david mctavish

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bollywood
2007-11-08 11:04:00
he's only five months, and already he's got style. i'm not sure what's up with the sears-poses; he must've seen that while at kiddie camp.
More About: Bollywood , Olly

gypsy king
2007-11-08 09:07:00
this week is divalli, an indian celebration that swarms the streets; effectively new years celebrations spread across five days. i've heard tales that it'll be a zoo out there, and our best option is to bunker down and ride it out. i might try to brave an excursion, but only as a means to alleviate my ADHD tendencies.
More About: King , Gypsy

creative outlet
2007-11-07 09:07:00
so we stopped at the auroville experiment; which is eerily similar to the dharma initiative on tv's lost. a collective utopia where money is no longer a necessity; although, with the flurry of wares being hawked, i was somewhat skeptical. we watched the mandatory introductory video (the price of admission) and i'm sure they've spliced in some good subconcious messages about abandoning my current path for the sake of enlightenment. little did they know, i just wanted some cool art to hang on the walls.
More About: Creative , Outlet

kanchipuram
2007-11-06 09:07:00
i'll be honest, i've seen quite a few temples since i've been in india. not that i've been actively seeking them out, they're just everywhere. not that i'm complaining, but after you've seen a few; you really have seen them all. that is, until you get to kanchipuram. this place is over a thousand years old and is really quite incredible.
More About: Pura

searching
2007-11-05 09:07:00
well, some good news for a change: we've finally found a place to live. :) our temporary lodging is quaint and nice but it's definitely nice to have some room to stretch out your arms. construction should be complete by the end of november and we can move into a nice little 2-bedroom along the beach.
More About: Searching

evidence
2007-11-04 09:07:00
i feel like some ransom-seeking villain with nobody believing that things are actually well here until i provide some hard proof. i assure you the smiles are genuine and nobody was put up to it. well, we did try to bribe zen with the soother, but he was well on his way to blissful sleep.
More About: Evidence

facade
2007-11-03 09:07:00
i'm sure this hotel's internet site looks simply fabulous; although i'm sure the registered guests were expecting the hotel renovations to be complete beyond the first five feet of the building. i like the direction they're taking but am still glad i didn't shell out the 125$/night asking price. room 202 certainly looks inviting. further proof that everything on the internet must be true.

fort george
2007-11-02 09:07:00
i had the sneaking suspicion that the barbed wire is intended to keep people inside so i didn't venture any closer. for being the base of the british invasion; it really has let itself go. and speaking about british colonization, it's a bit perplexing how few british people still actually live here.
More About: George , Fort

evicted
2007-11-01 09:07:00
so we've finally been evicted which means there probably won't be as many posts in the next few days. we've got temporary lodging figured out and everybody feels that this is the best possible outcome (well, the people who count :). i'm beginning to feel quite spry with all of this landing on my feet business... a hundred life-lessons wrapped up in a few short months

first excursion
2007-10-31 09:07:00
i'm not sure what zen will want to be when he grows up, but i certainly hope that we're encouraging an adventurous spirit. i'll probably regret all of this later when he's old enough to leave home and travel on his own, but in the meantime i'll continue to believe i'm developing his confidence.

covert operations
2007-10-30 08:43:00
the entire family went to Kanchipuram, a small little village famous for their silk sarees. when we arrived we were a bit lost for directions and finally stumbled on a pack of Chinese people stumbling their way back to a bus like lemmings. some careful eavesdropping revealed they were speaking french which quickly divulged that they were a tour group from Montreal. small world. Anyway, with Van mastering the chinese and me faking the french, we were able to tailgate the rest of the group on a free guided tour of the town!
More About: Vert

bye baby bye
2007-10-29 08:51:00
I have to say I'm not proud of using zen as a diversionary tactic to keep persistent street vendors away, but it certainly is effective. now, I don't pass him around like a baton in the relay, just a glimpse of how cute he is through the window does the trick. hopefully it won't go to his head, or next he'll be asking for the pope-mobile to drive him around.
More About: Baby

cheese
2007-10-27 02:18:00
50th post. I'd like to say 49 more than I had originally projected; so we're officially ahead of schedule.
More About: Cheese

light at the end of the tunnel
2007-10-26 09:41:00
so I've been hopped up on methloquine in an effort to prevent malaria. Van's been dutiful enough to remind me of the correlation as the side-effects get into full-swing. Now most products, you've got your dryness of mouth or perhaps some headaches or even nausea; however, I'm fortunate enough to be hit with the lucid dreaming. perhaps it's been the stress, but I swear the dreams are real. this last one was a doozy; with cnn reporting the world was being invaded by ghosts. crazy lil' buggers materialized in thin air and freaked me right out. i should talk to a psychologist to figure what all of this means. Which reminds me, Kemp you were in the dream too. let me know how ominous this is for either of us. :)
More About: Light , Tunnel

apprehension
2007-10-24 02:17:00
so we`ve been checking out new places to live; although we`re somewhat drawing the short straw. When we first arrived we had the golden carrot of time to dangle in front of the landlord as an incentive. Now, we`re in a position where we don`t know exactly how much longer we`ll be here. Trying to find a house to rent month-by-month has proven to be somewhat difficult. I can`t say that I blame them; but would be nice to be thrown a bone as well. Of course, there`s always the option of just lying and breaking the lease afterwards, but I`ve been trying to take the high road... so far, there haven`t been many postcard moments along that trail.

