Updated Amazon Cloud Cam

Shop Amazon Devices- $40 off Echo Spot + Amazon Cloud Cam



Amazon cloud cam now has web interface and more Alexa commands

Will you be satisfied with 24 hour footage?

Two way audio with Echo Show or Echo Spot

If you exceed $40 on your grocery trips and don't live near a supermarket

Try AmazonFresh Free Trial



Amazon fresh is valuable to you if you exceed $40 on your grocery and have to drive far to a supermarket.

If you are curious about what items get covered under AmazonFresh

$30 off Amazon Tap

Shop Amazon Devices -Save $30 on Amazon Tap




According to CNET, Amazon's assistant Alexa in a battery powered bluetooth speaker. Now that it has a hands free option, it works well both as a way to take Alexa on the road and as your primary Alexa device at home.

To get the most out of your Amazon Tap, if you need to know what all Amazon Tap can do, these books can help.

Why Photographers Prefer Cloudy Days: Surprising and inspiring tips for photographers

How to color splash your photo, so that a chosen object is in color while all else is in black and white, emphasising the chosen object?

What is Light painting? According to LPB, "Light Painting Photography is the Art Form of using handheld lights to paint and/or draw in a scene while the shutter of a camera is left open during a long exposure photograph."

Photocritic is the author Haje Van Kamps site for all things photography.

Micellar Water

Lisa Niven of British Vogue calls this Bioderma Sensibio Soothing Light Face Cream for Sensitive or Intolerant Skin gentle, effective and affordable micellar water.  

What is Micellar water? Irish Times beauty writers Aisling and Laura call this Micellar Water, a new-age answer to lazy girl problems.

Norell Elixir - Fashionable American Ready-to-Wear

Norell Elixir is nocturnal just like its eponymous fashion shows by Norman Norell. Norman Norell is seen as the inventor of American Elegance.



Norman Norell's Sequined Gowns

Norell's spreads to not just fragrance but "Exclusive Vintage-Inspired Sequined Clutch Bag Exclusive Lipstick About Norell: Norman Norell and his legendary aesthetic translated the mystique of the French Couture salons to the showrooms of Seventh Avenue—revolutionizing American ready-to-wear."



For a limited time, Amazon Prime members qualify for a 15% discount, up to $15, on 1st purchase in Luxury Beauty.

A World to Care For: The Autobiography of Howard Rusk, MD

Howard Rusk's 'A world to care for' is an excellent book. Its his autobiography, but it directly delves into the rehabilitation for war veterans and disabled. It is intsructive to read how he felt the need for such a program, how he went about getting people's attention and funding.
It is strange reading of times when there were no antibiotics, anticonvulsive drugs.

At some point, paraplegics life expectancy was less than a year. His rehabilitation program has changed that.

It is interesting reading about the early prosthetic limbs- paper made temporary ones on...

This book is not just his story, but of many other doctors who made impossible dreams like walking for paralyzed people possible and of the disabled people themselves who did great things with their motivation.

I really like the statement- "When you work with a handicapped person, you've got to think of his abilities more than his disabilities."

The Invisible World National Geographic Video Classics VHS

I saw this video as a child of 13 or 14 years. I was mesmerised by it. The famous milk drop splash is all I remember of the content. I then thought it was worth stacking the name in my head.

Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant

Having read a little on Synesthesia in Diane Ackerman's ' A Natural History of Senses'.. I did believe Daniel Timmet's visual experiences of numbers and words.. A little into his childhood.. I was scared as to what will happen to him as an autistic child.. But with his diverse experiences in another country.. he has gone way far where he can answer the question of Allie Cone's(a mountaineer character) students "Do you know what its like when the only direction is down?"

A Place Called Home: Twenty Writing Women Remember

From the essays that stick with me, I realise that each writer had a different way of approaching 'home'. If some have recalled their childhood in connection with it, some have written about their experiences in having a home of their own.

The best I liked was Meg pie's 'The Lake' where she evokes a picture of her childhood personality that leaves the reader in bouts of laughter.

