Always Travelling

This one is from Mix Master:

Cripes is right! I don't want a boring job! HR is my area of focus... After AIESEC I'm wanting to head into some aspect of the international human resource management field. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Still working things out.

I think AIESEC is the best HR / management training ground out there. Certainly providing me with valuable experience on a whole range of fronts.

Now this pic is funny for so many reasons. Even if nobody comments it is still worth posting up simply for the fact that I crack up everytime I see it! I'm sure there are many people out there who know Nicole and know how much she abhors Maccas.



tags: captiongame, aiesec

I consider Vinay to be a good friend of mine, so when he announced this, I thought to myself, "Wow, that is really, really cool". Although I already have thought quite a lot about what I want to do in AIESEC, and have a plan for myself, he's come out and shown his ambition - and I commend him for it. Vinay, I remember around the time of NLTMs last year, I was very new and trying hard to establish my LC, and you and I were always online and bouncing ideas off each other. I really valued those chats. It was so refreshing that my head full of ideas was met with your head full of ideas! You are definitely one of the thinkers in this organisation. I'll be here to drill you with questions and make sure you're kept up to date with the current reality in Australia. Best of luck mate and I know you'll give it your best shot!

La confirmation (The confirmation)

I know this is unusual, for me to post two days in a row, but I have come to a decision.

I will be running for MCP (Member Committee President) of AIESEC Australia at January National Conference 2007.

Am I ready? God no. That is why I've made the decision, and made it public, so backing out is that much harder now. I have now grounded it into reality that this is what I will be doing, and now am forced to spend the year ahead getting myself ready. I have no choice but to seek peace of mind, I have no choice but to negotiate with the university to permit me to defer and I have no choice but to make sure AIESEC in Aix-en-Provence is spectacular.

Even if I am not elected, I can see spectacular advantages in forcing myself to be ready to be an MCP - I have no choice but to succeed in my endeavours this year.

.... read more from this post and visit Vinay's blog.

I just saw this post and thought that it is was a nice, concise little story with a good message -

Here they all are. Thought I'd put them down in the one post then link it to the sidebar. In the future I'll add more banners, after I've used the full shots in posts, and then edit this page to add them in.

You can click on an individual banner to see the full size version. Alternatively you can see all the banners at my flickr account, tagged nicblogbanner.

Which is your favourite?

Cindy and I at my 21st. She's in Sweden for the first half of this year on an internship (not an @ internship). You can check out her adventures here.

From interactive Johari Window, "The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up."

From the wikipedia page, "A Johari window is a metaphorical tool intended to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise. Terms selected only by the participant, but not by any of their peers, are placed into the Façade quadrant, representing information about the participant of which their peers are unaware. It is then up to the participant whether or not to disclose this information.

Terms that are not selected by the participant but only by their peers are placed into the Blind Spot quadrant. These represent information of which the participant is not aware, but others are, and they can decide whether and how to inform the individual about these "blind spots".

Terms which were not selected by either the participant or their peers remain in the Unknown quadrant, representing the participant's behaviors or motives which were not recognized by anyone participating. This may be because they do not apply, or because there is collective ignorance of the existence of that trait.

In the interest of self-development, please take 2 mins to do my Johari Window. Thanks!

ps. I've seen this on a couple of blogs lately and done this myself back in 1st year psych.

Dmitri Koulakov (aka Dimmey) sent through a few photos today and I laughed out loud at the second photo below. What a classic pic! I've recently heard from a number of sources about some great stuff coming out of Griffith, and I know that Dimmey is leading his troops well. The intrapreneurship PBoX proposal looks gold and I hope your VC gets fully behind you guys. Dimmey, looking forward to the year ahead! Go the mighty reds!! See you at NLTMs!





Update 2/3/06 - no more nltms, see you at the leadership conference!

Hey I think this photo is perfect for this game - classic captions. Here's how it works: I post the pic, you guys make the caption! I'll also chime in with what I was thinking as well. Should be funny!

