A little stroke here, a little blotch there, a little rub in the middle, a little smudge of blue down there — before you know it, your hands are deliciously dirty with a yummy khichdi of paint, and voila, you’ve just completed another doodle in Photoshop. Doodling is so much fun.

Here’s what I cooked up last night:

Newsprint. Interrupted.

Saturated Curl

… those were about two hours of cooking in Photoshop. Here’s the recipe: I shot some newspaper clippings through a store window in Fifth Avenue, NYC, chopped up the photograph really fine, threw in some blueberries, fiery jalapenos and cheese, and nuked the whole mess in the microwave for a good two minutes till it was tender and bright

Some of my other compositions are here: debajit.com/compositions (I’ll upload more stuff there soon)

So much for the first post of 2007… Happy New Year everyone.

I’ll go now and wash the paint off from under my fingernails

Update: Here’s an interesting interpretation of the artwork, posted by Vivek in the comments: (Thanks, Vivek!)

As we have been moving on, the media more than ever before seems to have lost credibility and focus. And this is seen more here than even in India. There is hardly any divergent viewpoint, true humane stories from around the world are never published and are increasingly buried and smudged under layers of darkness [1]. Instead, what we are shown are superficial layers covered by color, gloss and smiling faces [2] so that we the selected few stay in our comfort zones, and are not disturbed by what is truely happening. As long as the media meets our needs [3] , there is no need to look beyond. They might make the smiles more wider [4] , but the colors will fade, until the rust starts showing [5] and the true picture emerges.

1. Saturated Curl (SC) has a layer of charcoal on the top right corner.
2. Newsprint. Interrupted (NI) has a smiling face on top right.
3. NI has the words “great pay” bottom left.
4. The smile becomes larger from SC to NI.
5. SC .. the saturation is almost overwhelming, jaundiced and rusted.

If you use 30 Boxes — the to-do list or the calendar — this is for you. 30 Boxes Accelerator Keys is a Greasemonkey script I’ve written to allow one-key keyboard shortcuts to 30 Boxes, for quick access to most of its features.

Install 30 Boxes Accelerator Keys 0.1

You can, for instance, press T to get your To Do Items, W to go to the Webtop, or J and K to scroll through your calendar. (Incidentally, the lack of scrolling with J and K was the initial reason for writing this )

Update: New keys added. You can now use F to find any event in your calendar from any 30 Boxes screen. ‘I’ jumps to Today.

Here is the complete list of keyboard shortcuts:

Typically all these keys will work on just about any 30 Boxes screen. If you’re looking at your To Do Items for instance, you can hit W to change the background of the To Do List to the Webtop while still showing your To Do’s, and can revert back to your calendar by pressing C. While still at your To Do’s, you can press E to close the “window”, or hit F if you need to find an event in your calendar.

How do you consummate an already electric weekend packed with Formula 1 and football? For a change, I threw in some munchies, PHP and Javascript and whipped up a link-blog which I’m launching today.

This will feature an assortment of interesting links I’ve encountered in my webscapades, with my commentary. Links with the most clicks are copied to the Popular section.

Bon appetit You’re comments are welcome.

In passing, here are some quotes from South Park

Stan: Dude, we don’t have any talent.
Cartman: That didn’t stop any of the other boy bands, damn it!

I’m not fat, I’m big-boned!
- Eric Cartman

“I grant you three wishes!”, says a happy green genie floating in front of you.

What would you wish for?

I don’t know if genies are for real, but dig up all those hazy (and devilish? ) wishes languishing in the labyrinths of your mind, start to write them down, and you’re in for an exercise in serious fun

Here are two of my wishlists:

• My General Wishlist
  (Create your own at 43things.com)
  A list of things I’d like to do.
• My Amazon Wishlist
  (Create your own at Amazon)
  … just so if you’re ever looking for gift ideas

What does your wishlist look like?

What color is the sky in your world?

It’s another frazzled Friday evening, and as I’m catching up with an old friend on the phone, amidst a lot of laughter and chit-chat, I can see that although we’ve gone our different ways and now live in different parts of the world, the vibes still ring as good as ever.

