Who is Alicia Souza?

[1]

The cover photo of her Facebook page has a cartoon of a woman clad in green sari, hands folded in, as if saying Namaste, and the text reads, “I’m an Indian — (though not) from Bombay city, I’m an Indian, so you better follow me.” A conversation with this warm artist is just as fuzzy as her art. “My name is Alicia Souza. Pronounced Ahh-lees-see-yaahh or Aliie for short. I was born and brought up in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi to be specific) when camels still roamed between cities, studied and worked in Melbourne for five years and moved to Bengaluru about two years back. All that moving, and I dislike travelling,” she says and adds, “I am a freelancing illustrative designer. I have two dogs who take up most of my social life time and make sure all my black pants are sprinkled with loose fur, which is impossible to take out completely.”
Alicia started her Facebook page in September 2011, after convincing herself for three months that she needed to. “The bathroom-mirror-talks helped,” she adds in jest. On her page, Alicia shares her illustrations and regulars on these comics are Alicia herself and, of course, her pets! There’s something for everyone on the page, a take on current news and the most looked-forward-to item “Learn Something New Everyday” where fans send in words and Alicia explains the word with a cartoon. Words like Franken Food, Flapdoodles, Slugabed have been featured so far.
What’s interesting is that despite the distinctive femininity of her work, Alicia has managed a sizeable number of men among the thousands of fans on Facebook. “I’m actually quite proud of that, really. I like to think that everything from kissing dog illustrations to food with lots of hearts appeal to men as well. I also hope that no one thinks I’m actually a man,” she adds.
As for her inspiration, Alicia, explains, “I wish I could say nature like some gorgeous artists who look at leaves and draw magical forests with unicorns but absolutely nothing and also everything inspires me. People (especially conversations), my dogs and just daily life situations and the bumps that come with it.”

Why
barefoot running is catching on?
Runners across the globe are now being encouraged to run barefoot and even a new website’s come up beginningbarefoot.com. The site explains the benefits of running on different surfaces and minimalist running among others. “When you run barefoot, the amount of sensation that you experience is huge, and though you get used to the signals and what is felt as pain initially dwindles, you will always retain the full range of sensation, no matter how long you run barefoot for. This increased sensation acts as a built-in checking mechanism that ensures that you don’t overdo it and cause yourself serious injury,” Barefoot Dawsy one of the website authors explains.

What
is the next Bond girl upto?
Bérénice Marlohe who is all set to play Sévérine in the Bond film, Skyfall releasing in November, is shooting for a French comedy Un bonheur n'arrive jamais seul and is in demand now having been roped in as the brand ambassador for Omega watches too. Talking about her role in Skyfall, she says, “For me enigma is very important because I wanted to create a character who couldn’t be stereotyped. It should not be obvious immediately what kind of person she is. Daniel Craig has added something special with James Bond — he’s both tough and vulnerable and it’s not always clear what he’s thinking. I want to do the same thing with Séverine.”

Where
can you listen to Allen play jazz?
Director Woody Allen is also a clarinet player who plays at the Carlyle Café in Manhattan on most Mondays. The master filmmaker will be seen as part of the Woody Allen & The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band with an extra performance on June 9 and June 12. The performance begins at 8.45 pm and comes with a cover charge of $135 per person including $95 for the bar plus $25 drink minimum with premium seating at $185.

When
Truman Show affects reality
A lot of people have visited psychiatrists over years asking to see the director of their show because they believe their life is being filmed a la The Truman Show film. And psychiatrists are calling this The Truman Show Delusion. Brothers, psychiatrist Joel and neurophilosopher Ian Gold coined this term in 2008 after the 1998 film The Truman Show. This, however, is not officially recognised as a mental condition by the American Psychiatric Association.