My cushion connection.

We (my son and I) argued for only a short time over the color of patio furniture cushions. I gave in and settled for yellow color. After all, he is going to live in our house for long.

Actually, the patio in my house is not ready fully. We have ordered for a couple of artificial palm trees and artificial grass turf. We have identified the lightings too.

May be in a couple of days, the artificial stuff will arrive.

Thank God, I have remembered to order two giant umbrellas to be installed in our garden. Oh yes, considering the color of the umbrellas, I think the yellow patio furniture cushions will be a perfect contrast.

I am thinking of moving to countryside. I had had enough of city life. May be, I will buy that red colored patio furniture cushions when I move to a new house.

Chennai Super Kings' resounding win.

What a win! Thank you Dhoni team for giving all Madrasis an overwhelming moment and several days to sink in the feeling of victory.

I appreciate your shrewd field placements and effective use of bowling resources. This kid Raina is just superb. He is truly fearless and contributes in all areas of the game. His catches are thrilling.

I hope to see you again next year. Thank Sachin for his mistake of sending Harbajan before Pollard. And if possible, steal Pollard from MI.

I invite you for a tea in my house. Be sure to bring Raina and Murali Vijay.

My choice of herb to clean the colon.

Is it possible to identify the best colon cleanse product among 50 plus colon cleansers?

To be fair to those who are rated at the colon cleanse review sites, I would say it is possible to choose five of the best colon cleansing supplements based on a few important detoxifying ingredients.

You must be aware that only natural herbs are effective detox agents; chemical won’t do an effective cleansing.

The most used herb in colon cleanse supplements is aloe vera. Ginger too is supposed to work the best along with aloe vera though I am yet to see ginger as one of the ingredients in colon cleansers.

A thin decoction made of dried ginger is the best colon cleanser. We use it often in our home.

Free online courses on all subjects.

Once, I promised a colleague of mine to let her know when I come across some free resources to create online courses for Chemistry subject for high school students.

I nearly forgot my promise. Yesterday, I stumbled on to Udemy.

This seems to be excellent resource to create interactive online course complete with videos, presentations, articles, mashups, and live sessions.

There are quite a lot of online courses available at Udemy at present. The range of subjects is amazing.

Though there are courses on different subject, I was interested mainly on academic subjects. Almost every subject is covered and that include:

Architecture

Art

Astronomy

Biology

Chemistry

Computer Science

Economics

Engineering

Entrepreneurship

Environmental Studies

History

International Relations

Law

Literature

Mathematics

Media Studies

Medicine

Philosophy

Physics

Political Science

Psychology

Religious Studies

The quality of video clips is excellent.

Sluggish growth in baby clothes segment.

Indian mothers (I too) do not have great taste while selecting baby clothes and baby toys. Well, we are not to be blamed at all for this shortcoming.

Not many western baby dresses manufactures have set up shop in India. In fact, even today, I do not know of any exclusive baby shop to sell tastefully designed baby dresses. We simply are not exposed to new ideas in baby dresses.

We see the banal frocks with big fluffy sleeves that I wore 48 years ago! The scene in the baby products industry is very much the same since I know when my son was born 24 years ago.

Why this sluggish growth in baby clothes segment? Why there is no inspiration at all from dress designers? Why are they putting their efforts to satisfy youth only?

I request the fashion designers to look into this lacuna. We don’t lack talent; we simply lack exposure.

What a win for CSK!

Even at the end of the 19th over during yesterday's IPL cricket match between CSK and Kings XI Punjab, I was infuriated with Dhoni for not even trying to hit sixes. I was scolding him.

But, just after 4 more deliveries, I was delirious with enthusiasm. Dhoni hit two sixes which looked out of his reach thus far. Those two strokes took the CSK to semifinal.

Just after scoring the winning sixer, I wish I was sitting in the dugout with CSK team members so that I could rush to Dhoni to embrace with all my heart. He gave so much pleasure for the improbable win.

Thank You Dhoni, thank you very much!

Finest Beauty School in the U.S.

Since I have frequently expressed avid interest in advertisement copy writing and in fact contributed a few catchy headlines free of cost to three companies, I was asked to visit the site of cosmetology school in Missouri, just for my academic interest.

