of your comfort zone you?re enlarging your energy field. Before meeting new people or going to important events prime yourself. Take a break for an inner pep talk. Think, ?I?m not going to focus on my insecurity but on a strength; I?m going to feel and trust the positive energy inside me. I?m going to claim my full power.? Such a selective attention device puts your best parts front and center. Then, perspective shifted, it?s easier to confidently move forward. You can?t overdo this approach. Use it routinely. Making a choice about where you?re coming from focuses your energy.

Extend heart energy outward. Love creates an irresistible charisma, a warm glow that makes us and others happy. You can send it in any situation, a nurturing that won?t drain us. How? Focus on your heart center (see Chapter Two?s meditation), and envision something you love. A flock of seagulls. Your son?s smile. A blooming rose. Then, during a conversation, inwardly ask, ?Let love flow through me.? Feel it rise from your chest; notice a sense of heat, serenity, a radiance. These vibes move outward. People soften around them, feel safe, want more. So, when standing by your boss start pumping away. Loving energy smoothes the rough edges of any circumstance, facilitates rapport. Try it even if you don?t like someone, but seek to get along better. Our loving heart can melt the feistiest curmudgeons. It conveys the sense of what Buddhists call the ?groundless ground,? an ultimate secure place that stabilizes us from the inside out. Others pick up on this primal draw. Without heart, people are energetically wobbly, despite outer confidence. (For instance, a spiritual teacher who talks a good game but doesn?t emit heart energy is an imposter). The kinder we are to ourselves and others, the more love we communicate.

Regularly Meditate Happiness can be increased by meditating. Cutting edge brain research confirms that we all have a certain mood set point, a range of feelings we usually inhabit. But with regular meditation, it?s been shown that we can alter our habitual moods towards the positive. Use this method. When feelings surface during meditation, monitor them. Focus on what?s uplifting, not the swirl of negative emotions. As you?ve done before, use the breath to center yourself. This inner turnabout transmutes pessimism to something higher. Subsequently, your vibes change; others will respond.Commit to Emotional HousecleaningA fact I?ll keep trumpeting: healing negativity prevents toxic build up in your energy field. As I emphasized in Chapter 4, consistently chipping away at the negative makes room for more light in your being. Self-awareness is our greatest ally against fear and its bullying cohorts. When these brutes appear, it allows you to say, ?I know you. Now scram!? Psychotherapy, introspection, meditation, journaling, and/or talking with friends all work to further healing. As negativity remits, your energy becomes more alluring.

My first wacom achievement!!!!!!!

hey

Me and my sister were talking about making tshirts for ourselves with prints of our choice.

But the only problem was creating high-res illustrations on the pc. With my new wacom intuos4, that prob is solved foreverrrrrrrrrrr. Ok, I admit that this one is a tracing and composition

rather than an original piece of art, but people, the point is that I could never have achieved

this with a mouse. Do you know what this means? It means now I can make my own original

designs/illustrations on paper and then get them on to photoshop. Exciting!!! I swear looking

at this topiwali girl, I feel all my 18500 is vasooool. Wacom ne meri zindagi badal di!!

See wat I got!! A Wacom! :)

Hi All,

After watching a lot of wacom tutorial videos and reading a lot of reviews,I finally went and bought a wacom intuos4 for myself. After using it,I seriously felt, "Why the hell I dint do this before?". I used to feel so restricted with the mouse u know, I think it affected my career. Anyway, the tablet feels just like you are drawing on a piece of paper, with the added advantage of photoshop layers and all those wonderful powers that photoshop gives you. ( Mmmwah to Adobe for that! ) Anybody who is serious about graphic designing and illustration should get a graphic tablet, its really easy to use and saves sooo much time n effort, its not funny. I bought a wacom intuos4 medium (6x9) from access electronics, lamington road, for Rs.18500. Thats a lot of price difference with the Andheri showroom, who are selling it for Rs.21280. My pocket has become a lot lighter, but I am sure this was a wise wise decision.There is an illustration that I had made with a mouse, now I'll make the same with my tablet and pen. I'll put that up, so you guys can see the difference for yourself.Stay tuned. Ciao!

