Hummingbird604.com » random thoughts

Blue Monday and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Raul — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:29:47 +0000

Photo credit: Yuliya Libkina on Flickr

It’s been widely publicized that Blue Monday (today, the third Monday of the year) is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. It’s also been argued that it’s a hoax (just by looking at the stupid equation, you can TELL that it’s a total hoax).

Dr. Dean Burnett has written a nice story in the Guardian on how stupid the notion of Blue Monday is (and you can read it here). Now, what I would also like to emphasize is that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is actually real, and a form of depression that should not be made of nor taken lightly (I am an advocate of mental health issues, as many of you may know).

While Blue Monday is a day that in a way reminds people about depression, I would like folks to take it more seriously, and to not make fun neither of depression nor of SAD. Depression affects (depending on who you get your statistics from) between 1 in 20 to 1 in 5 Canadians. And SAD is prevalent too, particularly in regions where you don’t get enough light (thus light therapy is used to treat it). So, hopefully Blue Monday will be also taken as an opportunity to remember that depression is real and that if you or anyone you know need help, there’s a number of services you can access to help you deal with depression.

Complementary skills: Thinking for the web and writing for the web

Raul — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:50:52 +0000

photo credit: Ethan Hein

As an academic, before I started writing a blog, all I thought about was how to conduct my research in a rigorous, theoretically-sound, empirically-testable way. My writing was intended to explain phenomena and describe my research methodology in an accurate and precise way. Then I entered the world of tech (via blogging)

While I began hanging out with tech types, reading tech blogs and engaging on social networking sites, I sometimes continued to write in “academiquese”. My writing was jargon-laden and often abstruse. Then I realized that there was a world out there of things I had never thought about, until I started creating my own website and writing for a broader audience. I designed my research website from scratch and personalized Hummingbird604.com as it is right now.

I began to think about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I learned to write keyword-rich text and found about the meaning of “content strategy“. Copywriting, DNS-propagation and clean URLs all became part of my vocabulary. And as I was having beers with my good friend Susie Gardner (co-author of Blogging for Dummies, in case you were wondering) the other day, I realized that to be successful online, you need to know a bit about how to build websites (thinking for the web) and about how to write compelling content that will be crawled by search engines and found and engage your reader (writing for the web). Susie agreed with my viewpoint, adding that you may not need to be a website builder, but know enough about how to make websites to make your writing shine in said website.

It seems to me as though the most successful people online are those who are able to master, to some solid degree, both sets of complementary skills. What do you think?

How real are you?

Raul — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:07 +0000

Despite the fact that I keep my online identities separate (Raul the academic and Raul the social media guy), I am the same person all the same. I pride myself in being very real. So I figured I’d keep things fun by giving you a little Blogthings quiz. How real are you? Apparently I’m 91% real (the other 9% must be a figment of someone’s imagination, heh!)

You Are 91% Real

There’s hardly a person on this earth more real than you are.
You have no problem showing people who you are, flaws and all.
For you, there couldn’t be any other way. Because it’s way too stressful to live an inauthentic life.
You’re very comfortable with yourself. And because of this, you’re able to live an exciting, interesting, and challenging life.

How Real Are You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

National Coming Out Day ’09 #NCOD

Raul — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:57:04 +0000

In 2007, I think I wrote what I think is the best introductory paragraph ever written on my blog, on the issue of coming out.

Coming out of the closet (in the sexual orientation kind of way) means opening up a whole can of worms when it comes to acceptance by mainstream society, job security and the existence of glass ceilings, conforming to societal norms and dealing with potential rejection. The reason behind National Coming Out Day seems (in my interpretation) a celebration of that moment in a person’s life when it becomes important to embrace a whole identity, not just portions of it.

My thinking still applies. National Coming Out Day (which was celebrated in Vancouver in 2007 and I think 2008, but I haven’t seen anything this 2009) is a celebration of the diversity in our communities, and acceptance of that diversity. In coming out, LGBT people take a big risk The degree to which homophobia is still rampant in a country as accepting as Canada is appalling. I still wake up to headlines of gay men being bashed on Davie Street (in Vancouver) for holding hands. One of my very good friends was a target as well. Why do these incidents keep happening? Because not everyone is seen as equal.

While being gay, lesbian, trans, or queer in general does not define people, it is part and parcel of their personalities and it’s an inherent human right to have that element be a source of pride, not shame. It still is a challenge for gay people to come out, and I think the best way to summarize why some people don’t understand the struggle is to quote from my friend Cecily Walker, who said in a post about diversity in social media,

“Why aren’t there more discussions about diversity? Because it’s awfully hard to see the margins from the centre, and until more marginalized voices can fight their way to the centre and make changes to the status quo, that won’t likely change.”

With this post, I try to bring the conversation about coming out to shift to the centre and help make changes to the status quo. Join me, please (and thank you).

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving – What I’m thankful for…

Raul — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:26:47 +0000

I have been in Canada for the better part of 12, almost 13 years (with a few years in Europe and Mexico here and there, but basically, I set foot in Canadian soil over a decade ago). The significance of Thanksgiving in Canada is a bit different to that of the United States (we don’t have Thanksgiving in Mexico, or any other Latin American country for that matter).

photo credit: juhoang0309

So, what is Raul thankful for?

I am good at saying thanks to my friends and family and in general, to anybody who has been kind and generous to me, but let’s take a quick stab at what I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful for the life I have. It’s challenging, at times, trying to balance research with client work, with community service and with social media in general, but I’m thankful that it’s so intense.

