Hotel Chic at Home

Long time ago, when I joined a company, I was provided temporary accommodation at a hotel. What I took away from the conveniences was, how cool would it be to have your room as clean looking, meaning stuff not flowing out, everything hidden in its place, behind cupboards (slow down to imagine a closet with shelves for dishes, cups, etc. I am used to hearing of it as cubbard like old lady hubbard and hence at a disadvantage of not knowing the meaning through origin) or curtains.

Sara Bliss in her book Hotel Chic at Home: Inspired Design Ideas from Glamorous Escapes makes that time possible with her gorgeous picture book of how each room of the house could be decorated glamorously.

Each picture invites you into many details. This book doubles both as a design book as well as a travel diary. You look at not just the color and mood of the room but also the furniture, lighting, walls and the architecture. Each picture gazed at, so intently, becomes a diorama. The oblong ottoman in one picture brings to relief the half, wide column. Contrast this full bodied ottoman with a bare leg plain stool.
Wood relegated to the floor is put on a pedestal by being lifted to the adorn the walls.
"Fabric is second only to paint in its ability to immediately refresh a room or to make it memorable."
With Patterns and Statement beds, all the pictures makes museums out of rooms.

Icicles in carrot

Icicles in carrot

Who made the holes

For the water to freeze

Some larvae

Water fills holes

Traces Crevices

To make

Earth

New Animals. New language

The Fallen Star: The Nocturnals Book 3 by Tracy Hecht is a different approach to teaching kids about friends. usual characters are relatable to the children. Tracy Hecht introduces new characters to them, new language French showing the whole wide world outside. And did I say already that this is in a forest. What is more mystical than a forest? All the good makings for a great story. Thats not to say that the book is inscrutable. It is readable for a 7 year old albeit with a little effort, but it opens them to the new world where you look up words and things and learn about the ways of new animals. All this in the friendship frame. The book will increase kids vocabulary as well as curiosity and a penchant for learning.

Tree Boa, Gold Poachers and Pepper Tree

In Secret Agents Jack and Max Stalwart: Book 2: The Adventure in the Amazon: Brazil (The Secret Agents Jack and Max Stalwart Series), Jack and Max relax to their room to do Homework. But that is not all that meets the eye. They are GPF Agents with code names. They are called on a mission to find another missing agent and that too in the Brazilian jungles. Who knows what animals call that forest home and the mysterious trees?
With latest hi-tech gadgets helping them, our little courageous agents meet great troubles. How do they tackle the grave situations? What do they find in the jungle? Who doesnt want to go on this mysterious adventure?
The illustrations jibe with the text. The book manages to be fast paced within few pages. Action packed, Globe trotting.
A Master key maker which can fit into any lock. Hand print locked backpack.

Myology

According to dictionary.com Myology is

Orofacial Myology uses tongue tie as a measurement tool.

Coffee Cornucopia

According to dictionary.com Cornucopia is

Infant Jupiter was nursed by Goat Amalthea.


Amalthea is also an irregular shaped moon of Jupiter.

Akshaya Patra too is a never ending cornucopia.

Out of those goat horns, for the modern day coffee lovers, you can have a coffee mug. It was made by Goat story who were inspired by the myth that goat discovered coffee.

Anatomy of a Goat

There are very few chances that you will read Guide to Regional Ruminant Anatomy Based on The Dissection of The Goat but if you had the anatomy more readily available, you would eat, drink, sleep goat.

Diabetic shoes

In BioMechanics for Dummies, Steve McCaw explains how special shoes for diabetic patients. They eliminate high pressure areas that risk infection.

Mismatched Shoes

                                                                                       
Mismatched shoes are a trend this year according to Marie Claire.. The yin and yang, the summer fire and the cool ice to beat it are a great combination for this season.
When it comes to design, summer is a perfect time for some soothing green as well as bright pink of
the watermelon to grace your feet. Two colors shoes is great for contrast as well as wholeness.
Now I am thinking, couldnt you shape tiny watermelon shells into shoes like the big ones scooped out to look like  a basket.

Dress Design

A light pink jumper
with a pattern of
2 pink and a light blue
roses and small leaves together
intermittent smaller leaf pattern

The pattern was so becoming
it turned the whole fabric
into that pattern
breaking the monotony
and minimizing it

Is it easy for our brain to look
at little things?
Is that why we have designs?

