#21: Attend a rock concert

Unfortunate camera-pic

I got lucky a few days back when I heard Norah Jones was giving a concert in India. I have not attended a concert, like EVER. And though my list says "rock" concert, I figured a jazz/country/folk concert is a worthy substitute.

Besides I was getting an employee discount on tickets, and this I took as a sign that I should go a-concerting.

So for people who are going to attend a concert for the first time, here are a few tips:

1) Wear flat shoes and closed shoes.
Open-air concerts involve a lot of standing (or sitting). So heels will definitely make you uncomfortable. I am a person who doesn't like dirt in her toes, so closed shoes were a must for me.

2) Carry water
All that standing around and singing along makes you thirsty. So carry some hydration.

3) Carry insect repellent/sunscreen
Depending on whether its day or night, carry one(or both). I was bitten by mosquitoes all night :(

4) Carry a light, hands free bag.
Again, standing around will exhaust you. make sure your bag doesn't contribute to it.

5) Dress lightly.
So many people packed together will make it warm/hot. So jackets, sweaters, wraps should be left in your car.

6) Respect other concert attendees
Don't step on toes, push people, toss your hair into other people's unsuspecting faces. Your dance moves may be sexy, but I certainly don't appreciate you shoving at me.

And as a tiny person, I think concerts may not be the best place for me to enjoy music. After all, I generally come upto most people's shoulders, and my view of Norah Jones was limited to between people's ears and necks. Sharad, however, towered over the crowd and even made eye-contact with Norah and her guitarist, Jeff(we were quite near the stage).
So my final concert-going tip for you:

8) Be tall.

The concert in itself was brilliant. The lady is an incredible performer! She sounds as good performing live as she does on record. And her band was awesome too! My favourites were "Creep on Me" and "Black" and "Mariam". Her songwriting is so versatile, switching from jazz to almost-rock to pop.

#6 Drape a sari perfectly

As  a part of my 30 before 30 list, I learned how to drape a sari well. Special thanks to my mum, and the internet!

I love the sari, it is a beautiful garment,makes me feel elegant and grownup. I learnt to drape it fairly late in my youth, and even made a little comic about it. The only problem is I don't love it on myself. Post-wedding, I accumulated a lovely collection of silks and chiffons and net saris. But something was still amiss, saris always seemed a little "off" on me. 

That's when I realised I need to learn how to drape it well. There are a few little tricks of how to do it, and you need to adjust it to your own body type. 

 For instance I am a small person, with a few extra pounds in the middle. I have slim hips and broad shoulders. I don't have the typical large hipped small-waisted Indian figure(which looks so amazing in saris). So I made up a few tenets for myself, especially when it comes to the traditional silk saris.

1) No long pallus  for me, sadly. I stick to neatly draped accordian pleats, that is the only way I will not look over-whelmed by the sari.  The folded section of the pallu cannot extend too much beyond my shoulder blade. Otherwise I look like one of those rugby players.

2) A tiny bit of waist exposure is essential, for people who are blessed with no hips & a paunch. This falls nicely in line with a gathered pallu.

3) Front pleats are a bit of an issue for short & not-very-wide-hipped people. Especially since some saris these days seem to be long and tall and make up for a nice "pouf" right in front of your tummy. My solution(courtesy my mum) is to move them ever so slightly to the right.

4) Heels! Buy(and wear) the most comfortable high-heels you can find. Wedges always work for me. Many people dislike the look of wedges,but I like to think that having small feet can let you get away with chunky shoes.Wearing heels under a sari elongates the lower part of the sari, and makes you look elegant. 

So these are my four observations for draping a sari well. There was a wedding in the family recently, and I think I managed to pull off the sari pretty well.

Pin-spiring

Working in interaction design means being an early adopter of many new "internet trends". I signed up to Pinterest nearly a year ago, but wasn't using it as much till a few months back.
I DO get why people get addicted to it, if you follow the right boards, and are able to streamline your interests, you get a ton of visual inspiration.

I made this little sketch after seeing something on pinterest. The problem is however that one tends not to remember the source or the artist who "inspired" you.

I am currently just using it to get some visual candy, though I see people use it to do some DIY stuff, outfit inspiration, graphic design inspiration, and so on.

I also kinda get intimidated by the "perfect" photography on it, even though I know its all nice light, and clean backgrounds. 

Why I am not drawing

A small comic I made a LONG while ago!

30 before 30

I was chatting with my younger brother and he said, "I never imagined life after 22-23. Somehow that seemed to be the end." I agreed, because I used to be the same way. I never thought I would become any older than 25.

But here's the harsh truth. I turn 30 in February 2014. It's a milestone birthday, and I suppose I could be all unhappy about it. But, instead, I have decided to look forward to becoming thirty. It is sad to leave my 20s behind, and realise that I will not be the target audience for a lot of marketing & advertisers. But on the other hand, a lot of my burning life questions seem to be behind me. I am older, somewhat wiser and have as yet, no white hairs.

I still suffer from existential angst, and self-esteem issues, and yes, acne. I guess these things are not going  away anytime soon.

However, enough rambling! Before I exit my 20s, I decided to make a list of things I wanted to do. It wasn't easy to come up with thirty, but I did it!

1. Run a marathon
2. Throw a party
3. Learn to blow dry my hair REALLY straight
4. Complete the “Artist’s Way”
5. Save an X amount of money every month
6. Learn how to drape a sari really well
7. Find and wear the right makeup
8. Celebrate Diwali the right way
9. Make pickles
10. Keep a photoblog (on posterous)
11. Travel to
• Coorg,
• Pondicherry,
• Hampi &
• Ooty
12. Participate in NaNoWriMo(November)
13. Stitch a garment I can wear outside the house
14. Make a painting or a series of small paintings
15. Design a calendar for 2014
16. Go hang-gliding
17. Travel to another country
18. Learn to do my taxes
19. Go on a road trip
20. "Finish" drawing in all my gifted journals/notebooks
21. Attend a rock concert
22. Take a jewelry making class/Make some jewelry
23. Go vegan for a month
24. Learn to sing a song perfectly
25. Don't shop for a month
26. Write reviews of books & films you watch
27. Participate in hourly comics (1^st FEB!!!)
28. Celebrate Valentine's day
29. Start the 'other' blog (that's a hush-hush project)
30. Be at peace with myself

I am going to try and document this as I go on. Wish me luck!