I’m thankful for being complete. I don’t need anyone else to complete me, I’m complete as I am. I am thankful that I like myself and enjoy my own company.

And I am thankful that I’m in one piece, despite having had migraines for a long while and lately, a bout of painful blisters.

I’m thankful for the friends I have, the new friends who have come into my life and the possibilities for new friendships. I am delighted that social media has enabled me to make new acquaintances and that our lives have become so intertwined that we no longer have a differentiation on whether they are social media or non-techie friends.

I am thankful (in spades, seriously) for the family I have. I’ve always been loved and supported by my brothers, my Mom and Dad, my cousins, uncles, aunties and our extended families. I am who I am in a large part because of where I come from, and the family I am privileged to be part of.

I am thankful for being able to do what I love on an everyday basis. I love teaching, I love doing research, I love doing client work and consulting, I love socializing and I do this 7 days a week. I have finally managed to begin to strike a balance between my environmental work, my social media work, my teaching and my research. And yet, I still have time for my friends.

I am thankful that my future looks bright and that I wake up every day with a goal and purpose. I am thankful that I can put food on the table and have a roof above me and sleep sound at night because I have done my very best, every single day.

And, last but not least, I am thankful that the people who read my blog find it entertaining, that they share their viewpoints and engage in conversation with me. I am thankful that the people who follow me on Twitter find my little tidbits interesting. I am thankful that social media opened up myriad ways in which I can now express and communicate with people.

For those and many more reasons, I am thankful. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone!

What should your super power be?

Raul — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:04:34 +0000

I thought, seriously, that I would have Empathy as my super power. But apparently I’m pirokinetic

What superpower would you have? Your Result: Pyrokinesis This is the power to control and ignite fire. Many take this to be an evil power, but is intended only for people who start out good, but may later use their power to start wars, kill, or torture. This is a rare case though. People with this power are generally males who enjoy helping and saving power, and their power usually does not help them that much. They are usually very kind people, but the can burn a whole city down with in a matter of minutes.
Empathy
Shape-shift
Necromancy
Night Vision
What superpower would you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Happy birthday @johnbiehler!

Raul — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:07:36 +0000

photo credit: jenniferlstoddart

I first met John Biehler in January of 2008. However, as you know, months in geek time are equivalent to years. I do feel as though I’ve been friends with John for years. He is a very talented photographer, a really solid Apple geek (I know, I’m still a PC-slave) and more than anything, a really good human being. Many a time (and this is an anecdote I tell everyone in the tech community) I have asked John for advice on how my blogging career should develop. From moving to a self-hosted install of WordPress, to issues of anonymity, to issues of ethics, I’ve always believed in John’s ability to provide me with a very smart, analytical viewpoint that would solidify my decisions in regards to the tech world. I still check back from time to time on a comment he posted on an entry of mine of early 2008 where he gave me lots of sage advice.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and look forward to hanging out with you (and Stacie) for many years to come! Enjoy your day, my friend!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Raul — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:56:05 +0000

I can’t believe that, seeing as I am interested in issues of early detection and treatment of cancer, and I’m friends with a breast-cancer survivor, Christine (@musecrossing on Twitter) I have neglected to write about the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’ve lost two of my Aunties to cancer (neither to breast cancer, though).

photo credit: KaiChanVong

I have been overprotective with my Mom (whose two sisters have passed away of various forms of cancer) and I have always encouraged her to check herself for any kind of abnormal growth. When I was doing my MBA coursework I worked for a biotechnology company here in Vancouver that specialized in cancer-attacking pharmaceuticals.

I have always had an interest or “stake” in all things cancer-related. I would like to encourage all my female readers and everyone who has a friend/mother/sister to take the Thingamaboob test.

I also read on Twitter some exciting news that today about some breakthrough research findings that BC scientists obtained. According to the BC Cancer Foundation site,

For the first time in history, BC Cancer Agency scientists in British Columbia, Canada have decoded all of the three billion letters in the DNA sequence of a metastatic lobular breast cancer tumour, a type of breast cancer which accounts for about 10 per cent of all breast cancers, and have found all of the mutations, or “spelling” mistakes that caused the cancer to spread.

The landmark study, which will be published October 8th as the cover story in the prestigious international science journal Nature, helps unlock the secrets of how cancer begins and spreads, thus pointing the way to the development of new breast cancer treatment targets and therapies.

You can check the announcement below (video courtesy of BC Cancer Foundation)

BC Cancer Agency Breast Cancer Announcement from BC Cancer Foundation on Vimeo.

Breakdown a project into smaller tasks [Productivity]

Raul — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:31:29 +0000

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Writing my first research book (on wastewater governance) was absolutely painful. I remember waking up in the middle of the night (as the book was supposed to be one of the research outputs of a grant-funded project) wondering “how the hell am I going to finish an entire book?” I then came across a research report that a good friend of mine had written and found a way out.

My friend is a scholar who studies urban water scarcity, and she had previously written at least 2 other books. When I read the last one, I realized that her book was composed of three individual chapters (almost like 3 individual research reports) bound by an introductory chapter and a conclusions chapter. This is now one of the most acclaimed models for PhD theses (the ‘manuscript’ model) where the thesis is composed of 3 peer-reviewed journal articles that are produced out of the research project.

Reading my friend’s project got me thinking of how I could make my book be created as 3 stand-alone chapters that would then be bound by an introduction and a conclusion. I figured out a way to break down my research project into three different pieces of research, and each one of these pieces, into more manageable tasks. I had no longer the pressure to write A FULL BOOK. All I had to do was complete the research for each one of the individual chapters and then write it up. This process allowed me to complete the book.