I liked what I read there:

“Shampoo and Conditioner is like talent and opportunity”. Nicely put-don’t you think so?

Of course, we can come up with so many phrases that go together always but shampoo and conditioner is very apt for Beauty School advertisements.

This cosmetology school in Missouri is part of 50-year-old Regency Beauty Institute that has set up 30 schools in the U.S.

As I continue to read regencybeauty.com, I could feel the words emitted commitment and confidence. We all could detect this occasionally when we read a sales page or a short advertisement-right?

I am certain that the graduates of this beauty school will start big in their career.

Want a job in the insurance industry?

The property owner of my office is an insurance development officer. He was looking to hire insurance agents for his new branch in another city. He asked me if I could refer anyone.

I assured him that I would get him as many candidates as possible. I told him to post his requirements in an Insurance job search portal. It is a huge site where job seekers in the insurance industry can search for insurance jobs in all the cities worldwide.

Posting resumes is free for all and if job seekers wanted quicker results, they get their resume distributed to all the prospective employers for a fee.

Of late, insurance industry has brought out attractive money savings projects and there is a constant need for insurance agents and back-office clerks. The insurance industry offers wide scopes for product developers and marketing executives.

Dynamic persons are paid a king’s ransom.

A cute bottle of Stella Mccartney perfume.

Yesterday, one of my friends gifted me a bottle of Stella Mccartney perfume. See the bottle here. Isn't it very cute. More than the content, I kept admiring the container. I just could not take my eyes off the perfume bottle.

In the past, I have received myriad perfumes. The one that gave me immense pleasure is a set of Givenchy perfume. Usually, we easily forget the fragrance of a perfume that we are using once we switch over to another perfume.

But the fragrance of Givenchy still remains fresh. Givenchy is an Italian perfume that is not available in Madras.

Do you by chance know where it is available in Madras?

How to study the insurance comparison charts?

Getting an insurance quote online is nothing new. There are truckloads of dotcoms and 'dotnets' that offer free insurance quotes for car and property insurance.

Almost every online insurance comparison website has smartly entered into business deals with all the leading insurance service providers. I am pretty much impressed with the user interface of insurance quotes comparison sites and the script is also very good in coming up with a neat database of insurance quotes.

However, what else do we need to know apart from keying in our zip code? Do the figures convey anything else? Are there any hidden charges? How do we read between the lines?

I am looking for useful tips on how to study the insurance comparison charts. Please share if you have something useful. You could help thousands of people.

Who is stopping us from giving the 'I'.

I think Ayn Rand said this: "Before you say 'I love you', you should know how to pronounce the 'I'.

So, before giving that 'I', we should what the 'I' stands for. It is all that we assume that we possess, own, and know.

Rarest of rare humans beings only give that all in the 'I'. Birds and animals give their whole unconditionally and that is why they don't carry the look of worry in them.

We offer but not all. We retain something fearing that what we give will be treated as cheap. There is no one stopping us from giving the all in us but only we.

It is not necessary to give money, food and material but we can pass on our skill and talent fully to those who have no money to pay for such services. Just once a week, we can do this service for free.

Extraordinary lighting fixtures from Murray Feiss.

It is too bad that people have lost the taste for classic lighting fixtures. For example, look at this wall mountable lantern type light.










It gives a sophisticated and royal look for our interiors.

Very few lighting manufacturers like Murray Feiss have rich taste. When fixed on the outer wall, just beside the main door, this Mission Lodge Lantern will be the envy of neighbors and passersby.

My husband values old tradition packed in modern comforts. He has uncanny eyes to spot classic beauties among contemporary junks.

Here is another example for his shopping skill. This is an impressive solar powered garden light.

If you ever want to buy unique lighting fixtures, visit lightingshowplace.com

I expected this result.

Applying the law of averages, I was expecting the Mumbai Indians cricket team to lose their match against the Kings XI Punjab.

Actually, I wonder why the Punjab team keeps losing. Look at their batting lineup:
Jayawardane
Sangakara
Yuvaraj
Bisla
Ravi Bopara
Irfan Pathan

Who else do they need?

For bowling, they have Brett Lee and Piyush Chavla. Their weakling is Sreesanth whose sporting spirit is always at the lowest ebb.

I foresee more wins for the Punjab team.

Paying for the air?

