Constant Beta

25 gifts for myself

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday, (28th june)

This whole week was a little weird. I haven't been feeling too talkative and was just a teensy bit disenchanted with life. Existential crisis of sorts, I guess. I was also very depressed because I couldn't find the right sort of gift for myself. There's something about turning 25 - I feel like it should be commemorated or celebrated or something like that. My better-half wants to buy me something special but he is as frustrated with me as I am with myself because I just don't know what I want.

So, I'm trying to be a little creative here. And from this June until next, I am going to give myself 25 beautiful gifts. I don't know what all of them are yet - sometimes you just have to live in the moment.

But here's are two gifts that I know I will give myself:
1. Nikon D40. - My first Digital SLR.
2. A week in Tokyo.

The weird thing about growing old (for me) is that my fascination with material things has waned and I'm more interested in fulfilling my creative needs and pursuits - like traveling on my own, learning new things and seeking my spiritual journey. Ahh - happy birthday to me :D

Murakami Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum

I FINALLY visited the Murakami Exhibit at the Brooklyn Musuem this weekend. My long-time readers will know about my obsession with Japan - and everything Japanese (except perhaps sushi - I'm not a big fan of sushi, probably because I don't eat fish) But we digress!
The exibit was fascinating - and I think an incredible blend of culture, commerce and design. From his one-off pieces for Louis Vuitton to disturbingly funny sculptures a woman skipping rope of her breast milk an)  Murakami's work can best be described as contemporary interpretation of the current psyche with often a dark subtext.

MOCA's youtube channel has uploaded a series of videos about the exhibit.

It was my first time to MOCA - but I was very impressed with the space. I also really enjoyed the mixed media installation of Inochi - a robot who begins to feel like a young boy. The commercials are hilarious! Watch them yourself.

Tim Walker Inspiration

Imagine my delight when I saw Tim Walker's 3 Limited Edition prints are for sale at the Design Musuem UK! It was really hard for me to not go beserk and buy all three, instead I picked this one.

This photo-essay with Lilly Allen was shot in India. I remember because I have still saved that September 2006 issue of Vogue magazine where this photograph appeared. For a while, this picture - torn from my Vogue, graced my walls until my friends convinced me that I was too old to have ripped-off photos from magazines on my walls.

There are a few other photos from that photo essay that left a lasting impression on my mind. 

But I'm just giddy that my print will arrive soon. Yay!

(PS - The print wasn't expensive, infact, it's a really good deal at about $25. But the shipping from UK added another $20. argh)

Eat. Pray. Love (and have sex)

I'm sorry - I usually dress up, polish my stilettos, straighten my hair and iron my shirt before I write here.  So excuse the unlike-me title of this post.

I picked up Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat. Pray. Love. on Sunday at BJs. Yes BJs- it was $9.39 - it even beats the Barnes & Noble member discount. (I tried to convince my boy to buy swim-trunks at BJs but my idea was dismissed even before it fully materialized)
Anyways.

I bought the book because I was SICK of watching Wall Street banker-type women crushed against cold steel of the 8am PATH trains - precarioulsy balancing their fat pocketbooks and Eat.Pray.Love. I got sick of seeing the hipster-y, creative, my-kind-of-girls reading that book at rando cafes on the LES. I got sick of watching college girls on the summer break sprawled on their sheets on Rittenhouse Square park reading this book. So when I went to BJ's to stock up on my supply of Mac'n'cheese and Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks -- the book, was just glaring at me from the vast sea of other cheaply priced books, almost guilting me into buying the book. It's almost like I couldn't continue to be the all-knowing culture=vulture until I had immersed myself in this eating/praying/loving movement. I absolutely stop myself from reading books that have suddenly swept have the nation because its just my stupid rebellion against conformity :P

Anyways.
I succumbed. Yes! I gave into the societal, cultural and whatever other pressures there are that make you feel dumb if you haven't succumbed to.

I haven't read the whole damn thing yet - but whatever I read (some 100 pages?) - I think the author didn't fully think through the name of the book. The sex part is important because even if she's denying it to herself, she wants it! And also, if you think about it on a philosophical level - eating, praying, loving and having sex go hand in hand, phrase in phrase.

Excuse my little diatribe, but I just you know.. wanted to point out that the title is sort of incomplete. Atleast i thought so. Maybe I won't once I finish the book - but even after, I'll think that had the title included my little phrase, it would have been a much more interesting book and less new agey.

Just thought I'd let you know incase anyone's listening :P

PS - The writing of the book is fantastic though. Really.