Throughout my life, I’ve read many books and articles on productivity, and at some point, I think I’ve just absorbed the notion that large projects have to be broken down into more manageable tasks otherwise it’s almost impossible to complete them. I now do this breakdown up to the daily task list. I break down what I have to accomplish in a month into weekly and daily task lists, which allows me to feel at the end of each day that I’ve been productive enough.

So I don’t make a huge list of the fact that I need to write 90 blog posts for this site. I just think about how 2-3 entries a day can keep my creative juices flowing, and I assign myself the task of writing these, along with my own freelance writing, client work, etc.

These daily task lists, however, must be prioritized. Otherwise, we all would do the same easy task all the time. So, tackle the most urgent tasks head on. You’ll be on your way to complete your project sooner than you think.

Where do you think the best? (quiz)

Raul — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:24:21 +0000

Um. I guess this means that it’s alright that I have a home office in my bedroom!

You Think Best in Your Bedroom

In order to be able to think, you need to feel like you have some privacy and space.
It’s likely that you spent a lot of time in your bedroom while you were growing up. It’s your sanctuary.

You need a high level in control in your life, especially when you have something important to do.
The best thing about your room is that it’s exactly the way you like it. Having things the way you want allows you to relax and think.

Where Do You Think Best?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

World’s Teachers Day 2009 (Oct 5th)

Raul — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:42:24 +0000

My parents (both of them) have been teachers (well, professors more like it) for longer than I’ve been on this planet. All my brothers and myself have taught. Two of my brothers, my Mom and I all have PhDs which means that we are qualified to teach at the university level. And my late Auntie L was an elementary school teacher. So I was delighted to hear from my friend Erica Hargreave (who is also a teacher) about World’s Teachers Day.

5 October is a day to celebrate teachers and the central role they play in guiding children, youths & adults through the life-long learning process. This year, World Teachers’ Day will focus on the role of teachers within the context of the global financial and economic crisis and the need to invest in teachers now as a means to secure post-crisis regeneration.

It is critical, during these difficult times, to seek mechanisms that protect the teaching profession. It is also crucial, despite the crisis, to ensure that investment in teachers is sufficient and proportionate to the demands made upon them. It is the teaching force with its knowledge, experience and foresight which can bring new insights to global solutions. Join us in celebrating this!

Teaching is not only in my genes, but it is in my blood, it is in my soul and it’s something I adore doing. I have taught at all levels (high school, undergraduate, Masters and PhD), I have taught in different languages (mostly Spanish and English) and I have taught in different countries. I have taught a broad variety of subjects: strategic management, microeconomics, environmental management, environmental policy, public policy, leather chemistry and even some social media stuff.

The most important thing is, I teach because I am passionate about it. I love shaping my students’ thinking processes. I love sharing what I have learned. I love helping people grow and learn. It pains me whenever a semester goes by and I don’t teach (something that luckily will be remedied starting this coming Saturday!) I am hoping that in January, I’ll be teaching at least one (if I’m lucky, three) courses at the university level.

To my Mom (who is still a professor at her university), my brothers (who are both assistant professors in US universities), to my former PhD supervisor and my instructors/professors/teachers, my friends who teach in each one of their respective countries, and everyone else who is a teacher in one way or another, my congratulations. We are all contributing in one way or another to the growth of our societies.

Happy World’s Teachers Day! You can follow WTD on Twitter.

A quick word of appreciation to the theatre community in Vancouver

Raul — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:45:31 +0000

This 2009, I’ve been very lucky in that many local companies, both very established and indie (Pacific Theatre, The Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, Fighting Chance Productions, Machine Fair, amongst many others) have invited me to attend their fantastic shows. Even better, they have been willing to sponsor tickets for my readers. I’ve been lucky to give away many pairs of tickets for my audience and that’s been really great because I love being able to provide value to my readers and to the artistic companies as well.

I am well aware of the recent budgetary cuts to the arts in British Columbia, and while I am not a person who usually engages in protests and movements (I study them, I don’t participate in them), I was more than happy to stand besides the people who protested at the Vancouver Art Gallery a few weeks back.

I’m a trained dancer, I’ve been a stage actor and thus I feel very much part of Vancouver’s artistic community. In particular, to my theatre friends, just a few words of gratitude – THANK YOU.

Create a new habit in 21 days through routines

Raul — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:50:04 +0000

I remember as a child having read an article about how“it takes 21 days to form a habit”. I think it might have been in “Reader’s Digest” (this magazine used to be extremely popular in Mexico, and particularly in my household). I have tested it before, with varying degrees of success (mostly, having succeeded, but sometimes not).

I always wanted to know if it rang true only because I was convincing myself that I already had a new habit or whether it worked and I was just verifying the existence of said habit. What did I do? I set out to prove this statement again, using myself as the lab rat.

You may remember that I used to be a night owl. I still think that, to some extent, I *am* a nocturne creature. However, because of the fact that in the past couple of months I have had many more client meetings to attend in the morning, I decided to start shifting my behavioral patterns and wake up early in the morning and work through the day.

I still put in 12-15 hours/day of work, and some nights I do some work late. But I still wake up early in the morning and follow the same routine. I’m working by (at the latest) 8:00am. And I have to say that all those entries I found on Google, and that magazine article I read when I was a child, do work. Today is the 21st day that I’ve been waking up early and starting work at the very latest by 8:00am regardless of how late I go to sleep, and I feel fantastic.

How is YOUR Monday morning looking?