(note to self - look through my pics to find more suitable for this game!)

I've been struggling to get enough sleep lately. During this week whilst Sergey has been here on SnA I've got less sleep than usual... and I don't usually get as much as I should! One night I managed to get to bed at 11pm (which is early)... but I lay there for 2 hours before getting up and doing some work. At 2am I was getting quite concerned as I had to attend a meeting at 7am at UWA which is also 20 mins drive away. So... I went out on a limb and drank a bowl of Kahlua and milk. It worked! I slept like a baby and woke up feeling decent.

I just realised that Kahlua is a coffee liqueur. Seems like it should have kept me awake. Ah well, whatever works!

"Kahlua goes nicely with a couple ounces of milk or cream (Kahlua & Cream), or, you can spike your Kahlua & Cream with a shot of vodka and a wee bit more milk to make a White Russian. Both of these drinks taste like chocolate milk- a strange thing to experience when you are getting hosed."

I really like this film! I give it 5/5. Definitely one for the 'to watch' lists for the movie buffs out there.

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Japanese superstar Takeshi Kitano, the multitalented actor, director, painter, TV host, and stand-up comic best known for his hard-boiled cop films ("Hana-Bi," "Brother"), takes on the traditional Japanese hero Zatoichi in his new film, which promises action and whimsy in a period setting.
The blind masseur Zatoichi is the hero of Japan's longest-running film series. Actor Shintaro Katso played Zatoichi in twenty-six feature films and over 100 television episodes until his death in 1993. Kitano's Zatoichi updates the legendary swordfighter in several key aspects, but essentially stays true to the spirit of the series. In the title role, Kitano drags himself through historical Japan on bow legs, blind and weary (and blonde!), and chuckles at the human foibles he encounters. Secretly, he is also a master swordsman who uses his hidden cane sword to devastating effect.

It really is strange to think that I was over there just 6 weeks ago. Has my life always been so jam packed that it seems to be that everything happened 'so' long ago? I feel like I've been back in Australia a lot longer than that... so much has happened, so little sleep got!

The perception I got of Karachi whilst I was there really cast away any 'Western media' stereotypes that may have been lingering in my subconscious. I really loved being there. Rioting just doesn't mesh with my schema for Karachi now.

Here is a message from Saba, LCP Karachi. Emphasis is my own. I've heard that the MC aren't staying at the MC house either because of safety concerns. That sucks. I lived there for a week by myself - I actually felt pretty comfortable and safe. Things can change so quickly. I hope the situation changes back quickly as well and the MC can feel safe in their own house again.

I'm thinking of you guys, I hope you all stay safe!


---------- Forwarded message ----------


Hey AIESEC Karachi!

Hope everyone's doing well :) Unfortunately, we had to cancel the last GBM because of the situation in the city. The next GBM will be on Thursday, 23rd February 2006 at 6:30 PM. The room will be posted on the notice board at 100 Clifton.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there :)

Take care,
Saba Imtiaz
Local Committee President 2006 - 2007
AIESEC Karachi

We've come so so far since that time but we had the beginnings of something really great. In reflecting back it reminds me of how hard it was to get even to that point, and how far we've progressed since. Good times.

I always loved this image

I was at Curtin on Sunday to create Team Operating Principles for 2006 with Graz (old Curtin LCP) and my Executive Board. We met at our new home, building 599 (the hub). You can see a pic of us in this posting on the Curtin LC blog. The meeting went really well and we even got free reign to a whole stack of food that the Curtin Volunteers crew couldn't eat - I took home what we couldn't eat of a big chocolate cake. It's great being in the hub, we're going to really benefit from it.

So that was the happy bit.

I got back to my car after the meeting, approaching my car from the driver's side, unlocked the driver's side door, put my stuff down and was about to turn on the ignition when, looking over my left shoulder through the back seat window I saw a horizontal metal bar really close to my car. Thinking that I don't want to scrape my car whilst reversing, I get out and walk around my car to take a look.