work
2007-10-23 02:16:00
apologies on the lack of smiling in the descriptions; it`s been that kind of week. at least there`s a light at the end of the tunnel. if it turns out to be an oncoming train, I think I`m ready. :)
More About: Work

coulda beena contenda
2007-10-22 02:15:00
so our battle of wits continues with the landlord. I`m certain he`s never been spoken to as directly before by a woman. I was proud of the way Van handled the situation; my version included alot more f-bombs. I think we`ve all reached a foregone conclusion; we won`t leave until we`ve received our deposit back and the landlord is not allowed to return without prior notice and approval. I`ve enlisted some help from the network I`ve been building... it`s funny how times like these you realize how many people you have access to. here`s hoping I don`t need to resort to it, but knowing a few local journalists and lawyers definitely adds some weight to your arguments.

chasing trucks
2007-10-21 02:13:00
sometimes trying to get anything accomplished here is like chasing a truck. you run and you run and you run, and once you've caught the truck; now what? I suppose you let go and start all over again.
More About: Trucks

wink wink
2007-10-20 08:42:00
let me fill you in on a little secret; this place is insane in the membrane. the ultimate battle of bluffing has begun, stemming from our dismissal of the staff last week. apparently the home owner has taken exception to this decision and has served us with a written note of our transgressions against the lease. I'm not sure he considered the option that I would choose not to comply within the 15 days. Sure, we now have 13 days to find a new place to live, just another hurdle to jump in this backwards place.

who me?
2007-10-19 23:25:00
by the book, zen's a bit delayed on the mobility front. I'm not worried, you'd be a bit delayed if your body mass was in the 99th percentile with your head comprising 40% of that. The boy's a monster and ahead of the curve on eating habits; last time we ate out he was ordering steak and potatoes. In all seriousness, he's developed a taste for rice & banana cereal; luckily the bananas grow on trees here.

wash whites separately
2007-10-19 08:37:00
today we had to make an executive decision: it was time to let the staff go. it was down-sizing at it's worst; we didn't want to part ways but I only have 3 pairs of pants left without holes in them.
More About: Wash , Whites

breakfast
2007-10-18 08:39:00
It seems that my content-filtered site has finally been breached by my co-workers in India. This of course has led to a campaign educating me on the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast. Apparently, I used to look cheeky.
More About: Breakfast , Brea

book store
2007-10-18 08:24:00
so one thing about moving to India is that it definitely offers a cleansing of the soul from technology. It wasn't so much a submissive journey as it was due to lack of options. I must admit, we do have internet (at blazing speeds of 33.6kbps) and we do have television (with a total of 2 english channels); but some times you just want to sit down with a good book. I'm not sure, but I believe this is the only person on the planet who's never heard of Harry Potter. A shame, I was hoping to find out if he survives the last book or not.
More About: Book , Store

bull's eye
2007-10-15 08:37:00
while back home the obsession with cows involves late-night field tripping; in india cows are accessorized like the rice rocket down the street. from racing stripes to spinners and fancy bells; these cows have got it goin' on.

airing the dirty laundry
2007-10-13 08:25:00
so, we've got an interesting dilemma: we've got some hired help but there seems to be a gap on the communication (I presume it may have something to do with the fact that we both speak completely different languages). I'm sure she's trying her best, however, I'm not sure how many times I can afford to have our clothes dried beside the pool after it's been chlorinated. As much as I like tie-dye, I'm just not sure it's making a fashion come-back any time soon.
More About: Laundry , Dirty

blehh!
2007-10-12 08:22:00
I'm not sure what overwhelms people here, but they seem to do the funniest things when you pull a camera out. Most of the kids will reach for the camera to look at the picture before it's even been snapped. I suppose that's just a warning sign to me that I need to be quick about this.

discarded
2007-10-11 08:03:00
The old abandoned amusement park also seems to be somewhat of a retirement home for statues which have served their purpose. There's quite the menagerie of life-sized statues; some which have a creepy child-like/Disneyesque persona to them that I couldn't unnerve myself to shoot. She's one of the lucky ones, she's only lost her hands.

now available in techni-colour
2007-10-10 07:13:00
It's not often that Van approves of photos of herself, so I must've done a decent job on this one. Don't tell her I've posted other shots of her or there might be a cease and desist coming my way (or at least a claim on royalties).
More About: Colour , Available

wrong side of town
2007-10-08 09:11:00
You might think that I'd stumbled into some remote and seedy corner of Chennai by the looks of these guys; but the simple irony of it all is that this alleyway is actually famous for their greeting cards. They definitely let out the welcoming wagon for our arrival; it just made me wonder if there was some under-ground card manufacturing cartel that we'd stumbled upon in the middle of a big deal. I let them continue with their transaction while we ducked into a more hospitable establishment.
More About: Town , Side , Wrong

happy turkey day
2007-10-08 08:50:00
Scarf down some turkey and stuffing for us (unfortunately, turkey isn't in high supply here so we're settling for a chicken with some stove-top). Otherwise, it's a normal working day here in India, but we'll try to break away and make a trip to the beach and think about everybody back home.
More About: Turkey , Happy , Turkey day , Turk