KidKraft Florence Dollhouse

LE BLANC Serum Healthy Light Creator

Le Blanc Serum is Formulated with precious ume flower extract, exclusive TXC™ technology and fine pearl protein.

Ume is regarded as the most graceful flower by Japanese.
TXC was introduced in 2011 after 9 years of research by Chanel. It is said to regulate melanin production from start to finish."Existing dark spots are reduced and the formation of new ones is reduced"
Fine Pearl protein is from Akoya pearls grown specially for Chanel. According to Milad Darejeh, Akpya pearls were the first to be cultured in 20th century in Japan.

Le Blanc Serum is the Spring and Sea rolled into one for a Healthy light.

Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age

Innovation is easily the buzzword for companies. If they dont know it, then they are out of business.
We know many interesting stories of how things were invented by accident. Greg Satell in 'Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age' shows how innovation takes a village and more and dispels the myth of lone genius accomplishing it all. He traverses the path penicillin took to discovery from labs to the pharma industry. The author provides the reader, a foundation and conditions that were necessary for the famous inventions. From this he draws what can be used for current situation.
The provided framework is a Matrix of 'Problem Definition' Vs 'Domain Definition' which shows you clearly where your company fits and the kind of innovation it should be targeting. Depending on the kind of innovation you need disruptive, sustaining, breakthrough - there are various options of achieving them. Just this matrix should reveal if your approach to innovation is right for your company and the industry you belong to.
I loved the example of Experian and their Innovation Matrix which explains how Eric Haller made problem solving for customers, rocket into consulting business which feedsback into Experian's capabilities and growth.
With examples like Afisha, Experian and Children's Health, Gregg illuminates how companies can modify their business models to inject organic growth.
Its back to the basics with Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder and Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis
Three Horizons of Innovation with 70/20/10 lets you have all kinds of innovation instead of having to chose one by allotting time and resources for each. if you are familiar with Googles 20% for your pet project, then you get the drift.
P&G innovation matrix is a surprise with 'open innovation'. IBM and Microsoft examples show the advantages of courting 'open'.
With this orientation, you are well on your way to figure what works for innovation at your company.

Time, Talent, Energy: Overcome Organizational Drag and Unleash Your Team’s Productive Power

Time, Talent, Energy by Michael C. Mankins; Eric Garton is an inspiring as well as informative read.
It starts with the idea that in today's funding rich world, an organisation needs to take a good look at how its time is spent and how to gain it back from the bottomless meetings that drain it. How to rely on A player teams when it comes to business critical projects that will pave way for you organisation's jump to the next level. How engagement is very important, so your employees bring their best self to the organization and feel empowered.
I found the talent chapter most inspiring with how a new model of Boeing was done within 5 years, how an A team in the race car world can slash the pit time down to half.
there's a reference to another book Founder's Mentality - which I liked and the usual formula of supporting your arguments with studies, graphs and good visual aids of what are good leadership traits.

Ten Tears and One Embrace

The illustrations are whimsical. Looking at different kinds of tears makes the reader hyper aware of different situations when we have tears in our eyes. The book makes you cognizant of the differences in the different situations you cry.
Its like Eskimos having more than 20 words for snow because each is different.
The font of the text too is artistic. The color palette of pastels went very well with the theme.
The lens of kids finding this out in the laboratory encourages kids to list out all things related to a theme that they are interested in.
The language and thought is very poetic. tears being shiny that they can be put to many uses, keeping the bottle of tears open so they can join the clouds are all simple yet profound.
Las ilustraciones son caprichosas. Mirando diferentes tipos de lágrimas hace que el lector hiper consciente de diferentes situaciones cuando tenemos lágrimas en nuestros ojos. El libro te hace consciente de las diferencias en las diferentes situaciones que llores.
Es como esquimales tener más de 20 palabras para la nieve porque cada uno es diferente.
La fuente del texto también es artística. La paleta de colores de pasteles fue muy bien con el tema.
La lente de los niños que encuentran esto en el laboratorio anima a los niños a enumerar todas las cosas relacionadas con un tema que les interesa.
El lenguaje y el pensamiento son muy poéticos. Las lágrimas son brillantes que se pueden poner a muchos usos, manteniendo la botella de lágrimas abiertas para que puedan unirse a las nubes son todo simple pero profundo.