The sales engineer rang the doorbell sharply at the appointed time. He came to evaluate the air in our basement. We have been postponing our decision to install a new air purifier ever since our basement dehumidifier broke down due to wear and tear.

I have decided to move my mathematic classroom to the basement. I have already cleaned the entire area and thrown out myriad junks. I have re-laid the floor tiles too.

The sales engineer instantly closed his nose as soon as he entered the basement. I took it as a warning signal. I was sure he is going to quote a higher price for the dehumidifier.

I think he sensed my apprehension and quietly went about his job and asked me several questions.

While I was holding my breath in anticipation of the cost, he smiled and told me that he will get back to me after consulting with his superior.

A breezy encounter with a journalist from 9.9 school of Convergence.

It is not everyday that you meet someone that has commented on your blog post-right? I sometimes visualized meeting one of those faceless bloggers that has made a sensible comment on my blog article.

At last, my visualization became true. I recently met a working journalist. She is a graduate of 9.9 School of Convergence. She majored in applied journalism.

We met in the air-conditioned comfort of a big hall. Her questions on my blog revealed that she is a pro. After I answered patiently all her questions, I took my turn and became the interviewer.

Here is a brief summary of her answers to my questions:

9.9 School of Convergence is an institute with a difference.

Their approach to the training of the journalism students is very professional and thorough.

Even before a student completes the course, he is exposed to real time assignments and the students are allowed to build a captivation portfolio.

9.9 School of Convergence engages some of the top international journalists as faculty.

The journalist showed a few photos of the school. I must accept that they depicted wonderful infrastructure.

At present, aspiring journalists are encouraged to apply for the PG Diploma in Applied Journalism and Media Communication.

Finally, I asked the journalist whether this particular meeting is also a part of her ’on field’ assignment. She politely said no and said the meeting was indeed an accident.

Top 10 Sites for Live Cricket Scores | TechnoZeast

The fever is spreading fast and not sparing any nation. I think, the following cricketers are responsible for this sudden cricket fire.

Murali Vijay

Doug Bollinger

Chris Gayle

Naman Ojha

For those who have no time to watch the IPL cricket live, here are Top 10 Sites for Live Cricket Scores | TechnoZeast.

Me? I am sleeping less now to watch every cricket match live. My interest is revived by that fiery knock by Murali Vijay and the bowling by Bollinger. He should have shared the man of the match award with Murali Vijay.

Keeping your hair down.

I have reasons to believe that hair loss is not causing anyone to miss their sleep. It is clear that the reasons for hair loss have just exceeded one full page. Yes, scientists and beauticians are frequently coming up more reasons for hair loss.

Naturally, the hair care market is quick to capitalize and launch products that attack the latest hair loss reason.

It is heartening to note that beauty parlors have reduced the price for hair weaving which is favored by most of the people that face hair loss due to ageing factor.

Hair weaving certainly has alleviated the concern for hair loss. However, this seems to be the last resort only. Shining heads try various hair loss treatments first and then only consider hair weaving.

By the way, do you think Mbangwa is using any hair care product?

So what if....

So what if Doug Bollinger and Mike Hussey joins the Chennai Super Kings team today. Still, the local lads have to perform-right?

Except Raina and Vijay, not a single Indian is performing in the CSK team. It was a sad sight to see Dhoni struggling against ordinary bowling. He is more capabilities.

It seems Badrinath can't be inspired by Vijay. He certainly lacks range of strokes. And his dashing against his skipper that has happened twice already, is the talk f the town. But he is a trier.

M.Murali bowls just superb and even Thushara has impressed. All the bowlers from Srilanka have been capturing wickets regularly.

What to do with the excess money?

The money appears from unexpected corners and I was wondering what I have done to receive a sudden flow of money. This is the time I do not need anything. This is summer and I just do not step out of the air-conditioned comfort until the first week of June when the eyes of the sky start shedding raindrops.

So, what can I do with the small excess money? Shall I buy gold coins or pre-pay my car loan to some extent?

Investing in gold bullion is not my forte. If I seek my husband’s advice, I will have to disclose the source of funds. No, let the money be idle for sometime.

I will use this opportunity to educate myself about bullion market. I will subscribe to a few newsletters offered by authentic resources like the U.S. Gold Bureau.