and I wonder

...if anyone else in the bar at 1am was talking about oil prices.

Loose Change

In case you haven't yet heard of it, here's the second edition of 911 Loose Change. Very compelling and thought-provoking. It's worth a watch, and heck it's free. Plus the sound track is sweet.

an inconvenient truth

Turns out Al Gore actually isn't so stiff and unapproachable. They made a movie/documentary about his global warming presentation. Trailer is here. I don't go to theaters much, but maybe for this one..

between the designs

The 21st was a monumental year, more so than the 18th when I left for college. May it continue through the 22nd.

Everyone would gather on the 24th of May,
Sitting in the sand to watch fireworks display...
Dancing fires on the beach, singing songs together;
Though it's just a memory, some memories last forever.

Burning on both ends

In my follow up appointment with my surgery doctor, he concluded with:

Well, thanks for teaching us about Egypt while you were laying there. It really shed some new light on the country for me.

My pleasure. We proceeded to talk of other things foreign, like his eight months in Haiti and why study abroad should be part of the college curriculum.
Those who really want to (and are in position to) make a lasting change, like exchange participants to the Middle East, must also learn how to talk to others about their experience, the region, etc. I think the real key is explaining experiences in ways the listener can relate to. One should talk to a college student differently than a 45 year old mother of three. With the peer, I start out with talk of shisha and girls. With the mother, I start by breaking the perceived idea of danger.

PS I'm still not satisfied with the rebate discussion.

tech weenie stuff

So, I finally bought the external hard drive I've been thinking about for the past 4 months, a random trip to Best Buy being the culprit. With the $60 instant rebate and a $20 gift card, I ended up dishing out $75 of my own money for a 60GB drive. It is powered through USB, so no power adapter needed. It's the money. Now I finally have that back-up for my pictures and can reformat my internal hard disk. All you techies know why I am so happy.

But, the whole experience has revealed another question. Are "instant rebates" legit? Or is that just part of the whole marketing scheme to make some product seem like a good deal? I've always wondered

The Moment of Truth

My legs have stitches in five spots. At the end of the process, they were covered with huge band-aids and I was told not to shower for 36 hours (hold the comments). I also had to have essentially my entire thighs shaved. It's weird.
Let me just put it out there that I'm terrified of taking off band-aids. It's like the giant's one weakenss.

Intrusion of The Man

Mayor Norman McCourt said starting Wednesday the city will begin trying to evict groups who do not fit into Black Jack’s definition of family, reports CBS affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis. (CBS News)

This is in America??? (HT Sullivan)

Made it

Surgery thing went well. Me and the crew talked the whole time (they were loving some of my jokes - Doc even had to take a break to wipe tears from his eyes and re-aim the laser thing).
Doc gave me some Vicadin. It just got to my brain.

Good bye.

The Sign

I have run out of shisha. In light of transitioning to Summer Mix Master and trying to get back into shape, I won't buy any until someone says it to my face or a special occasion arises, whichever comes first. Today I felt the first pings of becoming Summer Mix Master. As life slows down with the absence of school, my night life takes on a different dynamic, and I show I can sometimes act like a normal person. Like a villian, I chill.

I gave bruni the arnulty sign and he didn't get it (I wonder why). Do you?

cometh to light

Today we've shown great restraint. It's 7:07pm and we're not drinking yet.
I've barely made it through this and last year's graduation weekends... leading me to question if my own will be the great downfall.
The chips have fallen; I will be in Madison for the Summer. Now I need a house. And another job.

shedding another layer of skin

wish I could see what she could see
Originally uploaded by Mix Master.

This streaming Pink Floyd concert has kept me in the Brary long enough. Tomorrow will see me recharged and like a soldier, valiantly charging deep into a matrix world with bases, some orthonormal, some not. Lijing, bring it you bitch.

so you're telling me there's a chance..

At 1825 CST I got offered a job. Boss based here in Madison.
Let there be light.

for the ages

Brokeback: "You coming to my Brothers Party on Saturday?"

La Bruhaha: "I didn't know your brother was having a party"


...

2 tests for breakfast...

..and I'll leave it up to Fate to do what Fate does. As for me, I gotta wash this blood off my hands and dive into Math, the last barrier between me and unemployed freedom.

After a midday shisha.

nugget of wisdom

They say you don't properly learn the material from a math class until you take the course after it.

I am inclined to agree.

liars

Apparently a local newspaper made up a story about some kid.

Update: Link might no longer be relevant. New story still is sweet, though.

change of face

On the right you'll notice my reading list via Bloglines. I'm not sure how I feel about the look; I tend to like minimum over maximum information. We'll see how it feels over time.

Reunion tour?

My Egyptian Navy friend called to say he is in the US. We spoke of old stories and travels--It had been months since I really reflected on Egypt; the nostalgia kicked in. (Laura)

Haitham has landed in the USA.

cool like the water dripping from above

When you think its Saturday night, and then don't realize it's only Thursday until you get home...

you know it's been a good night.

Grandiose, even.

Daily Kos

Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos, is in Madison for a few speaking engagements. I can't fucking go.

If you're interested

..in reading blogs by execs of various companies, go here.

American Brand Image

No number of ad campaigns or diplomatic speeches can change minds on the Arab Street as effectively as one personal recommendation from another Arab. I was surprised, then, to learn that there are few, if any, programs to bring average Arabs over to America to experience it for themselves. Some I talked to in Oman lamented the $5 million that Charlotte Beers spent on an advertising campaign that could have funded a exchange program instead. Curious if it would work, I asked others I met and learned that there was one such independent program done as an experiment. An Omani factory worker, an average Joe, was invited to visit America at no expense to him. The worker, as I was told, was not particularly fond of America, but he was open-minded. He was taken to rural America, to cities, to the East coast and West coast and upon his return, he raved to fellow factory workers of his American experience. He reported back that there were churches everywhere, proving that America was not the Godless society they thought it was. He also reported that he was not treated any differently because he was a Muslim. He was welcomed with open-arms wherever he went. Because of his real experience, this one man was influencing the opinions of an entire factory. (Re:Focus) Bold is mine.