I find a big wood and steel trolley. Then I see a dent in my car. Nice. I look around to see whether someone was playing games with me, watching my reaction. Actually I wasn't angry or anything... my reaction was more of 'what the heck?'. My car at that point was the only car in the carpark. The trolley was left to rest very close to my car, and the carpark had a slope.

My conclusion: someone had pushed the trolley up the hill, hoping to gain as much momentum as they could before slamming it into the side of my car. Then ran away, leaving for me a nice present. Well... actually the damage doesn't look to be that bad, there is only the one dent, a smallish one at that. I think I certainly got away lucky because the trolley looked like it could do a lot more damage than it did.

Here are some photos I took - my digital camera was in my car but stuffed so I took these with my cell, thus the poor quality. Even though it's a smallish dent and by all rights with a trolley that size the damage done should have been a lot greater, it will still cost several hundred dollars to fix. Just another reminder that you really need to approach life with a sense of humour or else all the little things will just drag you down.

1. It is important that a man helps you around the house and has a job.
2. It is important that a man makes you laugh.
3. It is important to find a man you can count on and doesn't lie to you.
4. It is important that a man loves you and spoils you.
5. It is important that these four men don't know each other

I stole this from Ethel

This initiative has really got me thinking! I've pasted two high impact passages from the site below that I think really cross how powerful an initiative this is:

"Mostly sunny, partly cloudy, scattered thunderstorms.

That's the weather report for the last 22 years at AIESEC Ahmedabad. Analemma embodies the challenge to transform the LC weather forecast to just – sunny.

The Analemma Foundation is a Trust designed on an endowment fund model. It is based in Ahmedabad and is governed by AIESEC alumni and current office-bearers of the LC. Analemma provides LC alumni a platform to make a financial investment in the LC. Alumni contribute towards building the Capital of the Foundation. In turn, the Income generated by this Capital amount is invested in the LC each year."

"We aim to accumulate Rs.17,00,000 of Capital before 31Dec2010.

Per our analysis of historical LC financial statements dating back to 1993 and cost projections going forward, we estimate this Capital amount to be 8-10 times the projected LC operating budget in 2010. Per current benchmarks for professional not-for-profit organizations, we estimate that this proportion of Endowment Capital would put the LC at par with the top 7% most financially secure organizations of a comparable nature. 

At that level, we estimate the Capital would generate annual Income equivalent to 50% of the LC operating budget. This Income would be invested in high-impact developmental areas such as Exchange, Marketing, Leadership and Capacity. We believe that robust and consistent investment in these areas would propel the LC to world class stature."

As well as posting this on my blog, I'm also going to email it out to our region's alumni and pass it onto the Aussie NLT to use.

I think this is a great idea. Cat from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (she was LCP of AIESEC Madison in 2001) is calling on alumni to donate into a scholarship fund to send current members to conferences or international experiences. I love it because it is practical and has every possibility of working - right now! She's organising it for her LC; we can do it regionally or nationally in Australia. Here's her post.

"Here's what we need from you: MONEY. These will be tax-deductible donations made directly to AIESEC, allocated for a specific use: scholarship. Now that we're all a few years out, most of us are making enough money to donate 50 tax deductible dollars for a good purpose.

So, what do you say? What about bringing the impact full circle? You remember the great times you had in AIESEC and all of the valuable lessons you learned. Isn't it time to pass it on and ensure that someone else has the same opportunity?"

What do you guys think?

Dave Winer writes in a post titled 'What is friendship?'

"I write a blog, have since the mid 90s or so, and I sometimes write in a personal fashion, and people connect to that, which is fine, but it often creates misunderstandings that, I think, go deeply into how humans evolved, and how that evolution never anticipated a medium where a written word could be read by so many people without a connection coming back.

This leads to a sense of familiarity, which is expected, but it can also give a sense of intimacy, even friendship, which is wrong, because what's going on here is not friendship, although inside us many of the feelings that come from being a regular reader of a weblog are the same ones we feel as we are developing a friendship, in the world evolution designed us for. But this is not that world."

