50,000 Hits!

      The leafy season is over. Winter has begun and with it has begun a new year. So at the onset, let me wish all of you a very happy new year, 2012. While I was busy making plans to make a list of what to blog about in 2012, this blog reached the milestone of 50K hits on December 16th, 2011. Then a few days back, just when I was about to publish a new post, WordPress created a nifty review of my blog for the last year. So it was decided to postpone this post so that all the viewers would get time to digest what WordPress had to say. It brought to mind what John Lennon said: Life is what happens when you are busy making plans. Anyway, so as to celebrate and mark this milestone of 50K hits, here is a painting of African Violets, that I had made in 1992.

African Violets

      With this I am all fired up to start the business of blogging for 2012. So here is what you should expect in this blog, organized categorically. (Think of it as ‘my want to do list’ )

READING & REVIEWING:

The following books would be read and reviewed this year:

• The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success………..Resume on Steroids!
• ‘Magic School Bus’ series…………..When Frank Gehry meets Lady Gaga
• When I Grow Up
• Steve Jobs: so as to understand how do the elements of being an adopted child, school drop-out, drugs, calligraphy, Zen Buddhism and Apple CEO fuse into one coherent story called Steve Jobs.
• Parallel review of two books: ‘Historic Conversations on Life with JFK’ and ‘Sonia Gandhi: An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny’. This would be titled ‘From Jackie to Sonia’.

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WRITING:

• Volunteering in America
• What to expect when you are not expecting
• Nehru meets JFK: Review of Trader Joes (this has been in my mind for over a year!).
• Picture postcards from Shanghai: Comparing traditional architecture of China and India with examples from Shanghai and Jaisalmer.

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PAINTING:

      Many people have an inner calling to do something specific in life. Believe it or not, for me it has been to paint leaves. The context of living in a very leafy environment contributes to the same! Yesterday while eating some gourmet lettuce leaves in purple, green and white colors I was tempted to use them as subjects for a painting! Talk about an inner calling! Anyway this year I shall be painting with a mix of acrylic and watercolors. Here is what I have in mind:

• Nasturtium and Sycamore leaves in green and yellow colors. Guess I have not had my fill of these two colors
• Sweet Gum and some complex leaves e.g. Japanese Maple in yellow, orange and red colors.
• Tropical leaves in a mix of warm and cool colors, if time permits.

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GARDENING:

      To bring the joy of cultivating Ranunculus, Glaminis, Mums, Ferns, Lavender and Mint to this blog. This is of course subject to their performance in my garden.

      These articles will be published in random order, depending upon the season e.g. book reviews etc in winter and spring, gardening in summer, painting in fall. What else? Besides this I will be writing some articles that are socially useful, by processing information from the media. Last year one such article was ‘Sculpting Pumpkins’. I really enjoyed writing it and many people sent me e-mails to let me know how much they enjoyed reading it. Such articles are sparked by the spur of the moment and capture the energy of the rapidly changing times. Hope the above list makes all the new visitors to this blog happy since most of them cannot wait to read the next post. How exciting for a writer like me!

      With this I thank all of you for your continued support and look forward to blogging towards 60K hits and many more milestones ahead. Once again, spread the word, spread the joy.

Ratna

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Blog Stats: 50,638 hits

For all new comers to this blog: check out my book.

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Success is a journey, not a destination.

- Deepak Chopra

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