Jill McCorkle's 'Secret Places' has built a wonder land in just few pages, recalling her childhood.

Erica Jong's 'Coming Home to Connecticut' brings out her love for nature.

Carole Maso's 'the Shelter of the Alphabet: Home' had me in splits that her list of homes was never ending.

Rosellen Brown's 'Displaced Person' is a two fold essay. Her essay about home dealt with her identity and the way her grandfather's memories clinged to her, she has extended the concept of home from a mere house, to the people associated with it - the family.

I found 'On the Continental Shelf' difficult to understand. May be next time I pick this book again, I would have developed enough as a reader to get it. Such are the essays that you can read them anytime you pick the book after a while.

China Pilot: Flying for Chiang & Chennault

First, I like this book for all the new places and things that it introduced me to.

The book starts with Felix Smith's individual experiences, trying to sink in what this new place means.. soon it starts including his friends Earthquake, Buol's experiences.. by then the experiences have turned to event level as is with things related to war and nations.

The book does not get impersonal due to the many funny things that he narrates.. like a chef using Vicks Vapo Rub to get the mint flavor in an icecream.

Then there is this whole world of aviation, the pilots, the instructions to follow, their frustrations, who takes the blame for any crashes...

Father Morse in 'The Rebel Monk' subheading came across as a very lovable person.

In 'The Kingdom of Laos', one of the king's speeches translated makes one wonder as to why even non-aggressive countries have to become pawns in war.

Furthering My Education: A Memoir

The way part II of the book starts long after half of the book, seemed like poetry. Used to books slotted with about same number of pages in a chapter, I liked the spontaniety of the book. As is this unequillibrium... so is the distribution of events in Corbett's as well as his father's life. This book can be read in one sitting.

I did not pay much attention to the blackened, missing figure of the father on the front page until the story took that turn. We get to know him as an adolescent as well as a successful person later in life. It is interesting to watch the roles of Corbett as a hurting son and a father.
I found it appealing that corbett wrote of his struggle to get this book published.. others might feel it best skipped.

The best thing about this memoir.. is its not towards any goal.. but finds meaning by the time it gets wound.

America in the Twenties: A History

This is the first history book that got me laughing.. now is it the events or the writer? Every decade should have such a book on it, but it might not be this interesting. So many things happened in the time being referred to .. some unthinkable.All the interesting things have been caught right in their element. Getting the essence of big events in small chapters, really worked. What I like about this book is that there's a very human aspect to the events.. that later are remembered as major things or history.
I refer to things like the mention of exact revelatory moment, that caused Margaret Sanger to work towards birth control movement. The chapter 'Help!' on Ford is as good as it can get.
'Crosswords' is my favorite as it is on writers.
With so many different subjects.. its like fruits and nuts in the cereal of history..
The Denver Post is right in saying.."You wont put this down.." about this book.

Six Great Ideas

As you read this book, it will feel like a conversation with yourself. Some things are very conclusive. Given the starting point, you will reach the same conclusions as the author and not be very surprised to read the same.. as there is not much variation possible, especially when we are talking about limiting ideas like truth. The book wont seem an interesting read until your definitions are challenged or you have been introduced to a question like as Adler asks,"What, then,leads one to philosophy in the middle- not as clearly in the sphere of truth as mathematics and experimental science, nor as clearly in the sphere of taste as styles of cuisine or dress?"
This is a book which you can read years later and still find that it has something new to offer.

Interior Decoration for the Small Home

"It was impossible to forget that the (model) rooms were exhibition rooms only"
"The daily association (with furniture) alone can bring that(friendship)"

The chapter on rugs is excellent. It talks about all the kind of antique rugs available. How each is different. What scheme to use if you are using a patterned one. Why be careful with a plain one. Some of the methods of making rugs are very well explained.. like the differences between a Chenille and a Brussels

Even the chapter on furniture is very informative in terms of the prevalent kinds of wood, their costs and change in the styles over time.

This book is best enjoyed looking up images of all the objects mentioned.