I think what Dave has to say is very relevant to us nomadlifers; the communication style we're employing when we use blogs is one-to-many, and through this we can develop familiarity with many people through their blogs. But Dave doesn't equate this familiarity with 'friendship', and he makes a fair point - although he does take a hard line. ie, A person you've known for years and get along with might not be a friend.

I think though that with nomadlife we share a common connection through AIESEC, a common set of values etc. And although many people don't know each other in person, many people do, making our network less 'loose' - you might not know someone but you'll have friends that do, reducing the degree of separation between individuals within our network. Thus I think that although the relationship between two people on nomadlife, who don't know each other in person but who are familiar with each other through their blogs, might not be 'friendship' per se, I do think it is a bit closer and a bit more tangible. You can feel like you know someone more than as just an aquaintance.

Any thoughts guys? Feel free to discuss in the comments below.

Well I think I'm done messing around with the blog template. What do you guys think? What is good, what is bad, what is pretty or ugly, what needs to be changed? Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I added in a facility to subscribe to receive new blog posts by email, in the right hand column.

Whilst I was in Pakistan I sought out the advice of a local wise in the ways of entertainment. This local went by the name of Nida. Nida shared the names of 21 movies from the subcontinent for my education. I shall seek out these titles at local specialty stores. Below is the text that was given to me.

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1. sholay
2. kabhi khushi kabhi gham
3. company
4. kaun?
5. darna mana hai
6. monsoon wedding
7. mr. & mrs. iyer
8. bhopal express
9. kuch kuch hota hai
10. dilwale dulhaniya le jayain gain
11. lagaan
12. dil chahta hai
13. qayamat se qayamat tak
14. satya
15. dil se
16. jo jeeta wohi sikander
17. shakti
18. hum aapke hain kaun
19. mughal-e-azam
20. amar akbar anthony
21. devdas (new)


--
Nida Rasheed
Local Committee President
AIESEC in Lahore
Lahore, Pakistan

Perth is so beautiful. This is a pic taken from the southern foreshore of the Swan River, looking north - that's the CBD on the nothern banks of the river.

I wrote this in the EB minutes 2/2/06

The past week has been a very tough one for me. For quite some time now I’ve felt less than good, ‘stale’ and actually quite down. I’m tired and I think a little burnt out. I’ve recognized this and been aware of this since I came back from Pakistan. The frustrating thing is that although I have recognized this (it’s a positive thing to have recognized that I need a break rather than not being aware of it) I’ve been unable to take the break that I need. I have struggled in the past and still struggle now with getting a good balance between AIESEC and everything else in my life.

The workload is not an issue, the issue is that I know what will fix things but have been unable to act on it. That has really gotten me. It’s become a bit of a vicious circle – me being demotivated, the list of ASAPs piling up, me stressing out, being even more demotivated, ASAPs pile getting even bigger etc. and so on. In all that I have not been able to take a break really because my mind has always been on what I have to do.

Sharing my feelings with the RB and my EB has really helped. Finding and (re-)highlighting what it is I’m trying to achieve in AIESEC has helped. Thinking about my 5 year plan has helped – helped me focus on my priorities. Tackling my list of todos is helping.

Coming out of this I’m committing to keeping a real balance. I also should have shared with my RB and with my EB sooner – and I shouldn’t have simply turned my phone off and made myself pretty unreachable for the last week. I need to externalize. I usually tackle any AIESEC issues head on, but in the last week I’ve let it slip. Now I’m catching up.

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I'm in the process of getting back into it. There are some things that I haven't attended to for a long time, and if I've been letting people down this isn't an excuse but rather an explanation of why I've been incommunicado.

Having said all this, I feel it's important to say that although this is one of the lowest periods I've been through, I'm still here and I'm lucky enough to have some very special and loving people in my life. Life is a long journey...