Distance may make the heart grow fonder… but only so much. Any more, and we’d all be a richer dozen, phones would ring more often, and the likes of Cupid could have their jobs heartily jeopardized

Come to think of it… somewhere between rushing through life and reflecting on a glorious past, are these little sweet nothings… the little frissons that color everything a happier hue… all the ribbing… all those endless talks over coffee… the parties… the silly repartees over emails and sms’es… waking up in the middle of the night to see a new constellation… swotting late into the night… all those trips…

Maybe things are a little different now… maybe life never really comes full circle after all…

Strolling along this rush street of life, however, I can often listen to the unequal music of the street cries ebbing away in the cacophony of existential angst… the fading street cries… the little reminiscences of those fond memoirs of yore… that somewhere down the line… at least for a fleeting moment… I had touched the sky.

I feel taller already.

NASA plans a mission to Pluto in 2006, the first of its kind, and you can send your name to be put on a disc aboard the spacecraft!

• Send your name to Pluto
• New Horizons: The official NASA web site for the project

New Horizons is the first mission to the last planet – the initial reconnaissance of Pluto-Charon and the Kuiper Belt – sent out to explore the mysterious worlds at the edge of our solar system.

NASA will even award you a participation certificate. Here’s mine:

• My participation certificate for the New Horizons mission to Pluto

Send your name, be a part of history

We were singing again today… me and Kushan… sitting on the balcony, playing the guitar by turns, singing, unwinding, laughing (and having a lot of fun, me)

Its late evening. A star-spangled sky… the glow of the streetlights in the distance… a light breeze… everything seems shrouded by an aura of serenity.

…some of our neighbours are listening… Hmmm… so we have an audience, goodie (Ah, for the lesser informed, our neighbours have complained twice about us being too noisy — but that was at other times, for other reasons, never mind)… Another friend Vinay comes in, and we’re a good chorus now

We play on for about an hour… a good medley of mellow tracks: The Eagles’ Take It Easy, Pink Floyd’s Lost for Words (one of my old favourites)… the works.

You should listen to Kushan’s rendition of Country Roads, with cute “Ha ha’s” thrown in for good measure — a la John Mellencamp. (And don’t you even listen to my Hindi singing — I have a horrible anglicized James Hetfield twang, that my friends like pulling my leg about)

No one seems to be good at remembering lyrics… No one minds either. It’s getting late… we head back inside. I sneak a peek downstairs: our neighbours are playing Ludo below…

Nighty night, nutty neighbours

Finally done with practical submissions at college today! Yoohoo! … feeling upbeat again… Goodie … Am listening to Aerosmith’s Dude Looks like a Lady.

Excitement aside, it’s been kinda funny — the whole past week. Had the college farewell last week… Filled some more slam books today… Its kinda weird, just when you’re getting to know most of the people better, you realize its bye-bye time …

Hmmmm… suddenly I’m not feeling upbeat at all. Too bad…

It’s 6 in the morning and I’m at loggerheads with myself whether I’d go running or check out the gym… I’d slept a litte late, so I finally decide, a walk it will be. Come to think of it, I’d never trade my little morning odysseys for anything in the world. Imbibing all the sights and sounds and smells (sans the noxious kinds) of the early morning is a newfound delectable experience in itself for me

I hit the street. There’s a cute little white kitten precariously perched atop some rubble in the neighbourhood. She’s peacefully asleep, oblivious to the rising din and bustle outside. …funny how such a simple sight can seem so endearing. I move on.

Behind a building I spy a tower top gleaming golden in the rising sun: a little tiara for a staid building, a silhouette in gold. …Like my sister would say…

Heaven is a place on earth

You bet, sis. You couldn’t have been more right.

The sun is up, shining with all its might, painting the city a different hue altogether. The enchantment is wearing off… I turn around heading back home, elated in my joie de vivre.

A bird twitters in the neighbourhood. I hasten my pace — have some homework to do, a different serenade altogether.

…The end of yet another matutinal odyssey.

Sleep well, kitty!