Drawing from Archies

Hey,

Like I had mentioned before Archie comics is really the best source to learn figure drawing from.You can find archie and gang in many many different natural postures, and the illustrations are really clean and simple to follow. And lot of times, the characters are on the beach, so you can find them in bikinis, so they are easier to draw. See the pic above this? I tried to draw them and heres what I came up with. Hehe..m jus learning ok. I wish I could draw like this from memory.

Amy Dresser - Awesome professional retouching

Hmm..well the Charlies Angel photoswap job I had done got rejected. Why?1. Coz i charged a 1000 bucks 2. Coz the job is not flawless (!?!). Well, I am realy serious about photoshop, and when someone says my photoshop is not good enough, it really drivesme to do more. Grrr. I wanted to see what a top class photoswapping job would look like.By photoswappping I mean sticking Peter's head on Micheal's body. Well, I dint really find that, but what I found was some first-class photo retouching.I got the link to Amy's website from my favourite photoshop site:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
The images below are taken from the portfolio of fulltime retoucher Amy Dresser. Based in Los Angeles, Amy has worked as a freelance photo retoucher and illustrator for the past seven years. Jeeze her work is amazing, Omg! I am so inspired!!!! My jaw dropped when I saw this one.

You can see rest of her at : http://www.amydresser.com/

Photoshop fun: Charlie's new angel

Hey,
Sticking people's faces in unlikely places is fun :D . I hadnt done dis in a looooong time. Check it out...took me a while, but enjoyed it. The girl's posture in the original image, and Lucy Liu's posture was almost the same, sooo this charlies angel wallpaper was the perfect choice for
the 'morphing'.

The Result:


The Subject:

Barbie drawing

Boy! Do I need practice. Heres something I made while practising drawing. I usually draw from Barbie books and Archie comics. Archie is the best comics to learn figure drawing from. Am totally in awe of dem who can draw so fast and so well.

Photoshop Retouching : Josephine

Heres one more example of photoshop retouching. I would like to say to the lady in the pic that you look much nicer without the photoshop botox, blue eyes and blonde highlights. Natural beauty rules. But I just needed a pic to practice :) so. And I have named you Josephine. Heres the result:

Josephine before:

Josephine After! :

Photoshop retouching - Ann's portrait

Hey,
If anybodys been looking at my blog, they might have realized I am in photoshop-retouching mode right now. I been trying to achieve a way of making people look prettier without
making them look 'photoshoped'..u know. I think I have gotten better than what I posted last night :)
Well, I have followed step by step instructions from here, but did somethings my way:
http://www.tutiki.org/w/index.php/Beautiful_Skin_by_Czechman
A very nice tutorial for retouching. What I did differently was that, I've used a combination of healing brush, spot healing brush, patch tool and cloning stamp to remove blemishes and patches. To reduce the redness in the area near Ann's nose, I straight away used colour balance and levels...which nobody recommends...but its okay.
Well, she looks equally pretty before and after the retouching, but I am pleased with the results anyways. Maybe we can change her hair and eye colour, then it'll be a real makeover.
See the pics below.

Ann - BEFORE :




Ann - AFTER:

Photoshop facial :D ( Retouching )

Hi All,
Heres a sample of photo retouching with simple steps i.e healing brush, spot healing brush,
surface blur and colour balance. This is so simple that anybody can do it. I have posted
the photo in its four stages. I havent done any drastic smoothing...but with the help of
advanced tutorials and some patience, you can really make a normal girl look like a model.
Also, I have kept her colour as it is, except making it a shade redder.

The Original Pic:



After using healing brush:




After filter>surface blur:




Final result after image adjustments> colour balance:

Of black beauties and racism

I was looking over the net for some black women pics ( to put on my orkut profile) and I came across Abagond's blog . I am impressed by how some people can focus on one topic for so long.And I mean that in positive way.

