Everything And Nothing

T-Shirt of the Day

Ain't too proud to beg T-shirt. You decide for what. ;) $15 at the Everything and Nothing Shop.

A yen for Indian architecture

Indian architect Gerard da Cunha, whose offices are in Goa, designed the intriguing bungalow above, photographed by Gaurav Pandey on his blog, Photography by Gaurav Pandey. Pandey writes:

Exquisitely carved in laterite stone with a rock-hewn pool, the strangely designed landmark splashes own the fort ramparts merging with the beautifully structured landscape. In stark contrast is the Aguada jail about a hundred meters from here.

This house is completely hewn out of the rock on which it stands, right down to the bar and bar stools inside.

That description piqued my interest, so I had to do a little research on da Cunha.

The elaborateness of these Indian houses are not just linked to this architect though. Frederick Noronha writes, "Every culture expresses their genius in different ways. Goans seem to have concentrated on their houses. All the crafts and skills were centered around their homes."

Da Cunha has written a book on Goan homes, The Houses of Goa, in collaboration with Laurie Baker. He also recently hosted an exhibition of Goan homes in a museum he constructed just for the purpose.

Gerard da Cunha, while traveling to Tokyo, was gifted a book by Takeo Kamiya in Japanese about Indian architecture and was so impressed with it that he contacted the author and asked if he could translate it into English and publish it. Kamiya agreed and da Cunha bought the rights from the Japanese publishers. The book was translated by Geetha Parmeshwaran in Bangalore, edited by architect Annabel Lopez, in New Delhi, printed by Pragati in Hyderabad.

Says da Cunha, "Vernacular architecture is our starting point; it is similar to the flora and fauna of the region. It springs from the ground like wild flowers, perfect in its use of material. It embodies the local lifestyle and its process of evolution is completely unconscious."

About the book he says, "It is a wonderful guide for tourists, for the common man both in India and abroad, and for the student of architecture who has access to textbooks that document only Greco-Roman, European and American architecture. "I wish I had a book like this when I was a student of architecture. It is uncanny. This was what I had wanted to do: travel the length and breadth of the country and document our architectural heritage. I never had the time to do it and then I come across this book, researched and put together by Takeo Kamiya, a Japanese architect."

You can order the book here.

I began reading about Da Cunha because I was intrigued with the idea of the stone buildings. I remember as a child visiting some touristy place near Coral Gables, Fla., where everything was constructed of stone - and it left quite an impression on me I guess. Here are some more articles about da Cunha's stone handiwork: the Taj Kuteeram and  Nrityagram Dance Village,

Grillmaster Jr.

Cool toy for a kid. Just like dad's. And only $39 at zebrahall.

[ via j-walk ]

Four Things

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Waitress
2. Editor
3. Typesetter
4. Creative Director

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
1. Love and Death
2. The Meaning of Life
3. Pretty in Pink
4. When Harry Met Sally

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Gulfport, Miss.
2. Biloxi, Miss.
3. Hattiesburg, Miss.
4. Jackson, Miss.

Four TV Shows I Love:
1. Sex and the City
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Lost
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm

Ten Highly Regarded and Recommended Shows That I've Never Watched a Minute Of:
1. 24
2. American Idol
3. ER
4. Any reality TV show
5. Arrested Development
6. Battlestar Galactica
7. My Name is Earl
8. Deadwood
9. CSI
10. The Wire

Four Places I've Vacationed:
1. Perdido Beach, Fla.
2. Orlando, Fla.
3. Atlanta, Ga.
4. Dallas, Tex.

Four of My Favorite Dishes:
1. Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
2. Chicken Chimichanga
3. Blackened Prime Rib
4. Any kind of ice cream

Four Sites I Visit Daily:
1. www.google.com
2. www.yahoo.com
3. del.icio.us
4. www.bookofjoe.com

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. In a club, dancing
2. Having a late-night dessert and coffee in some quaint coffee house
3. Watching a movie
4. Lying on a blanket on the beach, with no mosquitoes around, on a cool, clear night, gazing at the stars, with a bottle of champagne and a basket full of grapes

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging:
1. Riannan
2. Lisa Schamess
3. Joan
4. Becky

[ via kottke who I don't know on a first-name basis and who didn't tag me, but how the hell else am I going to fill up eight posts a day, people! ;) ]

You May Touch the Dust, But Please Don't Write In It

The more you dust, the less you could earn. Each hour a young or middle-aged woman spends on housework and chores at home lowers her pay at work, a study at the University of Toledo in Ohio shows. Men tend to tackle weekend tasks such as repairs, but women do the dailies, leaving less energy for the office. (Note to my office: You must be getting the best of me because my house is really dirty. And I have a sign in my kitchen that is the same as the title of this entry, so you can see which way I lean.)

Years ago, when my son was much younger and I was struggling with the needs of a newborn, an increasingly smaller (seeming) house and a full-time job, my husband, mistakenly, made some comment about the house being a bit dirty. I snapped. I said, "You haven't earned the right to complain about the house. Either stop complaining or start helping." I haven't heard a peep out of him since. (Hey, it wasn't what I was shooting for, but I guess it will do.)

Later, when we are at a party one night and I had probably had one or two too many, I ended up by an obnoxious acquaintance of my husband's who was ranting and raving about how women pissed and moaned that they wanted to go to work and now all they do is piss and moan that they want to stay home or they can't do it all or blah blah blah. My reply was not very diplomatic. I said, "Personally, if I would have known that when women did go to work that we would still be expected to clean the house, buy the groceries, wash the clothes, cook the dinner, tutor the kids, walk the dog, mow the lawn (as is my case, with a husband allergic to everything) and call the damn repairman anyway when something is broken half the time, you couldn't have drug my butt from the kitchen. There would still be claw marks left in the floor if they got me out."

He shut up after that.

Wild Mushroom Frittata

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp butter
3/4 lb wild mushrooms, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 tsp fresh thyme
5 egg whites
2 tbsp each chopped fresh herbs (such as chives, parsley and chervil)
Squeeze of lemon

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil on high in a 6-inch cast-iron skillet for 2 minutes. Add butter; when it foams, add mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and saute 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add onions and thyme; saute 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in egg whites with a heat-proof rubber spatula until eggs start to set. Transfer skillet to oven and bake 5 minutes, until golden. Sprinkle with remaining herbs and lemon juice. Cut into wedges and serve.

123 calories, 5.7 g fat (1.8 g saturated), 13.1 g carbs, 7 g fiber, 5.4 g protein

Step On It

Mark your calendar for Feb. 25 and make sure you to learn salsa, hula or swing with free dance lessons available nationwide. (Mississippi has event scheduled in Hattiesburg and Tupelo.) During the events, dancing is promoted as a fun way to stay heart healthy.

Bag It

Create a makeup bag (or a purse or a tote bag) that's just what you want at www.1154Lill.com. Click on Design and choose from more than 100 patterns, with prices still just $29 to $36 for makeup bags. Not bad for customization.

T-Shirt of the Day

Everyone loves...a good mystery. A Good Mystery Hoodie. $20 at the Everything and Nothing Shop.

Skin Friends

The next time you're at Nordstrom, don't be surprised if you see a nurse at the beauty counter. A new service puts an RN with makeup or skin-care experience on the beauty floor to guide women through brands (without sales pressures). It started in San Francisco and is growing.

You can also e-mail complexion questions to nurse.on.call@nordstrom.com.

Read an article here by Nerissa Pacio, who tried the service and wrote about it.