Inspired blogging!

(Image taken from gapingvoid.com)

If any of you blog you'll know that bloggers go through periods of inspiration and moments of exasperation! After I finished a year for Kiran's Corner, my waves seem to be coming in the form of small ripples- small bouts of small and frequent mood swings. The question that plagues me as well as most bloggers- what on EARTH should I write about today? Sometimes I'm sure you can tell I'm truly as excited about the subject matter as I sound... and well, sometimes I'm sure you can tell I'm just trying to dig up stuff so as to not lose my followers. Anyhow, I'm rambling today as recently two friends of mine, Amreeta and Dia, two fabulous sisters who live in London and Lagos respectively, started up blogs of their own. They're both extremely intelligent and have distinct voices and are blogging about their daily lives, thoughts and random things that catch their eye. Dia is a new mother and writes about the wonders of having a child and everything that comes along with it, and the non-wonders of surviving life in Nigeria. Amreeta is a fellow Aries and a girl after my own heart.. she for me personifies dry British humour and every time I see a funny English film or TV show or read a Ben Elton book that makes me laugh out loud, I think of her. If you follow me on Facebook, you'll notice our banter and maybe understand what I mean. She also (like me) wants to be a writer but (like me) probably doesn't have the patience to see it through, so I actually gave her a slight nudge into the blogging world. 

They've literally JUST started up their blogs and I've only been able to read a couple of posts of theirs, squished on my blackberry screen while I've been traveling, and I can already say I'm truly hooked. When friends of mine used to read my blog they were sometimes often honest enough to tell me that they couldn't quite tell whether they enjoyed it because they knew me and could visualize me speaking a lot of what I'd written, or whether it was because it was good stuff. Now that I have a lot more unknown followers than my friends who read my blog, hopefully it's the latter that has them coming back. I'm kind of going through that phase with my two friends- where I love to read their posts, but I know it's not because of sheer boredom or a sense of duty, it's because I marvel about the random stuff they're writing about that I just wouldn't have otherwise known about them! The other day Amreeta wrote about her frizzy hair problems (yet another trait we share) and about how she's combatted it by going shampoo free! It was informative, well written and something I had NO clue about! (And while it may sound gross or confusing, I can promise you she isn't weird or surviving with questionable hygiene problems- read her post here) More than anything, reading these two girls post about their lives has seriously got me thinking about the way I blog. I sometimes hold back because I'm scared of giving away too much information or wonder to myself, "Who on earth will want to read about this?!" but looking forward to what my friends write about makes me wonder whether it'll be such a bad thing for me to share some of my life with my readers? Write down some of MY random thoughts than feel like I need to report or bring some news or review a product, place or service. These girls have inspired me to maybe blog more and share more, and it's so funny to hear them comment that they're surprised anyone wants to read anything they have to write about at all. Dia and Amreeta, I do!! And don't worry girls, when you worry about feeling like you'll run out of things to say, know that a year and a bit down the line, I worry about the same every day!

Read Dia's Blog, Dia's Days here and follow her on twitter on @diadadlani

Check out her sister Amreeta's blog here and follow her on twitter on @nectar1269

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Blog corner presents Fashion Foie Gras

One of my favourite things to do everyday are read a whole bunch of different blogs. If you've been reading mine for a while, you'll know that every once in a while I like to feature one of my favourites or new discoveries to let my readers know about other cool blogs that exist out there. One of the ones that I've been following for a while is Fashion Foie Gras.
When it comes down to fashion blogs, there are a whole bunch of different types that can be found- there are the street style ones that tend to be most popular (like Garance Dore's), or there are ones where people chronicle their own styles and clothes (WishWishWish and MyFashDiary are two examples that I've written about before) and there are some that just offer the latest news on all things fashion. Recently I found some famous fashion bloggers that I loved to follow earlier have become completely out of reach as they've morphed into celebrities in their own right, and it's become almost painful to read their blogs. If you've ever read BryanBoy's blog (which unfortunately is now blocked in the UAE) you'll know what I'm talking about. I was on the lookout for some blogs that were fresh and easy and had a mix of all things fashion- bits of fashion gossip, some educational posts, a dash of celeb-styling with a few personal looks thrown in, without the attitude thank you very much! I don't know how exactly I found Fashion Foie Gras, but I love it and read it almost every day.
Emily Johnston, the Fashion Goose and person behind FFG (picture below), moved to London from North Carolina 8 years back, and started the blog only 15 months back. When I asked her what prompted her to start a fashion blog she said, "The best background for this sort of employment is an obsession with fashion and style. I've had a subscription to Vogue, and every other fashion glossy out there since I was 11 years old! Let's just say I had been preparing for this sort of role for a long time without even knowing it!"
Her "voice" is actually the best part about the blog as it's not just a run of the mill list of things happening in the fashion world, or a list of press releases printed out, but it's in places educational, in places questioning, often complimentary about a designer's work and sometimes just plain funny. Just a few days back she carried an article on a very interesting massage she went for (a Kundalini back massage) which left her transported to another world and crying. The next article was one about "Muffin Tops" and how the word has officially made it into the Oxford English Dictionary! The blog had me go from intrigued to amused in 5 minutes flat!
Fashion Foie Gras also carries some real fun to read features like one which chronicles the most interesting TwitPics posted by the celebs and a new addition called "Blackberry Tales from the Fashion Goose" which shows off Emily's latest captures on her BB. If you like reading fashion blogs, I promise you'll be as hooked to FFG as I am to Okku's Foie Gras Sushi! If you haven't already, you need to try both!

