Sunday, May 14, 2017

Thought: Need of the time...

Crisis of resources has been always there.. 
Developed countries had thought they are immune to it..but they are feeling the itch as well..
 In such scenario.. 
#When someone have three kids (even two is too much), I find them very irresponsible..its no more about choices..its about responsibility towards the world. If people were dying frantically like wildlife, a dozen would have been welcome.. But, in today's overpopulated world one should be enough..

Living harmoniously with animals is one of the best contribution make to this world...

 #When someone says, she wants to travel the whole world.. Developing outlook and getting to know other cultures is great.. But with depleting fuels, this dream is a form of selfishness..why not get to know your own surroundings..and improve its conditions.. 

#People are saying 'stand up to cancer' Cancer is not the enemy..neither are multiple sclerosis, diabetes and others.. Our wrong lifestyle by ignorance or choices is the culprit.. Stand up for a non-consumerist, moderate lifestyle.. Enough for now I guess, if anybody cares...

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Knowledge: Important plants and the families they belong to..........

#Some important pant families and famous plants belonging to them...
Acanthaceae: Brazilian plume, bear's breeches, Thunbergia
Aceraceae: maples
Anacardiaceae:  mango, poison ivy, sumac, smoke tree, pistachio and mastic tree
Annonaceae: custard apple, cherimoya,  soursop, American pawpaw
Apiaceae (Umbelliferae): celery, carrot, parsley, angelica, anise, arracacha, asafoetida, caraway, chervil,  coriander (cilantro), cumin, dill, fennel, hemlock, lovage, cow parsley,  parsnip, cow parsnip
Apocynaceae: dogbane, Adenium,  Pachypodium, oleander, vinca, carissa, Allamanda, plumeria,  Thevetia, Mandevilla
Araceae:  Colocasia, elephant ear, Amorphophallus, Caladium,Philodendron, anthurium, skunk cabbage
Asteraceae: lettuce, sunflower seeds, artichokes, sunflower, marigold, Calendula,  Echinacea, daisies, fleabane, chrysanthemums, dahlias, zinnias, yarrow
Avicenniaceae: Avicennia
Brassicaceae: mustards, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, turnip, cabbage,rapeseed, radish, horseradish, thale cress, Alyssum
Pieris rapae and other butterflies of the Pieridae family are some of the most well-known pests of the commercial cropping of Brassicaceae species.
Ericaceae: cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron
Euphorbiaceae: spurge, cassava,  castor oil, Jatropha, rubber tree, poinsettia, Chinese tallow
Fabaceae: Kudzu, legume, pea, ,Acacia,Indigofera, Mimosa, soybean, beans, chickpeas, alfalfa, peanut, Lathyrus, carob, liquorice, black locust
Fagaceae: oak, chestnut, and beech
Lamiaceae:  Oregano, spearmint,  peppermint, basil, lavender,  rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram,  hyssop, thyme, lavender, perilla, sage, coleus, Plectranthus
Lauraceae:  Sassafras, cinnamon, cassia,  camphor laurel, bay laurel, avocado
Magnoliaceae:  magnolias, American tuliptree
Meliaceae: neem tree, Chinaberry, Mahogany
Moraceae: fig, banyan, breadfruit, mulberry,Osage-orange
Myristicaceae: nutmeg, mace,  clove, guava, feijoa, eucalyptus
Oleaceae: olive, ash, jasmine, privet, forsythia, fringetrees,lilac
Piperaceae:  pepper, Kava plant
Poaceae: bamboos, maize, wheat, rice, barley, millet
Rhamnaceae: Jujube tree, Buckthorns, Ceanothus
Rosaceae:  apples, pears, quinces, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, raspberries, loquats, strawberries,almonds,  roses,  photinias, firethorns, rowans,  hawthorns
Rubiaceae: coffee, madder, Cinchona, Gardenia, Ixora, Pentas, African medlar, noni
Rutaceae: orange, lemon,  kumquat, mandarin, White sapote, Bael
Sapindaceae: lychee, longan, mamoncillo,  rambutan, soapberries
Solanaceae:  potato, tomato, eggplant, Capsicum, tomatillo, Nicotiana, Petunia, Datura, , Atropa belladonna
Urticaceae:  nettles
Verbenaceae: Lemon verbena, Verbenas
Zingiberaceae: shell gingers, ginger,  galangal or Thai ginger, turmeric (Curcuma), cardamom

Friday, May 12, 2017

Knowledge: Top novels of all times...