What I like about the blog is that it celebrates black women's beauty,and breaks the ridiculous stereotype of beauty that american ( as well as indian) society has embraced. M jus glad to find someone who thinks like me.I think smooth chocolate-dark skin looks so lovely...some people mus be crazy to put it down. Anyways.
Most of the time Abagond seems to be talking about racism, inter-racial dating, and how the movie and fashion industry is dominated by whites. Yet his tone is decent and cool , not aggressive. These posts get many many comments,that I found very interesting to read. I had always found it weird that there are hardly any black characters in FRIENDS you know. Same goes for movies."If blacks ran Hollywood like whites do" and " Black women that white men like" are nice reads.

Visit Abagond's blog

Its a very well-written blog, but I am not going to follow it. Got no reason to.

Billie Jean - My favourite MJ track

With so much being written about him , I cant help being reminded about MJ, i loved him wen i was in school :)

Well, his bessssssstest song has to be Billie Jean. Atleast its MY favourite. Sigh..Theres something about those hiccups! Maybe I live in a cave, but I discovered only today that the moonwalk started with"Billie Jean". Can you believe this song was almost removed (OMG!) from the album cause producer Quincy Jones dint like it. And it was mixed 91 times before it was finalized! If Jones had his way, there wouldnt have been no Billie Jean or moonwalk.

Heres some trivia:
On March 25 1983, "Billie Jean" and Jackson reached an even larger audience when he debuted the song before a live audience during taping of the tribute special Motown 25 concert at Pasadena, California.It was during this electrifying performance that Jackson also debuted a dance move he had discovered from black inner-city youths and tweaked to distinction. Credited to former Solid Gold dancer Cooley Jackson, "The Back Slide" was given a new name by the media following Jackson's interpretation: The "Moonwalk". The step has since gone on to become Jackson's signature dance move, and is synonymous with the song.
You can watch that performance here:


MTV owes its success to Micheal!
Jackson and Epic had planned to present the music video for "Billie Jean" to the executives of newly-formed cable network MTV, which was at the time not playing videos by black performers or even dance artists. Since its inception, the network's playlist was predominantly white and mainly featured videos by the top rock artists of the day such as Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, The Clash, Blondie, Journey, Pat Benatar, Genesis, and Billy Idol. In 1983 Jackson and CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff informed MTV's president that if the cable channel didn't play Jackson's video, CBS would literally not allow them to play all of their white artists who were getting exposure on the network, most notably Billy Joel. With that ultimatum, MTV finally bowed to pressure and premiered Jackson's "Billie Jean" video on March 10 1983.
Soon enough, MTV was airing the video in heavy rotation, thus making Jackson the first black performer to find stardom on the network. Producer Jones has said of the early relationship between Jackson and MTV: "...[they] rode each other to glory". Other black artists to soon after have videos on MTV included Prince, The Pointer Sisters, Rick James, Lionel Richie and Eddy Grant.

Some like it weird.. :)

I am not a news person. I never bother to look at the headlines and cant stand news channels. I did rather read bizarre news. You know, u wont believe all the weird stuff that
keeps happening!... Sigh! I only wonder why it doesnt happen around me. I mean I wish my neighbour uncle becomes pregnant or my mom takes up dirt bike racing...loooolz...weird is fun :)

And ofcourse the best place to find these stories is on the net. From now on, I'll post such "fact is stranger than fiction" kinda stuff here whenever I find it. Btw, That lady in the pic is officially "The World's Most Tattooed Senior Woman".

Heres one:
My twins have different dads
A STUNNED mum has shown the world her twin sons - born to DIFFERENT fathers.
Babies Justin and Jordan Washington arrived just seven minutes apart.
But incredibly they were CONCEIVED separately because their mother Mia was cheating on partner James Harrison with another lover.
Astonished US medics say different eggs were fertilised by each man within a very short time of each other - a million-to-one condition.
That makes the boys, who are now 11 months old, half-brothers rather than real twins.