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And if you haven't visited my blog over the past few days, you might not know that you have until the 31st of March to follow 3 easy steps that could potentially make you the proud owner of the Apple iPad!!!! Go here for details- http://www.kiranscorner.com/2011/03/win-ipad-with-kirans-corner-and-jumbo.html 
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Tavi Gevinson starts a new magazine

For those who don't know who Tavi Gevinson is, she is the 14  year old blogger of the amazing fashion blog, The Style Rookie. Now how much can a 14 year old POSSIBLY know about fashion, you might wonder? Well, while her blog does have an interesting view on fashion and what is fashionable, what I find most amazing is this young girl's "voice" and her desire to be different. I remember reading a post once where Tavi was lamenting on her image in school where because of her celebrity status, people suddenly looked up to her quirky dress sense without questioning it or understanding it. Suddenly, she posted, she was being looked upon as being cool rather than being the weird outcast, and she actually had a problem with it.. the fact that nobody questioned her anymore made her nervous and upset. I recently had seen a video of hers where she talked about a magazine that existed between the years of 1988 and 1996 called "Sassy," that was mainly targeted towards teenage girls and was written from the point of view of a teenage girl who didn't really want to conform to the norms of society and was sort of encouraging other girls not to do the same. She talks about the magazines take on boys, which was- "Boys are cute and we like them (unless we hate them) but they're more dressing on the salad of life. We find it much more sensible to hang out with people- male or female- whose company we groove on, not to go hunting in search of a mate." Amen, Sassy! Watch the video and I'm sure you guys will love Tavi and find her thought process extremely intriguing!-

After having seen this video and Tavi's obsession with back copies of the magazine, it really then comes as no surprise to me or Tavi's other fans that the original Editor-in-chief of Sassy, Jane Pratt, contacted Tavi to revive the magazine. While Tavi will continue to write her blog, she will also work on publishing (in hard copy) 3 issues a year of Sassy, targeted at "wallflowery teenage girls" much like herself.
She opens the floor for admissions and ideas and encourages readers get in touch with her, and people of all ages can subscribe and take part. Teenage-Me would have SO been all over this!
Read more about her idea here.
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"Follow" my blog on Google Reader!

A few of my friends have been reading my blog since I started it a few months back. I had to personally call upon each of them individually and request them to click on the little "Follow" icon that appeared on the side (when I had the option available). I had even made my disclaimer saying I didn't quite know what clicking that little button did but that I didn't want the number to be in the single digits! Well, a handful of them complied, till I did away with the box completely.
Later while trying to find ways to catch up on my favourite blogs easily, I came across Bloglovin' and immediately linked an icon for people to be able to follow my blog along with other peoples. This is a short video to show how Bloglovin works-



However, Bloglovin had it's limitations, as I didn't like the way all the posts from different blogs came chronological in order, and more importantly, I had to be online on a computer to read it. I had a whole bunch of blogs bookmarked on my laptop at home, but had to remember each site's URL to be able to put it in and go through it on my iPad. After doing a little more digging, I found a whole bunch of Apps available to do just that, that synced the stuff you "liked" with Google Reader, so that you didn't have to keep adding blogs and webpages each time you tried a different application out. So, I'm going to give you a few options about how you can keep in touch with all your online blog reading with ease.


Google Reader- Google Reader is a great way for you to keep in touch with all the online news. It's easy to use, and as you would expect with a Google app, is very well laid out. All your subscriptions and blogs that you follow are on there, so if you're connected to a computer, this is probably your best bet. It's the one I use from my laptop anyway. Check it out at www.google.com/reader .

Reeder- Reeder is available for the iPad and the iPhone and is soon coming for the Mac platform as well. As you can tell from the screen shot below, the App is very well laid out and is so easy to use and read. You can log into Google Reader from the app itself, so if you've got a whole bunch of blogs you are "following", they automatically all show up on here, by you just logging in. This was actually the App I used till a friend of mine mentioned the next one on my list and I decided to check it out.

Pulse- As mentioned above, I actually discovered this App only yesterday. I had heard a lot about it, but when a friend spoke of it yesterday, I checked it out while downloading other Apps for my iPad. I must say I instantly liked its layout, look and feel, and something about it made it feel so snappy. The App has apparently been made by 2 Indian boys while in college at Stanford, and it just is incredibly simple to use, and like I said, incredibly nice looking.