I was looking for the top novels of all times............the list went like this

ULYSSES: by James Joyce
THE GREAT GATSBY: by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN :by James Joyce
LOLITA:by Vladimir Nabokov
BRAVE NEW WORLD: by Aldous Huxley
THE SOUND AND THE FURY: by William Faulkner
CATCH-22: by Joseph Heller
DARKNESS AT NOON: by Arthur Koestler
SONS AND LOVERS: by D.H. Lawrence
THE GRAPES OF WRATH: by John Steinbeck
UNDER THE VOLCANO: by Malcolm Lowry
THE WAY OF ALL FLESH: by Samuel Butler
1984: by George Orwell
I, CLAUDIUS: by Robert Graves
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE: by Virginia Woolf
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY: by Theodore Dreiser
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER: by Carson McCullers
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE: by Kurt Vonnegut
INVISIBLE MAN: by Ralph Ellison
NATIVE SON: by Richard Wright
HENDERSON THE RAIN KING: by Saul Bellow
APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA: by John O’Hara
U.S.A.(trilogy): by John Dos Passos
WINESBURG, OHIO: by Sherwood Anderson
A PASSAGE TO INDIA: by E.M. Forster
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE: by Henry James
THE AMBASSADORS: by Henry James
TENDER IS THE NIGHT: by F. Scott Fitzgerald
THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY: by James T. Farrell
THE GOOD SOLDIER: by Ford Madox Ford
ANIMAL FARM: by George Orwell
THE GOLDEN BOWL: by Henry James
SISTER CARRIE: by Theodore Dreiser
A HANDFUL OF DUST: by Evelyn Waugh
AS I LAY DYING: by William Faulkner
ALL THE KING’S MEN: by Robert Penn Warren
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY: by Thornton Wilder
HOWARDS END: by E.M. Forster
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN: by James Baldwin
THE HEART OF THE MATTER: by Graham Greene
LORD OF THE FLIES: by William Golding
DELIVERANCE: by James Dickey
A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series): by Anthony Powell
POINT COUNTER POINT: by Aldous Huxley
THE SUN ALSO RISES: by Ernest Hemingway
THE SECRET AGENT: by Joseph Conrad
NOSTROMO: by Joseph Conrad
THE RAINBOW: by D.H. Lawrence
WOMEN IN LOVE: by D.H. Lawrence
TROPIC OF CANCER: by Henry Miller
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD: by Norman Mailer
PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT: by Philip Roth
PALE FIRE: by Vladimir Nabokov
LIGHT IN AUGUST: by William Faulkner
ON THE ROAD: by Jack Kerouac
THE MALTESE FALCON: by Dashiell Hammett
PARADE’S END: by Ford Madox Ford
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE: by Edith Wharton
ZULEIKA DOBSON: by Max Beerbohm
THE MOVIEGOER: by Walker Percy
DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP: by Willa Cather
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY; by James Jones
THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES: by John Cheever
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE: by J.D. Salinger
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE: by Anthony Burgess
OF HUMAN BONDAGE: by W. Somerset Maugham
HEART OF DARKNESS: by Joseph Conrad
MAIN STREET: by Sinclair Lewis
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH: by Edith Wharton
THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET: by Lawrence Durell
A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA: by Richard Hughes
A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS: by V.S. Naipaul
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST: by Nathanael West
A FAREWELL TO ARMS: by Ernest Hemingway
SCOOP: by Evelyn Waugh
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE: by Muriel Spark
FINNEGANS WAKE: by James Joyce
KIM: by Rudyard Kipling
A ROOM WITH A VIEW: by E.M. Forster
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED: by Evelyn Waugh
THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH: by Saul Bellow
ANGLE OF REPOSE: by Wallace Stegner
A BEND IN THE RIVER: by V.S. Naipaul
THE DEATH OF THE HEART: by Elizabeth Bowen
LORD JIM: by Joseph Conrad
RAGTIME: by E.L. Doctorow
THE OLD WIVES’ TALE: by Arnold Bennett
THE CALL OF THE WILD: by Jack London
LOVING: by Henry Green
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: by Salman Rushdie
TOBACCO ROAD: by Erskine Caldwell
IRONWEED: by William Kennedy
THE MAGUS: by John Fowles
WIDE SARGASSO SEA: by Jean Rhys
UNDER THE NET: by Iris Murdoch
SOPHIE’S CHOICE: by William Styron
THE SHELTERING SKY: by Paul Bowles
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE: by James M. Cain
THE GINGER MAN: by J.P. Donleavy
THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS: by Booth Tarkington