Watermark (Kitsilano)

Raul — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:11:23 +0000

Credit: Roland Tanglao

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending one of the last performances of Bard on the Beach’s production of Shakespeare’s Othello with my good friend Erica Hargreave. After the performance was over, we decided to go for a walk and we stumbled upon Watermark (on Kitsilano Beach). I had been curious to try Watermark for a while so we settled in the upper lounge of Watermark for a drink.

Watermark recently announced a super deal with dinner for two, 3 courses meal, and a bottle of wine for $80 – that’s a complete steal! Erica ordered a rose wine that wasn’t all that great, but my two martinis were excellent. Not a bad price, around $ 8.50 (which is standard right now in almost all places in Vancouver). Overall, I had a great time. Haven’t tried the food yet but I’ll definitely consider coming back.

Baker’s Market (Vancouver)

Raul — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:52:23 +0000

I’m not much of a baker, but I’ll admit that I love it when my friends bake goodies for me. So I was thrilled when Connie Mar informed me about Baker’s Market. Since it’s Saturday, I’m going to be lazy and just post the link so that you can check the dates (goes through the month of October 2009).

You can also follow them on Twitter.

Embracing my duality

Raul — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:13:40 +0000

As I write this, I am sitting in my living room, surrounded by darkness and numerous candle lights. I have spent the better part of this Friday evening cleaning up my apartment, cooking dinner, making a few phone calls to close friends and my brother, reading blogs online, doing some writing and watching TV.

As I write this, I realize that I have a duality within me that I’ve tried to escape. I am the hummingbird, the fleeting little bird who flies from flower to flower, from event to event, whose attention span is limited to mere nanoseconds. Yet, spending an evening with myself and the couch, cleaning up my apartment floors, washing dishes and listening to sometimes unrecognizable voices on the TV screen, I realize that I like being a polar bear. I like my time alone.

As I write this, I cherish the connectedness of having a Twitter open, yet the isolation of being in a different location and space than my fellow Twitterers. And I enjoy the fact that I can establish a connection yet I can also isolate myself should I wish to do so.

How dual I am? Quite a lot, if you ask me. I’m an introverted extrovert. I love people yet I cherish my time with myself. I am loving and passionate yet analytical and cerebral. I’m two merged in one.

Making my apartment nicer, one step at a time

Raul — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:26:16 +0000

I have always recognized that my apartment is a tiny, tiny place. I have never had a problem with that. I think living modestly has absolutely no bearing on who I am. When I lived with my parents, I used to live in a huge house, with backyard and garage for three cars.

In Vancouver, living in a small place is the story of many single people. Heck, it’s the story of many married or attached people. The one thing that I have found as time goes by is that very few things make me happier than beautifying my apartment. Making it feel more like home. So my latest purchase was this 2 seater breakfast table with glass counter top.

My coffee table is also metallic and has a glass top. I may need to give my other dining table to either my good friend and neighbour DMcN or to a good home, but for now, I feel that I made the best decision in the past few weeks by acquiring (quite coincidentally) this dining set (I have read somewhere that these two-seaters are called dinettes).

And you have NO idea how much better I feel now. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better thing to do on a Friday night than clean my floors and rearrange my dining area. It won’t look exactly like the diagram I show above (which, by the way, was created in Visio) but the seating arrangement will be somewhat similar.

GMail is down… again! On the dependency on tech tools

Raul — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:31:10 +0000

I woke up this morning to find that GMail was down. First, let me clarify that I didn’t have any problems accessing my own email, but I couldn’t talk via Google Chat with any of my contacts. Then, I checked on Twitter and noticed that everyone, from Adam Ostrow (Mashable) to my friend Tris Hussey (M2O) was complaining about GMail and reminding themselves of alternative modes of backup.

I have several Hotmail accounts, a Yahoo and a UBC IMAP account that I have never connected to GMail. Why? Precisely because of this. The minute I become 100% dependent on GMail, the minute I won’t be able to do my work. Of course, I know that there are things that I have on my GMail that are client-associated, and that’s a bit scary. Yet, I feel completely confident that if I need to clarify anything, I can just simply send a tweet, or pick up the phone and call.

Sometimes, it helps NOT to be so tech-dependent.

Are you a natural flirt?

Raul — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:09:07 +0000

I am flirtatious by nature. I just needed this quiz to confirm it.

You Are a Natural Flirt

You are a true people person, and you find it easy to relate to others.
So when you’re into someone, you can’t help but broadcast it.

For you, complementing, smiling, and touching is second nature. You like making people feel good.
In fact, you may be accused of flirting when all you’re doing is being friendly. Sometimes you accidentally send out the wrong signals.

Are You a Natural Flirt?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

Rally to Protest Arts Funding Cuts in British Columbia (upcoming event)

Raul — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:25:23 +0000

I was raised in a family of artists, scientists, sportspeople and humanitarians. My parents insisted that our lives would NEVER be complete without artistry. We all learned to play piano, and I am a trained dancer and have been a stage actor as well. I’m a very strong supporter of local theatre troupes and frequently promote local shows (and very frequently, I am able to give away free tickets to my readers thanks to the generosity of the theatre companies).

Via my friend Monique Trottier, I found out today that there will be a rally to protest arts fundings cuts in British Columbia tomorrow (Wednesday September 9th, 2009). After some digging and searching I was able to find a Facebook event for the protest. I was able to retrieve some information from a recent interview of Spencer Herbert with The Georgia Straight discussing the provincial government’s cuts to arts groups’ funding, and hat tips to the Straight as it was through their website that I found the URL for the Facebook event.

