Month: March 2010

Good morning.. Have a nice day!! :)

Just took a midnight walk thanks to calls from my ArtVibe team to check out their cool completed masterpiece. I was tempted not to go with FYP and work generally looming but hey.. given I wrote the line about letting ourselves being influenced first, there was no way I was saying no..

And boy, isn’t their work a master-piece?

Some Facts –
1,600 sq feet..
Handpainted largely by 5 incredible people (with help from a few others as well..)
They are hoping 2,000 NUS students will sign on this work of art..

Oh, And I think they deserve an award if they manage to pull it off and survive the week! Here’s to them.. Very proud! :D

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On a side note, United beat Liverpool 2-1 today.. and Chelsea drew meaning United are now top of the table..

Trophies are only handed out in May, but we ought to celebrate small wins, right? :D

To Nishanth – for the video in the post below – Learning leadership from the naked dancing guy.

I love the part about leadership being overrated! It is true.. every one of us are leaders – atleast leaders of our own lives if not others..

To Shubhangi and Archana – Shubhangi slipped in a ‘Good job with your blog’ wall post on facebook. Nice to hear.. :) And nice of her to take the extra stuff.. :)

Thanks guys! :)

http://mydd.com/2010/2/12/the-shirtless-dani

Incredible! :)

What is about being vulnerable that makes us step away?

Why is it so hard for us to let ourselves be influenced?

Is it so hard for us to trust another?

Is it the fear of our trust being misplaced?

Or have the demons of a past failure come to haunt us?

..

We can only influence if we can be influenced..

If we have to touch lives, we have to allow lives to touch us..

Are we putting ourselves out there enough?

Not ‘all the time‘, but ‘enough‘?

It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside
I’m not one of those who can easily hide
I don’t have much money but boy if I did
I’d buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one’s for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done
I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they’ve got me quite cross
But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song
It’s for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green or they’re blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen

—

Take a bow Elton John!

NUS ArtVibe is on its way to breaking records with a 1600 square feet hand painted banner.. As you can, see it is HUGE and the project itself is massive and being supported by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games committee as well as top level NUS management.

The wonderful part is that the team is doing a great job in managing this! Led by Snigdha, and ably assisted by Ching Siong a.k.a CS, Dhanya, Abishek, Madhurima and He Yun.. the team has successfully managed to finish painting this mammoth campus and yes, hand paint it! The painting looks fantastic.. the next step is to raise awareness about it by leaving it at the ‘Lovers Park’ behind Central Forum, NUS and to atleast get 1,000 signatures from NUS student as a show of support to the Youth Olympic Games..

Oh, and there is also a competition where-in the most creative sign/contribution will earn $300..

All well, except for me, I think.. haha. I joined the team yesterday during a work session for the first time. So far, I’ve only been their ‘consultant’.. where I’ve only helped them when they’ve had problems. This is primarily because of all the time that has gone into Sparkz..

The fight inside my head as of yesterday was ‘Should I step in or not?’ If I did, a few things would change (for good or bad, we cannot tell..) but I was wondering if it would be a good idea. And, as luck would have it, the book I was listening to (The 8th habit – Stephen Covey) narrated the story from the life of the famous WWII general George Patton. He said –

‘I was trying to tell my commanding officer, who was somewhat reluctant to attack, that I had full confidence in him. To show it, I went home..’

Enough said, I think..

It’s a tough one for someone who loves the taste of action, but I think I’ll take a leaf out of George Patton’s book.. :)

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Background: I am technically the President of the NUS ArtVibe interest group. Despite being a person who is not artistic inclined by any means. It was a big dream of a close friend that this interest group should do well and be a place for art enthusiasts to get together and it looked like it was going to die out last year.

Having decided to get back to student life, I was looking for something to do as well. And that’s how the ArtVibe love-in happened.. :)

Sparkz just got 1st priority as it was my baby right from the start(i.e. with the history with ExpressionHappens).. haha

Learning lots along the way.. and if I can learn to ‘let go’, then that would be worth more than I can even imagine!

That’s the mantra when things seem to be spinning out of control! :)

Now, that’s what the Champions league is about isn’t it?

Arsenal vs Barcelona – The 2 teams that play the most beautiful football on the planet.. (United probably come a close 3rd. For us, it’s about the goals and the attack mindedness necessary to win, not so much about the beauty..)

And United vs Bayern.. heavyweights again!

Waaa! Can’t wait..

Simple, succinct but so very true and powerful..

Dismisses the myth that we are leaders only when we are given a position. :)

And also proves that the greatest leadership position is that of a parent.. :)

Good morning.. have a great day! :)