Welcome to Sikamikanico Blogs, home on the web for politics, social issues and mirth by me, Nico Bell. (I can't do that thing where you speak of yourself in the third person. It sounds weird, and if I tried it I'd be tempted to invent a new and better bio for this alternate Nico. "Nico works full time at three separate non profits and volunteers for several non-problematic charities. In her spare time she runs marathons, is working on a design for hydrogen fuel generators that produce clean drinking water as exhaust, and walks across lakes to heal injured birds. But her most important role is being a mother; she loves baking lunch box treats that don't come out of the oven looking like they've been sat on, organises school fundraising drives, and has never crouched on the laundry floor at 11pm trying to dry a dripping school shirt with a hair dryer after realising at 9pm the laundry had backed up and there wasn't a clean uniform for tomorrow.")
I'm a Newcastle bred, Sydney based amateur sociologist, policy wonk, disability and LGBTQ+ advocate, social commentator and freelance writer, tea drinker and sloppy dresser (I blame the fact I'm a really weird bra size. Also, I've got the widest feet you've ever seen. Really! They're bizarre. Like flippers). Following a long, pointless career in jobs both corporate and cruddy, I graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Social Policy in 2018, and have been faffing about with a Master of Human Services Leadership on and off for the past few years.
But being deeply passionate about social justice and equality doesn't stop me from being a terrible person. I'll read a disturbing article about, say, migrants crossing the Darién Gap, think "well, that puts my daily problems into perspective", and five minutes later be furious because Strictly Come Dancing is an inane name for a TV show and every time I see it I want to stomp on someone's neck.
I'm a doting aunt, the adoring owner of two adolescent girl cats - oh, and I have a pretty nice kid myself, the smart, sassy and incredibly sweet freshly minted teenager Mr G (no, I don't know how he got so old either).
I've been on Blogger since 2004, originally at the now-retired Xander and Nico Pod (though I've moved some of the less-heinous content over here) and now at Sikamikanico Blogs since 2011. Either way there's tonnes of archives there to wade through.
I've finally mostly finished the memoir I've been threatening since about the time I started this blog; I'm now editing the damn thing, so with my attention span it should be finished by ooh shiny roller skates! I really should get back into skating.
Stuff I've written has been published in Opus, the University of Newcastle student paper; Crikey; the online Wall Street Journal; No Fibs, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple, New Matilda and the Down Under Feminists Blog Carnival. I've also been interviewed on radio including ABC Sydney 702, ABC Newcastle 1233 and 2SER; and for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers. I've got a great face for radio.
Stuff I've written has been published in Opus, the University of Newcastle student paper; Crikey; the online Wall Street Journal; No Fibs, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple, New Matilda and the Down Under Feminists Blog Carnival. I've also been interviewed on radio including ABC Sydney 702, ABC Newcastle 1233 and 2SER; and for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers. I've got a great face for radio.