PSFK Evening with Rob Walker

Last Friday I attended a PSFK hosted book-reading and Q/A with journalist Rob Walker -and now author of a new book titled, "Buying In." He also writes the popular Consumed column for The New York Times, Murketing for Fast Company magazine and his own blog at murketing.com

It was a fun event - and I got the opportunity to meet several planners/ strategist with whom I had previously only communicated via email, AIM or facebook. The Q/A was hosted by Danielle Sacks,a Fast Company journalist who covers the advertising and marketing industries for the magazine. It was a chill evening spent in the company of inspiring peers and idols! Kudos to PSFK for continuing to act as our curator! 

Here are some photos picked from Dave Pinter's flickr group. Enjoy! (The girl in blue/black is your's truly btw. And no I don't like the taste of fizzy drinks (soda, beer, fizzy water..) so I finished several bottles of water instead.)

Storytelling in 6-words

Of late, I've been enamored with the concept of storytelling.....What follows is just a stream of consciouness that might not make much sense!

As a writer and a wordsmith .... I think words speak most powerfully to me. I think the best in words and I relay the best in words. Today I was surfing the net and remembered to check out my friend's online magazine SMITH mag (which I check periodically) SMITH mag has taken the idea of 6-word memoirs to an entirely new level that is so heart-breaking and powerful to me.

See these 6-word stories yourself... made me think that a great story that can be told in 60,000 words can be told as effectively in 6. This is one of the most powerful new mediums I've encountered.... (ofcourse there is twittories - stories in 140 words...etc) But how awesome is this?

Summertime in new york

This has been one busy summer - a few weeks back, three of my friends who I haven't seen in almost 3 years landed up in New York. It was Serendipity! I made a cute little pdf of fun things to do during their 4 day visit here. Now bear in mind, the little pdf I made was meant for my friends who had never been to NYC before. If you are from NY, you will probably laugh at it but nonetheless, I want to make it available for everyone who might want to use it!

We had a terrific time - now mind you some of the places recommend/suggested in my little pdf weren't spectacular but they were an amazing experience for sure. The thing is, I thought social tecnologies and the internet was putting everything into a constant state of beta but I think I'm going to have to re-visit my definitions because, I'm realizing.. as someone who works in and almost lives in new york, my life has become a constant state of beta!

I was at the Adour bar at St. Regis last week with a client. Apart from the fact that it was St. Regis, Adour is known for it's interactive wine-bar. There, I fell into conversation with two very interesting men who have lived like 5 lifetimes in their one life!  One of them, a furniture designer, has been commissioend by the Ambani's for their 27-storey residential building project.
"Do you know of the 27 storey residence building in Bombay?" he asked,
"The Ambani's residence?" I said.
"You know about it?"
"Every Indian knows about it." I exclaimed.

We got into a lengthy discussion about entitlement, legacy and access - the three advantages born and bred New Yorkers have over others and how immigrants like me will always have to strive harder for access in this country/ city. It was by far one of the most interesting conversations I've had at a bar with a stranger :D

After bidding goodbye and promising to stay in touch with my new friend, we tropped off to The Modern for dinner. I personally, wasn't very impressed with the food there but the service, decor and ambience is well worth a mention. (The Modern is the restaurant owned and operated by MOMA)  I was at dinner with two executives from a luxury-car company and two others from the agency. I won't bore you with our dinner-table conversations but what always surprises me when I meet new people is how I end up changing my opinion of them in the span of 2 hours. Towards the end of our dinner, I learned that one executive from the client was also a personal trainer and tried to manage a small health/ personal training business on the side. Now that insight completely changed the way I percieved him -- it's just, I didn't expect someone at such a high post at a luxury goods company to feel so passionately and pursue a parellel profession.

Of late, I've also been missing writing. I'm going to start seeking freelance writing gigs again and perhaps start writing more about my life here than about my opinions about the internet. Because for now, my life is more interesting to me than the internet :D

Ahh - can't say I'm not having a good time in NYC.

ahh and here you go - the promised guide!
Download nyc_for_vistors.pdf

Leave me a comment if you like it :D and if you'd like me to share more such tips.

Late night thoughts

The beauty of the web2.0 is that it encourages us and forces us to redefine the words: friend, strangers and acquaintances. You agree?

Being 'carried' away

I watched 'Sex and the City' last night with my close friends. The movie was bitter-sweet with a tight story-line and killer one-liners. But what took the toast was the experience of watching the movie... The audience, mostly women but a large number of men - oohing and aahing at the beginning, groaning at the bitter parts and clapping enthusiastically towards the very end.. was simply amazing to witness and be a part of. SATC is part of a New York women's collective memory - every girl imagines her and her friends having the kind of friendships portrayed in the sitcom with ofcourse, NYC as the backdrop. I highly recommend watching the movie, if not in New York with NY women, then most certainly with your closest friends : )