This is why Salaam is so effective and important. It puts the power in the people to build relationships, have experiences, and then show them to their peers.

CSR

Finding no. 3: Emerging market companies are the ones leading the way in corporate responsibility. South African firms are singled out for their record in this area in more sectors and across more dimensions than their OECD peers.

More here. I can't find the whole study. But, interesting.

Baby Blue

Wow, it's all over. And it's only 3:42am (~13hrs today). Still time for a shisha.

I put in a good number of hours on this paper. I struggle to see myself doing this sort of thing, that being economic analysis, full time. It's real, real cool no doubt, but I need a more direct impact on the world than that which analysis affords. Policy advisory (seems like that's the holy grail of economists) would be something of interest, but alas, I think there are different routes.

And now, two assignments and three finals stand between me and a summer lining up to be quite unemployed... Guess I know where I'll be spending the rest of this week's time. Well, when I'm not two-stepping with Ron Diaz.

take me to your leader

In fact, power for the most part is a badly misunderstood term and a badly misused capability. I'm talking about a different kind of power than we usually refer to. It's not ladder power, as in who's best at climbing over the adjacent bods. It's not who's-got-the-biggest-office-by-six-square-inches power or who's-got-the-fanciest-title power.

It's influence power.

It's being known for making the most significant contribution in your particular area. It's reputational power. If you were a scholar, you'd measure it by the number of times your publications get cited by other people. If you were a consultant, you'd measure it by the number of CEOs who've got your business card in their Rolodexes. (And better yet, the number who know your beeper number by heart.) (Tom Peters in Fast Company)

This is from a great piece written in 1997 about creating a brand for yourself, i.e. BrandYou. These few paragraphs are exactly what I've thought about leadership for a while now. It doesn't take a title to make a leader, it takes a following.
A lot of personal branding happens in AIESEC whether or not people realize it. This gives a good language to talk about it in.

midlight shisha

The midnight shisha (or in this case, 230am) is usally the last stage of my day, a philosophical one at that. So for now, I'm philosophizing. I should not forget to breath inbetween hits of the shisha.

I'm in the midst of my first real job search, that ever elusive utopian summer internship. No traineeship selected for me, no lab job to fall back on, just me and the open road, a few internets, and a job to find. I'm a bit surprised and a bit not surprised that people get freaked out at the idea of a free-for-all job search. There's tons of exciting shat going on out there, it just takes time to find it. This, this, this and this are a couple I found. Ask the right people, send a few emails, read, and thou will find. I plan to eventually not get rejected.. in due time something totally sweet will happen.

Breath oxygen.

I wanted the VP Marketing position because it is a field I haven't done much in since the Culture Team Cobra Force days. When the candle of motivation burns low, go create something new a dude told me once. That's what I was hoping to do. Alas, no use sulking over missed opportunities. The HR position is still decently optimal. Coach groups are still young and quite malleable and thus a good outlet for my creative venting. The conductors can deal with aligning to the tune I dance to. Local with a touch of global. Thank you Eric Brown.

Coach groups need some defined structure and end results, some concrete principals perhaps. They should be comprehensive, and each group should be going through similar experiences each "meeting." It should be a program and in the end each person should be able to think, "OK, at the beginning I was here, and now, at the end, I am here. I know these things. I learned this and this about leadership, this about moving and shaking, and this about leading. I know how to implement them in my organizational and general life. This person can help me in this way. Here's where I go to learn more." This sort of take on the coach groups requires substantially more energy input from the coaches, about as much as a VP position in my mind. Those one or two semesters deep in their AIESEC experience probably can't coach this way, yet.

I'm done with developing people. I now believe that's a waste of time, more or less. It isn't about actually developing them. It's about showing how to develop yourself and offering opportunities to do so. Heck, if you don't want to develop yourself, then me telling you a bunch of leadership tactics isn't going to do much. Playing tennis with a wall isn't fun for the wall. What I will tell those who want to listen, is how they can begin that road. Then I'll offer some activities that do begin it. Then it's Up To You. This is one aspect of the self-driven philosophy I believe in. Activities are a whole lot more fruitful if all involved are on this road. Activity based over conversation based. Activity supplimented with conversation, not vice versa. In retrospect it amuses me that a majority of our coach-group days were conversation based. Our best one was an activity. Active learning. I bet you could fit an entire LDS worth of material into your semester coach program. Each subsequent meeting builds on past ones and references them. Use past learnings in future activities. Materials are already created for a program philosophy such as this.

Just a few thoughts. My coal is out. Until the next shisha.

get a beer down here

My final paper for my economic research class is based on this paper. I am analyzing the economic impact of hosting the Super Bowl on the host community. The long-short of it: the Super Bowl has no significant impact on economic development, contrary to the NFL's claims. I spent several hours today organizing and copy and pasting data and getting carpel tunnel syndrome. Thank you Grateful Dead for keeping me company. The whole point of this paragraph is that my main regression worked. I'll allow all you econometricians to raise your beer for one second of celebration.
No, this isn't due tomorrow. The next day.

Mifflas saw me running into a very good friend I haven't seen since last May. Only ten to fifteen thousand people showed up this year. I'll be living on one of those blocks next year. nomadfest?