The rows that you see above (image taken from www.alphonsolabs.com) are different posts on the website, that one can easily scroll and read. I just played around with it a little bit, but I could immediately understand why this was the Number 1 App in the US iTunes App store for a while. Pulse is available for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

I hope this post was useful and if any of you want to share the Apps you use to follow up on sites and blogs, please let me know in the comments section below, as I wouldn't mind trying out others too. I'm also bringing my "Follow" box back out, so please do click on it if you are using any of the Apps mentioned above, or do want to be up to date on stuff I post. Thanks!
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Blog Corner presents Myfashdiary!

Recently I posted about Carrie from WishWishWish and her amazing vintage style. The only thing Tala Samman from MyFashDiary and Carrie have in common are that they are both 19, and both have incredibly addictive blogs. While Carrie's style is whimsical and old school, mostly bought second hand or at vintage stores, Tala's cutting edge sense of style ensures she dons the latest fashions, impeccably worn, bought with an obviously expansive budget. The girl has fabulous taste- Most days I get ready to go out and pray I don't bump into someone I know, while Tala posts her "Look of the Day" on most days, to show unfashionable cretins (like me) how TO dress while stepping out of the house. Here is the most recent example posted by her a few days back:

Tala is originally from Dubai and is currently studying fashion while at University in London. While her mother, Lina Samman, is very well known in Dubai circles for her chic style and glamorous presence, I think in a few years she will be more widely known as being Tala's Mom than the other way around. Tala is absolutely gorgeous and her style (as you can see from her top January looks displayed above) is absolutely effortless. And yup, that is a Birkin that you see on the arm of a 19 year old college student. I did warn you about that impeccable taste and expansive budget, didn't I?! Like I said to a friend recently while pointing her in the direction of MyFashDiary, Tala's is the wardrobe I'd want to have if I were ten years younger, and half my size!

The Blog Corner presents WishWishWish

I don't exactly remember how I stumbled upon www.wishwishwish.net, but I'm glad I did. The gorgeous 19 year old Carrie, has an eye for design, a love for vintage, a real talent for blogging and taking pictures, and a sense of self way beyond her youthful years. While I guess WIsh Wish Wish would classify as a fashion blog, it really is so much more. There are gorgeous vintage-y pictures, ideas on places to go shop, a couple of how-to's (like how to make a hollow book treasure box) and did I mention the gorgeous vintage-y pictures? She has supplemented these pictures with breath-taking videos that are shot by her live-in boyfriend Miguel (whom she has been dating for four years now) that look like they're a film reel for a French Perfume Ad.

If you're thinking, "Really?? What could a 19 year old old have to blog about that could possibly be of interest to me?" I dare you to take a look and find out. You'll be glad you did.

(Image taken from a blog post at WishWishWish)

Introducing, The Blog Corner- The Photodiarist

The Photodiarist

I am a diarist of ordinary moments that move me. I gravitate towards black and white photography but still celebrate color. I love the candid capture but respect the power of the choreographed moment. I study the rules of phos+graphis but am compelled periodically to ignore them.

 Such is the welcome into the Photodiarist's world. When people say, "a picture speaks a thousand words" they really MUST have taken a peek into the works of the diarist. Each photograph captures amazing beauty and intensity, my favourites being those of people captured unawares. The pictures are posted daily, all in black and white, with a link to a few stunning images in colour that are sometimes the originals of the one on the main site. The first time I ever visited the blog, I discovered a set of pictures taken of the new windows at Bergdorf Goodman's in NewYork. There were very artsy and looked like they were two digital photographs merged over each other to give a very funky collage effect. I emailed the Diartist to find out what software was used to create this effect, only to realize it was the reflection of the nearby buildings and trees on the mannequins in the window that gave it that look. I also found out that while a Canon 5d Mark II was used to take the rest of the pictures, these ones were taken with an iPhone!

I found the Diarist one day, while going through comments on the blog site of the Sartorialist. On clicking on the link provided, I was so moved by the images I saw that I couldn't help but returning daily, to the point where this blog has become one of my favourites. As I mentioned before, I emailed the Diarist to find out about the equipment used to take the pictures, what camera I should get, how I should learn, what lenses I should use, what settings... You get the picture. For a short while there, the Diarist probably woke up each morning (at home in New York) to an annoying email from me asking for photography tips. Still, I got patient and prompt replies to every query, gently nudging me towards going out there and taking more pictures, and probably hoping to discourage me from asking more questions in the process! Our correspondence got me wondering about the protagonist of the blog and everyday I tried to go into the pictures and the archives to see whether the "beholder of the eye" was male or female? Young, middle aged or old? White or African American? In one of my final emails, I took a guess about what (or rather, who) I thought the Diarist was behind the lens.. and as luck (and my powers of deduction) would have it, I was completely wrong!

Have a look at the blog here.
See the photographs of the windows here, here and here.