WHAT: Silent protest against arts’ groups funding cuts
WHERE: The Vancouver Art Gallery
WHEN: 11:30am to 2:00pm (the actual grey circle happens from 12:00 to 12:30pm)
NOTES: People in support should wear grey (a colour to represent what life would be without arts).

If you are interested in showing your support for the cause, this seems like a worthy event.

What True Blood character are you? (quiz)

Raul — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:03:28 +0000

I’m not a True Blood fiend, but I do know a bit about the plot, and hey who isn’t interested in falling in love with a vampire these days? So, from the BlogThings archive, here is a quiz for your Tuesday morning… what character of True Blood are you? Apparently, I am Bill…

You Are Bill

You are a complex and often misunderstood person. You have a bit of a tortured soul.
You are extremely old fashioned, well-mannered, and polite. In many ways, you are a fish out of water.

You have many people in your life pulling you in different directions. You try to do the right thing, no matter what.
You’d like to live a simple, uncomplicated life with the person you love – but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

Who Are You on True Blood?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Manoo and Francois – A Day in December (music)

Raul — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:40:10 +0000

I am a lover of deep house music, and have been a fan of Manoo and Francois since I discovered “Chillout Sessions” (a series of deep house compilations). Songs like “A Day in December” by Manoo and Francois are the kind that I usually play when I need to write academic research (or simply when I want to relax after a really long day). I hope you like it as much as I do. I had blogged about this particular song before, but this is the ‘Original Mix’ version. I find the bookends (the beginning and ending of the song) a bit not-so-terribly-relaxing but the song itself is beautiful.

A momentous, last minute, impromptu wedding

Raul — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:24:57 +0000

photo credit: jennifer*clare

You know how in the movies, particularly the romantic ones, where all the friends rush to the side of the bride and groom, help in any way they can, and just simply ensure that they make it on time for the wedding?

Well, my good friend B.S. called me last night at around 8pm asking me casually “do you have anything to do tomorrow at 11am?”…

I responded “uh, well, a meeting that I can move around, so no worries – what’s up?” She continued “uh, well… I’m getting married at 11am at THIS location”. Of course, I jumped and shouted “CONGRATULATIONS!” Obviously, you can imagine that since she and her now husband (J.J.) are very close friends with other of my very closest friends, we all rushed to be at their side at that incredibly important moment in their life. When B.S. mentioned that she remembered the phrase I’ve always said “friends are the family you choose” I couldn’t stop and shed some tears.

It was funny how we all (HZ and CS, JH, Ml and myself) all called each other to ensure we’d be there. At exactly 11am, we were all walking in and we could just see how BS and JJ were glowing. We were delighted to bask in their happiness and to be able to share in this amazing day. Honestly, I can’t imagine any better start to the month. Great projects coming up with awesome clients, wonderful friends that I get to see again often, and two weddings of four great friends of mine. Can you ask for more? I don’t think so.

Witnessing my friends’ weddings I have come to realize that no matter how much money is valued in this society, love is really what makes the world turn.

Hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend. Mine has gotten off already to a fantastic start.

Where is the diversity in social media conferences?

Raul — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:02:11 +0000

photo credit: daveynin

I seem to be on a roll in my pot-stirring ways. Not only have I wagged my finger at Alex Samuel for meta-hand-wagging the hand-waggers, but I also asked the question about diversity in social media conferences over at One Degree. Alexa Clark asks why aren’t there more women in conference rosters (I’m going to assume, given that it’s published on One Degree, that we are going to narrow the scope to tech/social media/public relations – we could talk about science and technology too, or medical or environment, but I’ll just make that bold assumption).

I threw in two comments that, more or less, imply that if we were to look for diversity, we need to broaden the conversation beyond gender and include race and sexual orientation, as well as ask why are we inviting the same women to speak all the time. Surely, there is a gender imbalance in many professions and I wouldn’t be surprised that this is the case in the speaking circuit. In my comment, I did note, however, that all the potential speakers I recommended for TEDxVancouver were women, and that the person who has influenced me the most in how good a speaker I want to become is Glenda Watson-Hyatt, a Vancouver-based blogger and consultant on accessibility who has cerebral palsy. My mother has been one of the most influential people in my life and many of my best friends (and most articulate speakers) are women.

But, as very aptly said by Tamera Kremer (and I’m not saying this because she said “this is why I love you, Raul“) –

Diversity actually means diverse voices too. And I also would throw in that while lack of women’s voices is a HUGE issue, we should also be talking about opening the field beyond white/ straight/ physically capable. Let’s define what being truly diverse really means.

Tamera is absolutely right. Why isn’t there a conversation around diversity and what it means both in general for the speakers circuit and for the social media world overall? As usual, have at it on the comments section.

On hand-wagging, scolding and other social media musings

Raul — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:39:56 +0000

Credit: t-dot-s-dot0

The more I get to know Alexandra Samuel and Rob Cottingham, the more in awe I am. It may just be that they’ve been tweeting/blogging/speaking on the topics that interest me (the ethics of blogging/tweeting, best practices in social media, and scolding on Twitter).

Maybe it’s the fact that Alex has a PhD from Harvard in Political Science and has studied activism and public participation (so have I) and the fact that Rob is the smartest/funniest man on the planet (I can’t say that I’m funny at all). Maybe it’s the fact that our personalities mesh so well. I don’t know. But I love Rob and Alex and more than anything, I love their brains.

