February 2011
2 posts
A ticket out of hell
I’ve spent years trying to understand why: 1. Right wingers hold the world view they do 2. Why poor people so frequently vote against their own self interest.
The answer, I conclude simplistically, lies in the aspiration that all (mostly) of us have: to be wealthy, and to stay that way. Even me. Probably you - to some degree at least.
Of course, it’s a values thing. My values are superior...
'Just' a bloody dreamer
No ‘Just’ about it.
I am a bloody dreamer, and proud of it. In fact I had a dream last night that the Greens (my employers) got 20% in the General Elections on the 26th November. Which is a pipe dream given they got close to 7% 3 years ago.
I don’t dream that often, so I pay attention when I do. Of course, this is ‘just’ my subconscious putting on an epic production...
January 2011
1 post
Three things they don't teach you in school
1. They don’t teach you in school…to ask GOOD questions.
The quality of the questions we asks determines what kind of life we have.
If we are preoccupied with “does my ass look big in these pants”, we will not be asking - “what are the unique contributions that I can make with my life’s work?” Maybe you can do both, but I have personally found them to...
September 2010
5 posts
A year in the life of a flightless bird
I am celebrating my first year as a flightless bird.
I have traveled the length of the country several times by car, bus, train and boat. Now that I am used to the time frames that this mode of travel takes, I have found that I can sit back and relax. I have made sock monkeys, read books, met interesting people, seen parts of New Zealand that I would never have known existed. Because I invest so...
4 tags
Dad is a State of Mind
A dear friend recently commemorated the anniversary of losing her dad to Cancer. She told me about a dream she had with her dad in it which he gave her some very sound advice, giving her confidence to move ahead and make big changes in her life. Depending on how you see the world, you will interpret what dreams mean in a particular way. I would love to be ‘visited’ in my dreams by...
My Search and Surveillance Submission
Dear Politicians, As a one of this country’s creative citizens, I hereby submit a short story as part of my submission. I hope that it is refreshing to read a story, rather than a bulleted list of concerns: http://megarillo.tumblr.com/post/1051186621/apples-on-the-dead-seas-shore-a-short-story Surveillance of the future is going to involve capturing more and more data from our citizens....
Apples on the Dead Sea’s shore - a short story
Do you remember those last groaning days at the close of the first decade of the 21st century?
People were still thinking about themselves as separate, unrelated entities. Apple Corporation met the zeitgeist with their ‘i’Series devices. iPod > iPhone >iPad > iRing > iPatch were each points on a map, a road trip of technological progress towards more ‘Me, Me, Me’. Obsolete almost...
August 2010
1 post
7 tags
I'm a flirter, not a fighter.
It’s gonna take everything we’ve got to halt the devastating impacts of Climate Change. Including our ability to flirt. If you’ve got it, flaunt it - for a good cause!
I’m not sure if my husband agrees with this approach. But it seemed to work yesterday when I fulfilled one of the items on my Bucket List; “Make an Oral Submission to Council”.
This was...
July 2010
13 posts
9 tags
Collaborative Consumption. It's where its at, yo....
No, its not Tuberculosis for the 21st Century. Its a business model you should be preparing to wrap your head around; what’s mine, is ours!
http://www.collaborativeconsumption.com/
“Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping redefined through technology and peer communities”.
...
♫ Lyric of the day: "There is a crack, a crack in... →
From “Anthem” off “The Future” by Leonard Cohen
Neuroeconomics: interesting links between social... →
It seems that social networking triggers the release of the generosity-trust chemical in our brains. Great for charities to understand how to leverage off this (before big business corners the market!).
6 tags
30 is the new 50.
This is a submission that I made to the Wellington City Council supporting lowering the vehicle speeds in the Inner city.
You can make a submission too. The deadline for feedback is 5pm on Friday 16 July. Go to http://wellington.govt.nz/haveyoursay/publicinput/2010-06lowerspeed.html and fill out the online submission form. State that you support the proposed changes. And at the end you can...
The Age of Participation →
Goodbye Information Age. Hello Participation Age. This is when thinks start to get exciting…all of a sudden citizens matter to brands, corporations and government.
1 tag
Enjoy What You Do And It Shows... →
This is more about being a great employer, in order to get the very best from your employees. Think about every conversation had at a party by your employees about working for your company. Your employees (front line AND backroom) are both your salespeople and your potential cheerleaders. The happier they are the better they do at work. But if they have a bad time, they are going to let people...
Eye Love You... →
“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.”
– Chinese proverb
“We need to honor our ‘breakdowns’ as much as we celebrate success. The only true...”
– Me. I said it.
9 tags
Leisure, leadership and legacy.
This year, the first of the baby boomers are eligible to hang up their hats and step into retirement. So what are they planning to do with their time? Can one have a purposeful retirement?