Ok, I mean these things must be tough for those who through it. But i wont
lie. They do crack me up. Like the following one:

Man Sues Priest for Stealing Wife
Stephen Crane of Joliet, Ill., says he and his wife went to Christopher Floss, a priest, in 3006 for marital counseling. In 2007, Floss left the priesthood and Ms. Crane moved in with him. Crane is now suing Floss and the Roman Catholic Diocese for professional negligence and infliction of emotional distress.

Heehee!looooooooolz! The next one is hilarious. I can jus imagine dat guy running like dat

with his hands busy :D

Multitasking Masturbator
Is it really possible to pleasure yourself on the run? Okaloosa County law enforcement authorities in Florida say a woman reported seeing a man from her back door in nothing but a T-shirt masturbating. When she screamed, he ran into the woods, while still stimulating himself. The woman says this is the fourth time in the last week she's seen him exposing himself.

Find more such stories here.

My experience with Graphotherapy

Thursdays 4-5 pm is when you go to show your homework. After missing every Thursday since January, I finally made it today. Ofcourse she whacked me
Cause I was writing it too big and writing three times where I could squeeze in six,
So like back in the school days, she made me sit in a corner and
write it her way. (She does treat me like a kid. A lot of people do) And by golly, I really could fit 4 if not 6. She was happy with my work and let me go. I celebrated by
having cheese masala dosa alone in a restaurant deserted by everybody except a cook, a waiter and a manager. I had the whole place to myself, and theres nothing dat I like better.

Anyways, back to our story. Well, one good thing always leads to another. I was introduced to graphotherapy when I was learning illustration. A lady student was always singing praises of this particular
Graphotherapist cum astrologer in Mumbai. Well, I decided to take a session and liked
the results. In my first session , the therapist who is a cheerful middle-aged lady, asked
me to write and sign on a blank paper. I just wrote
random stuff about myself, and handed her the paper.

It was kinda fun, cause for a second I felt like Drew Barrymore in
Wishful thinking. I fancy myself as drew at every chance I get, coz shes my favourite. Was. It would have been more fun if the therapist had been wearing gypsy clothes with a beautiful crystal ball on the table. But then who takes that kinda stuff seriously.

This lady was nice, normal, and quite genuine. I dint need any
convincing because I had always believed that our handwriting is a reflection of our
thinking habits. I know I write differently when I am tensed or angry. She analyzed my handwriting and told me that my profession dint match my education and my life
lacked stability – financial and otherwise. What I got out of the session was a new signature. She advised me to buy a blank long book and practice my new signature everday. The new signature
was gonna help me cultivate habits of consistency and an attitude of success.

I just did what she told me to do, and I quite enjoyed it. I love to change things about myself. Makes me feel like I am reinventing shreela. Its been a year now since I started
this therapy, and there have been very cool changes in me and my life. I dont believe in co-incidences, so a lot of credit for whatever success I earned in the last year goes to graphotherapy. I am gonna
get my new signature on my PAN and other places too, and throw the old one into de bin.

This is just my story.

Read the following excerpt from an article on ezinearticles.com:

But how, you may ask, can the alteration of one's handwriting affect his character? To understand the whole complex process, it is necessary first to be aware of what takes place when you write. The act of writing is movement - a series of gestured involving rhythm, speed, pressure, direction, etc.
Handwriting itself captures and holds on paper the slightest motor impulse of the writer with the many contributing factors which enter into it. We do not write with the hand alone, but with brain, muscles and nerves which in turn react to conscious, subconscious and emotional stimuli. Handwriting is referred to by many as "brain-writing".
Thus it follows reason that how we move(and write) must reflect our physical, mental and emotional states. Handwriting explains why, although as children we are taught to form letters according to established pattern, each of us develops his own peculiarly individual script. It also explains the incredible diversity of handwriting. No two people's script are exactly the same.

Click here to read full article

Click here for more articles on graphology and graphotherapy.