In recent weeks (and maybe months), I would say that much of my own self-reflection has been triggered by Alex and Rob. There are many other people who influence my thinking as well, but this post is a response to one Alex wrote so it’s only fitting that I speak to what she and Rob have written.

Alex recently published a blog post urging her readers to stop the hand-wagging and encouraging them to think twice before scolding someone publicly on Twitter. I devoured it with delight and snickered as I read her latest sentence: “”For here I am, doing the hand-waggiest thing of all: a meta hand-wag at all the hand-waggers.” I wish Alex could have heard me laughing out loud, as I sit here writing at my tiny home office. I (Raul) am a natural-born scolder. I think I was born to scold people. My readers may react with shock and horror “OMG… and here I thought Raul was the sweetest, nicest, most adorable being ever”, let me clarify what I mean by being a natural-born scolder.

I believe that our world is shaped by two sets of rules: formal and informal. Formal rules are explicitly scribed in codes, regulations, laws and written policies. Informal rules are customs that become rules as society formalizes them through repeated usage. My research on water governance has been very strongly influenced by neo-institutional theory, a branch of the social science thinking that focuses on institutions, defined as the rules that govern actor’s behavior (if you want to learn more, you should read Elinor Ostrom’s work on ‘governing the commons’ – great read for anyone interested in formal and informal rules).

In my research, I became fascinated by the informal rules of water governance that evolved from water users left free of reigns to consume as much water as they possibly could. The problem with allowing people to access and consume water without any sort of formalized rule may lead to scarcity. That’s one of the main problems with water being a common-pool resource (CPR). Unless we create specific rules to govern water, it will be an exhaustible resource.

Credit: CharmingMan

“Wait, Raul… you lost me here. What does water governance have to do with hand-wagging, and with you being a natural-born scolder“. Um, quite a lot if you let me link my thoughts back to what Alex wrote. You’ll see, the way I see it, somebody needs to do some of the finger-wagging. I have no problem being that person. I was raised with a high code of ethics and a strong sense of justice. But the thing is, in social media, all the hand-wagging (therefore, all the informal rule-setting and behavior control) is crowd-sourced. I scold, you scold, we all scold. I scold people who send me a direct message when the conversation can be fully public.

I wag my finger at people who promote themselves endlessly (and yes, sometimes I scold myself for just having published “OMG someone is interested in publishing my PhD thesis in book form! OMG OMG OMG” And I am scolded as well when I see a passive-aggressive tweet saying “enough with all the self-promoting tweets”. And you know what? THAT’S FINE! It’s fine because social media is an experiment in crowdsourcing informal rules. Through time, those rules become formalized and lead to things like corporate social media guidelines, blogging codes of ethics and the like. THAT is the reason we need to continue doing the hand-wagging.

That’s also what I found so refreshing about Alex’s post. She scolds herself for scolding people who scold people. And in doing so, Alex is reshaping the rules of the game. From a reader’s perspective (and from an analytical perspective), Alex is encouraging people to reflect on whether hand-wagging is the right thing to do, and in admitting that she herself has scolded people, she opens the floor to creating a conversation around a really important topic – WHO THE HELL CREATES THE RULES OF THE GAME IN SOCIAL MEDIA?

Credit: Rob Cottingham

THAT, my dearest readers, is the reason why I am loving the mental stimulation that Alex and Rob have been creating lately (as have other folks, but this post is a response to Alex’s). Despite the fact that we are in 2009, and we gloat about having mastered the rules of social media and we have a gazillion self-appointed, self-promoting social media consultants, the rules (both the formal and informal) of social media are still being shaped.

It’s 2009 and we still don’t have social media etiquette guidelines.
It’s almost 2010 and we are still reflecting on what the ethical boundaries are for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
We are nearing the end of 2009 and we are still scolding people for not using the tools “the right way”. Yet we don’t seem to be doing any better ourselves.

I am first and foremost an analyst. I’m an academic. Before I blogged, I was an academic. And after my short-lived fame as Hummingbird604 wanes, I will still be an academic (with a PhD, for what it’s worth). I live to analyze trends, study phenomena, research and disseminate what I have found. And I LOVE having high-level, meta-theoretical conversations on every topic. It just so happens that I’m so immersed in social media that I am pushing to have it analyzed.

One last thought. I don’t scold because of some sort of self-important, self-aggrandizing interest. I do it (in usually a very gentle way) because I care. If I didn’t care for you, I wouldn’t scold you. And I welcome scolding too. Those of you who know me well know that I’m always open to criticism. Even if you’re going to criticize me for writing such a long post in response to a post on scolding. So yeah, I’m going to scold myself for that too.

What flavor martini are you?

Raul — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:56:22 +0000

You Are A Margarita Martini

You are a full on party animal, with a good deal of sass and spunk.
You’re always friendly and welcoming – and very tolerant of obnoxious drunks.

You should never: Drink and dance. The pictures will be everywhere the next morning!

Your ideal party: Is loud, with good music and fun drinking games.

Your drinking soulmates: Those with a Dirty Martini personality

Your drinking rivals: Those with a Classic Martini personality

What Flavor Martini Are You?

My little girl is off to college!

Raul — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:00:26 +0000

photo credit: Doug Kasischke

18 years ago, I held in my arms the first-born of my eldest brother and my sister-in-law. That day, I remember clearly, I really felt an urge to come back to where our family lived as I had a hunch my niece was on her way. My eldest niece, naturally, has a special place in my heart (all my nieces and nephews do, but each one of them is different). Naturally, I am an over-protective uncle, you can tell.

There’s also the fact that my nieces and I communicate with each other on Facebook. I would like to believe I’m an accessible uncle and the one every one of my nieces and nephews can come to talk if they need advice.

