Where are they?

The caricaturist, the writer, and the artist?

  • I haven’t seen the caricaturist for a while. The boat she was on, capsized. She clung to the sides while the waves lashed out on the boat and flung her aside. Last I saw her, she was bobbing up and down on the violent seas…a ghost, a speck, a point…and then nothing.
  • I have been meeting the writer off and on. The humorist, she told me, is dead – the romanticist thrown in a dark dungeon of her own mind, only the realist continues to grapple with the truth, writing stories that don’t end.
  • The artist is alive – feeding her emotions, stoking her expressions, painting her canvasses – loading them with truth.

When and if the roles will ever change again, I haven’t a clue.

But if the past is any indication – the caricaturist doesn’t die, the writer keeps transforming, and the artist usually is the glue that keeps the three together.

Until December then…

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Six Tips for being the Sane Half of a Programmer!

For some of us, marrying a programmer might have been a deeply considered, well-thought-out decision, but for others it was a decree of fate. Those of us who’ve embraced a programmer as our life-partner, while in full senses, are courageous women and men, who knew exactly what they were getting into; but others, who got tossed into these turbulent waters by a quirk of fate, have learned some survival techniques through bitter experience.

Cartoon of a programmer - binary love funny -six tips - programmer jokes.

I now share some of these tips with you, and hope that you will add your own experiences to this list, and share them with others of our kind.

  1. The Bug-hunter

When you detect a roach trying to sneak in, and squeak (or scream,) “A bug…a buuuuggg!” and instead of materializing behind you as your protector, your knight in his crumpled tee and faded jeans jumps up from the sofa, shouts “where, where?” and rushes to his computer, then don’t lose heart. Don’t assume that he has lost his sense of direction or that he doesn’t love you – it’s just that he loves his programs a wee bit more.

  1. The Java-lover

When he takes that cup of coffee from you, draws in its aroma, closes his eyes and smiles – and you wait for him to say something really nice, really sweet to you; instead he sets the cup on the table, looks at the monitor, and says, “Java is awesome,” don’t ply him cups after cups of the same brew. You must learn to appreciate how one Java leads to another, and how the real turn-on is that Java which scrolls on his screen.

  1. The Bean-picker

When one morning, he finally comes unstuck from his seat, and condescends to accompany you to Mother Dairy where you look at the beans to exclaim, “Aren’t these beans looking great,” and he drops the shopping bag, grins widely, and asks, “Are they enterprise beans or session beans?” don’t surmise that he has lost his mind. He’s overawed but thrilled, because he thinks that you are finally learning to speak Codemese!

  1. The De-bugger

When he looks buggy-eyed all the time, it isn’t because he’s contracted conjunctivitis. It’s because he’s been debugging a particularly nasty piece of bug-riddled code. Debugging might sound a bit like deworming and your may wonder if it feels similar, but if you’d wait long enough, then you’ll witness a look of pure delight on his face. You will also get the opportunity to experience that Eureka moment when he fills his lungs and shouts, “I found it!” You might think that he had found a treasure trove and not a crummy bug, and you’ll want to tell him exactly that, but don’t. Just join him in his glee, and throw a party!

  1. The Code-master

When you want to find out if he still loves you and whether his love for you hasn’t been relegated to a background process, and you ask him, “Do you love me still,” but he continues to stare at the antsy-looking text called code and says, “One minute,” don’t stress yourself out wondering whether the flame of passion in your relationship was beginning to flicker. Just parse his statement, pick “one” from it, and tell yourself that zero is false and one is true, and so he still loves you!

  1. The Keyboard-Warrior

And finally, if and when you really want your keyboard warrior to come and save you, you must shout ctrl + s if he uses Windows and command + s if he works on Mac. And yes, you better find out, pronto!

Oh No! My child is an Artist-in-Diapers!!

Yesterday, once again, a well-meaning parent wrote to me about his little one…and he sent me looking for this post I did a couple of years ago. This post is for parents who believe that their little one is an artist. I’ve said it all in this post, so I won’t say it again here. If there was a way to repost the post, I would 🙂

Do read it, especially if you’ve got a little one who dabbles in colors and makes you wonder if he or she is the next Picasso.

5 Childhood Symptoms of an Artist: A Post for the Parents of an Artist-in-Diapers!

And a little something to help you overcome your art-addiction.

The 4 Types of Artists - A Verbal Caricature eBook by Shafali the Caricaturist

Click to download in a format of your choice.

Another post coming up for blogging101 friends 🙂

The Caricaturist faces the love-assassins and beats her Rival-in-Love!

Hi Folks,

I’ve been missing. I know that there’s no point telling you where I had been, because you’ll snigger and say, “Oh yeah? Really?” But then that’s something that I’ve been hearing all my life, for everything that I ever do, so…go ahead and snigger. I’ll tell you exactly where I was – you may do what you please.

I was, my friends, in the beautiful land of Love and Romance. I was in a place where the trees had leaves and flowers had petals that were shaped like little hearts; where love-notes and beautiful pink envelopes rained from the sky, and where a sweet little dove took my love-messages to my sweetheart.

But then you know that no fairy tale is ever complete without a villain, and so there was a villain too. This woman, my rival in love, was a beautiful witch who wanted to win the affection of my sweetheart! Now any cartoonist or caricaturist will vouch for the veracity of this convoluted statement o’mine – “It isn’t easy for us artists to find someone who’d love us. Oh, we fall in love at the drop of a hat, but to have our love reciprocated is a mammoth task. I mean, who in his right mind would fall in love with an unkempt, shabby person who buys dresses that are at least four-sizes too big, and whose lone lipstick also doubles as highlighter?”

So, when this beautiful but unethical witch fell for the only guy who had ever tried to look beyond my hopelessly wild exterior, into my sweet though slightly critical soul – things got slightly out of hand. She had money, you see. Tons of gold and silver, and so she recruited these love-assassins to stop me from writing to him! But then, I am not the kind who gives up easily, especially in the matters of heart. So I fought back. I fought this long war, which was made of 54 battles; and in the end, I won!

You don’t believe me, do you?
I can see you sniggering. You think that such a place doesn’t exist. You think that the Land of Love and Romance is a figment of my imagination? You think that a caricaturist cannot compete with a beautiful witch, and win the game of love?
I’ll tell you more about this place when we meet next. By then, if the witch has given up, and my love is returned, I will make those caricatures that I promised I would.

The First Entry for the Story in the Caricature Blog Carnival is in!

Thought I’d make this quick announcement for those who like to read fiction in small doses:) i.e. in form of short stories.

The first story for the Story-in-the-Caricature Blog Carnival – November Edition is in. Read Oorvi’s Twisty Tale, “The Love of my Life” at the WiseK9‘s blog.

The Caricature for which this story was written is this. Click the picture to read the details of the Carnival and see the bigger version of this caricature.

Waiting to read your story:)