Transformers : Revenge of the fallen

Genre: Sci-Fi Action - Directed by: Michael Bay (Transformers)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox - India release date : July 2009

I was a little excited about watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen although I havent seen the first part. All I had seen was a 30 second preview in a Megan fox interview, which I was watching with the volume on mute :). She is THAT beautiful.lol. Anyways, I was expecting a lot of breathtaking effects and action...kinda like Spiderman 3. But it turned out, the movie is only fit for 9 yr old kids in awe of robots.

The movie started pretty well, with African tribesmen getting mashed up by the gigantic robots. Also, I loved the way the first robots are introduced - stylishly mantling themselves out of a box or watever, and then turning into cars and then back into robots. That was cool, supercool. But thats just the first 10 minutes or so :(

What follows after that for a looooooooong time ( was it two hours? ) is repetitive juiceless bang-bang between the robots, lots of confusing talk between the military ppl, and unintentional comedy. I kept losing the thread of the 'story'. But here is what I gathered : the hero has a stone which is coveted by the baddie robots, and somehow by mistake he drops the thing, and it affects his brain and he starts seeing symbols. hehe. These symbols would lead him to the only thing - a stony thing called matrix - that can destroy the baddie. So the baddie wants the hero, so dat he can get to the matrix and smash it like he smashes everything else. Phew!

Apparently, director Micheal Bay, doesnt like viewers to follow the storyline, so he complicated it ridiculously with an aged robot who walks with a stick ( haha!) , a high-strung butcher with a military past, a clingy blonde robot , an underwater robot who suddenly wakes up and flies straight to another planet (!??) , and military people shouting orders gravely ( rolling my eyes ) as if it were really important to the plot. Its simply mind-numbing. Phew again!

All I wanted was just some good action!I hardly got any, plus I got mindfucked.

I would have written a lot more, but I cant criticise anything to that extent. But gotta add this - I did'nt like the fact that the silliest robots were dubbed by blacks. Why o Why?

There a few good things though - Megan, the hot military officers and Egypt are all nice to look at. The guy who plays Shia's roommate was funny at times. But dats not enuf right? I mean I paid 125 bucks. Not worth it.

SKIP IT.

Related links:
You can find some music from the movie here:
www.myspace.com/linkinpark
Reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_revenge_of_the_fallen/
http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/transformers_revenge_of_the_fallen
Videos:
Movie clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4rNDo7HV8E
Official trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhtGnCa8x2k

I can draw too :)

Well before joining MySpace I was learning art from a freelance artist. I am amazed at what I learnt to do. Here are my achievements:

This I made probly last november, for an ambitious project which never happened.
It was something about a star-struck common man meeting a celebrity. I really liked
this one. I had studied tonnes of caricatures before making it. This was my first attempt at caricature-type cartoons.


I had started adding colour and then another project came up and we decided to keep
this one on a hold. funny. I think I'll finish it anyways, even if its all over.


This was a model in an oriflame booklet.


This was my first attempt at making a portrait. I wish I had the original photo
of the guy now. wud have posted it here. I was thrilled when I finished this.
What wonders practise can do. Made me feel skilled.

Designs in my life

Did i tell you that I am a graphic designer by profession? K, people say they like my designs.,
but for me its really only a hobby, something I have never tried to excel in. I am inspired
by the cool stuff on smashingmag all the time, but never acted on it. No apologies :)
My favourite form of art has always been illustrations of people, rather than abstract, or birds
or nature or something like that. My favourite topics have always been people and sex, you
see I was studying to be a psychotherapist until some funny things ( they dint seem funny at that time for sure ) happened and I decided to use my photoshop skills to make a life ( i will not use the term "earn a living" coz it sounds so cheap, and smacks of a feeling of lack...yea i have been reading louise hay ).
So the point is that I wanna show you some of my favourite works of art, done by other talented artists. Kudos to them. The last one, the girl in water is made
by Jimmy Beaulieu.

Back again.

hey
i jus realized dat i wanna keep my blog alive. so i'll make this a place for my favourite things on the web plus anything else i please. hehe.