Thus, on your first day of college, sweetheart, my advice is threefold: (1) study hard (2) make lots of friends (3) enjoy! I don’t think I need to tell you “not to get into trouble” because that’s not something that worries me. You make me proud every day.

Make us all proud and become one hell of an architect! Much love to you from Uncle Rolex.

Donating my books to non-profit reading rooms/libraries in need

Raul — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:00:34 +0000

photo credit: robbophotos

Like any good academic geek, I have a gazillion plus more books in my personal library (at home). I have read all of them and I think it’s important for me to give back to the community as well. I bought pretty much all these books with my own cash, so I feel perfectly comfortable giving them away (i.e. I’m not re-gifting books that have been gifts to me). Others may have come to me for book reviews for journals or as sample books for review for my undergraduate courses. I do feel that it’s ok for me to give those away as well for libraries (grossly underfunded).

Laura recommended looking at non-profits and it occurred to me that perhaps I should distribute my book donations as well to charitable organizations. I am a firm believer in reading rooms. Even if the non-profit can’t afford a huge amount of money for reading materials, I am pretty sure many of them have a dedicated area (however small) for books/magazines/etc.

I ask Vancouver/Lower Mainland readers of my blog – do you know of any local non-profits that have reading rooms/libraries that could benefit from my books donations? If so, please drop a comment on this post. Thanks! (PS – hat tips to Patricia and Laura who recommended VPL and the non-profits).

On the need for higher-level, philosophical, theoretical social media discussions

Raul — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:32:32 +0000

I had a chance to meet this week with Gus Fosarolli, Nadia Nascimento and Shane Gibson. We had a couple of drinks at The Keg in Yaletown and, amongst other topics, we mentioned the need for higher-level, more philosophical/ethical/larger scale discussions in the social media world, and about topics on internet and society. I caught a Twitter conversation amongst Chris Mathieson, Tris Hussey, Cathy Browne and Steff Cameron along the same vein.

I’ve been invited to each and every one of the Gastown Dialogues on the Future of the Web (an event that Evan Leeson and Kevin Grandia have been organizing every few months), and I’m delighted to have been a participant, because at those events, we’ve had exactly those types of discussions – the large-scale, broad, questions. What are the ethics behind social media? Where are the ethical boundaries drawn? What type of best practices are taking place and how can we avoid faux pas? There are, I’m sure lots of other questions that can be thought of (the impact of Twitter on society, who will benefit from early adoption, the role of social networks in society).

Only caveat – I am NOT doing it on a Sunday. Nor a Saturday for that matter. For someone like me who is immersed in the social media space pretty much every day, at least one day should be dedicated to other things. In all seriousness these discussions should probably be hosted by local events (of the Meetup.com type, perhaps). And clearly, you all can go ahead and have these discussions over Sunday brunch. Give me a call when you take over the world

On good friends’ weddings

Raul — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:53:25 +0000

One of my closest friends got married yesterday, in what I’d say was one of the happiest days of my own life too. She and I have been very good friends for over 12 years (man, does time ever go fast) and I wanted to attend her . I took my friend AF along as my date, and I don’t think I could have made a better choice for a date for this evening. As my good friend KG mentioned, AF and I have a fantastic personal chemistry (no wonder why we are such good friends), in particular when we dance. We’ve been dance partners before and gave several exhibitions where we’ve showcased our salsa chops.

My good friend who got married looked absolutely beautiful, the wedding was perfect, and I had an absolute blast. I was telling her that it was interesting how my life is intertwined not only with that of hers but also her family and closest friends. Her two best female friends and I had a chat about the fact that I knew about them (and I knew one of them as we had chances to hang out) because we were part of our friend’s storyline. Same with her brother (whom I hadn’t met in person, but it was like we’d been good friends from day one).

It was such a nice wedding, I danced for 6 hours straight and in general we were so happy for her, for the groom and in general, because we are part of each other’s stories. That’s something I realized lately. I like being part of every single one of my friends’ story, and I love the fact that their stories are also interwoven with mine.

The Wine Room (Joeys Bentall Centre)

Raul — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:00:10 +0000

I was invited by my friend Michael-James Pennie to The Wine Room for the fundraiser he organized, Tweet To Remember (I wrote a preview of the event on this post). Included in the price ticket participants had a chance to taste a flight (3 samples) of white wine, and I spent a lovely evening chatting with my friend Lorraine and enjoying these wine samplers.

I wrote notes about the three wines which I share with you. Note – I am not a wine connoisseur so I am just sharing my notes as I tasted them. I liked The Wine Room, although the service could always use some improvement (Erin was there and she really took care of us, but the other waitresses were a bit lacking). All my wines were white

- See Ya Later Gewuztraminer – I found this wine light, slightly sour but with sweet smell. I think it could be used as wine for a chicken-based dish (for dinner)

- Blasted Church Pinot Gris – I thought that this wine was more full-bodied and that it could be independently drunk. It has no fruit taste. It seemed to me (and I think Lorraine agreed) boring, but safe (middle of the road).

- Monster Rose - I lied, not every single one was a white wine. I tasted a Rose. I found this one to be the most flavorful, a bit of floral aroma, can be drunk on its own, although I would probably love to use it to accompany a jambalaya.

Overall, I liked The Wine Room and I would probably come back. I saw some of the delights they had for dinner and for appetizers and I would definitely want to sample them another night. The event itself was a resounding success for Michael, and I was happy to see him and Erin.