Out of these 100, I have read only a few..or watched movies based on them..such as THE GREAT GATSBY; LOLITA..........

All of them might not interest me or I may not get time to read them all..
But, I would like to know their synopsis..

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Passion: My gorgeous garden flowers...

Now, my garden boasts of  flowers forming a medley of colors..
I wonder, where they get the color from....of course I know the answer...the omnipresent sun...and the pigments giving  color are anthocyanins...




Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Thought: That's life...

Life....fleeting....transient..
Symbolized by
...the fallen sycamore leaf.....

...the rain drop...

It was such a freak accident in front of our San Diego apartment..
I woke up in the morning...looked outside, it was a normal dawn..
Then I got ready for my campus and came to the balcony with my cereal bowl..what did I see?
Police cars...the entrance of the apartment cordoned off...
An old jogging woman had been fatally hit by a driver..


I was perplexed by the fragility of life during rest of my stay there...

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Photography: Abstract shots........

Abstract pictures...that convey a message..
'Non-conformist'..

'Plants have vasculature too'...

'Shriveling, swelling kidney bean'..

Cucumber vine tendril wraps a narcissus leaf for support............

A rusted nail.....

I came across this bunch of keys at the shore of Lake Crescent.......some traveller must have left it after sitting a spell at the stunning lake.......

Steam built inside a lid,w  after I clamped  it on a bowl with hot food...

A burnt chapati........my negligence led it to be charred......should not waste food...........

Bare white trees, against the blue winter sky.......


Ivy footprints on  a wall......

Cluster of cacti...looks like a human family........


Monday, May 8, 2017

Knowledge: Native Indian tribes of North west Washington state..

Travel indeed widens one's outlook..
Had not we traveled to Washington state, I would not have known its diverse native Indian tribes...Chinook, Cowlitz, Hoh,  Klallam, Nisqually, Makah, Quinault, Quileute, Puyallup, Skokomish, Snohomish, Spokane, Upper Skagit tribes...

Rightfully, a number of areas are named after them.........

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Plant: Mandevilla........

I have two mandevilla plants.........I had let another one die out of ignorance and over-watering...
I absolutely love the blooms...shape, color, profusion...








Aphids are a great problem with them...
Made this rope trellis for the vine to grow......

Mandevilla vines wrapping  trellis....



Saturday, May 6, 2017

Plant: Aspens........

Aspens (Populus sp.) thrive in US South West...they are beautiful...especially in autumn..
When they change color...yellow, pink, red, orange, purple, brick...
Some fabulous shots from the high Sierra foothills, California..










Now , does not these shots look like dream?

Me....with the aspen backdrop....

Friday, May 5, 2017

Plant: Dragon blood tree...

 Dagon blood tree (Dracaena draco) ........unique, fleshy trunks...mushroom-like canopy..
I have seen many of them in San Diego...in the zoo..in Balboa park..



One growing in Laguna beach shore..

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