My hope is that they will develop a retirement ‘portfolio’ (like I have a work portfolio) that consists of leisure, leadership and legacy. Because let’s face it, at 65 people are potent....
Make a 'Mid Year' Resolution: Reprogramming... →
June 2010
12 posts
1 tag
“One ship drives east and another west
With the self same winds that blow
Tis...”
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
1 tag
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
– Albert Einstein
2 tags
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you...”
– Mark Twain
8 tags
Finally. Robotic beings rule the world.
I think the world of work is set to change in drastic ways, and that we should be preparing our people, our systems and our governance for the shift.
The Conchords were right. Robotic beings are set to rule the world. Well, at least the World of Boring Meaningless Work that No Human Gets Excited About.
I’ve watched The West Wing. I know how compelling “saving jobs” is as a...
1 tag
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and...”
– Harold R. McAlindon
5 tags
8 tags
Steve Jobs. I hope you are wearing your best...
A few years ago, I had an idea to create a website which would enable consumers to critique and question companies about their products. Consumers could rate and comment and celebrate brands who were making an effort to become more sustainable.
I’d like to announce that website has been created. It is still in hyper-beta (its got a long way to go from the whinge-fest that it currently is)...
#TwitterPitch
An elevator pitch presents yr business idea in the time it takes to ride an elevator. #twitterpitch is 140 char or less. Can u do it?
Disorientation - a quick way to get to a new way... →
Creative Processes in Business: Disrupting old patterns makes way for new thought to emerge.
2 tags
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do...”
– Howard Thurman
5 tags
click it: intersect.org.nz →
Intersect - Supporting champions of change, New Zealand’s purposeful young professionals.
9 tags
Journalism is dead. Long live the Teapot.
I hereby pronounce journalism dead. Its Teapot Takeover Time. Oh man. I am going to piss off some friends with this post. But provoke, I hope it will!
In fact - who am I to write a post anyway? I’m no journo. I’m a visual communication designer who is sick of designing because its a superficial way to bring positive change the world. Now I use my design skills to problem solve in...
March 2010
1 post
8 tags
Dear New Zealand, switch off the TV, pick up a...
There’s a lot on my mind today. I am feeling a huge sense of losing ground in New Zealand. Literally. The sheer amount of issues feel like too much for one person. Too much for a facebook group to tackle. All the issues that I bang on about (climate change, crime, poverty, mining, whaling, peak oil, individualism blah blah) are all symptomatic, and all come from the same collective...
February 2010
1 post
From Ours to Mine?
Dear John Key,
The phrase ‘to mine’ something is interesting, isn’t it? Its about taking what is naturally occurring in the earth and to claim it. When you make it yours - you make it ‘mine’.
You will be hearing this a bit: “National parks are not ours to mine”. New Zealanders and their elected officials decided some time ago to preserve these special parts of New Zealand in perpetuity....
December 2009
2 posts
2 tags
Sustainability Schmustainability
What’s in a name? I’ve been banging on about sustainability for about 5 years now. Even so, I’ve always been allergic to the word. It never felt quite right. And by that, I literally mean that it had an uncomfortable feeling associated with it. My perspective on this is that words carry intention, and each intention has a specific energy attached to it. This energy is...
Bottoms
Oh - its a shameless way to get your attention, I know. But I’ve been thinking about bottoms a lot. Must be because I am about to get married, and the wedding diet hasn’t been an outrageous success yet. In fact, I’ve been thinking about all the less-celebrated parts of the body - the bottom, toes, the intestine, our underarms. Perhaps we don’t celebrate them because...
September 2009
1 post
4 tags
Nipple Fridge takes the prize
In the Page Blackie Gallery last night, Intersect - a national network of young leaders in sustainability - awarded 22 year old Amelia Hitchcock for her artwork “New Zealand Pure”. The artwork is a ‘dunger’ of a fridge - stacked with old fashioned baby bottles filled with water collected from lowland rivers around the artist’s home town , Wanganui. “..In a nation that proclaims to the world...
August 2009
1 post
5 tags
Chocolate flavoured People Power
Today’s U-turn by choc industry giant coupled with the latest youtube viral video has given me the last smidgeon of evidence that I need to back my personal belief that Human Beings Can Do Anything They Put Their Minds To. In less than a fortnight, tens of thousands of people outraged over the injustice of the milk solids being replaced by palm oil have exerted enough influence to see a tail...
September 2000
1 post
7 tags
Ending my Addiction to Aviation Fuel
I’m writing this on the bus from Wellington to Auckland. Its 5pm, and I’ve been on the road since 8am. This is the Naked Bus service, and the ticket cost me $38, even though I booked it late in the piece. I’m traveling up to Auckland to do a TV appearance with my band - the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra. We will be on air for maybe 20 minutes, and then we are...