Love On Your Side (Thompson Twins)

Raul — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:01:44 +0000

I was working at Waves the other night along with my friend Minna and we were listening to music from the 80s era. I recognized this song but I didn’t remember who sang it. Thompson Twins (the creators of the always lovely song ‘Hold Me Now’, one of the most romantic songs I’ve heard) also sing “Love On Your Side” (which was one of the songs in their Best of Thompson Twins compilation, titled Love On Your Side too). If you know my musical tastes, you can understand why I love it so much. It’s dance-able, it’s fun, and makes you want to work (which is the reason why I blogged about it, so that I could put it on repeat and listen while I worked)

What is your favorite 80′s song? Have you listened to Thompson Twins? I just realized that I also love the song “Lies”!

A quick trip on the recently opened Canada Line

Raul — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:05:56 +0000

I will admit that I was one of the thousands of Vancouverites who took the Canada Line on the first day it operated (August 17th, 2009). Since it opened, I have had a chance to take a few quick trips back and forth, mostly from downtown (Waterfront to Broadway/City Hall Station). Within 45 minutes, I had gone from my office downtown to Sushi Boy on Broadway and Cambie for lunch and back. This includes wait time at the Japanese restaurant.

I took some video with my Flip camera of the trip on the way there.

Waterfront to Vancouver City Centre

Vancouver City Centre to Yaletown/Roundhouse

Yaletown/Roundhouse to Olympic Village

Olympic Village to Broadway/City Hall

Bowfest 2009 coming up this Saturday Aug 29th

Raul — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:43:57 +0000

Via Robert Ballantyne (a good friend of mine and local resident of Bowen Island) I found out about Bowfest 2009, a day-long celebration and community fair that takes place on this beautiful area (one that I still haven’t explored, despite my interest in organizing a Geek Road Trip to Bowen).

It looks like I could have organized the road trip for this coming Saturday, but my very best friend from the MBA program is getting married this coming Saturday and I have no intention whatsoever of missing her wedding, so I am going to ask my readers to go and visit Bowen Island this coming Saturday (August 29th). The Bowfest parade starts at 10:30am. Check the event’s website for more information.

On working from home and multi-tasking

Raul — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:22:34 +0000

I know it’s grey out there, but just wanted to remind you of how pretty our city is when it’s sunny

I just came home after a great business meeting. Normally, I would go back to my office at The Network Hub. However, I realized that since I’ve been putting in really long hours and been at the office most of the time, I hadn’t even done laundry. I hadn’t washed a lot of dishes. Seriously, I already have a list of all the groceries I need to buy because I’ve been so focused on work, work, work.

I know it sounds crazy, but working from home actually is working for me. My apartment was messy, needed to do laundry and dishes. Obviously, messy for me is different to messy for others. I’m a Virgo, so I’m obsessively cleaning and I like my apartment, however small it is, to be comfortable and nice. Thus, I decided to throw laundry and work from home for a few hours.

I have to go and visit friends this afternoon and evening so I decided to do all the work I could from home, then head for these visits and do a night-cap at the office. The great thing about working from home is that (a) I can do some multi-tasking like writing/analyzing data while my laundry is washing and/or drying and (b) I have a desktop computer and a mini-home office set up here. Finally, there is nobody around so I’ve got some jazz music playing and comfortably working.

I’ll go back to the office after dinner, most likely. Now, how is YOUR Friday going?

Roxette’s comeback in the fall of 2009

Raul — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:08:12 +0000

I listened to Roxette’s songs in my early years and I have loved each and every single one of them. Swedish duo Marie Frederiksson and Per Gelle made history in the late 80s and early 90s with songs like “Dressed for Success”, “It Must Have Been Love” and “Spending My Time”. Of course, I had my favorites (like Paint – the early version, not the one that they tended to sing closer to 1991) but, overall, it was absolutely delightful for me to listen to their music.

I learned through their Wikipedia entry that apparently they’re getting back together as a duo and will have a full-fledged tour in the fall of 2009. Marie suffered a brain tumor and thus it’s amazing that she is back singing. Below is the May 2009 rendition of “The Look”. Roxette rules!

WorkSpace closing its doors – how can we show our appreciation?

Raul — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:09:15 +0000

I just received via Twitter some very disappointing and saddening news. I would say that the history of the Vancouver tech community has been intimately tied to WorkSpace (21 Water Street, 400 Suite, Gastown). I am honoured and proud that WorkSpace sponsored the space for Mental Health Camp.

As part of Vancouver’s social media/tech community I always felt the support of WorkSpace. I have not talked to Dane or anybody from WorkSpace so I have no clue as to the reason behind its closure. All I do know is that I, personally, would like to show my appreciation for the many times I was able to feel at home at WorkSpace.

My most recent event, Blogathon was superbly organized by Rebecca and hosted by WorkSpace. WorkSpace’s last hosted event will be LikeMind Vancouver (as per Travis) but I’m wondering if we could help celebrate the awesome folks of WorkSpace in the form of a tweetup, maybe bring some food/drinks.

They (Dane and Co.) don’t know that I am thinking of this, so don’t think of my idea as something official, but I just wanted to throw it out there. I really would like to show my own appreciation. Having been a guest of WorkSpace many a time, I really owe them a lot (particularly for hosting Mental Health Camp and helping us along).

To the kind folks of WorkSpace – you rock, and you’ve rocked really hard. Thank you sincerely.

What’s your favorite Indian food place in Vancouver?

Raul — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:40:14 +0000

I’ve had Indian food (South Indian and North Indian too) almost everywhere in this city, and I would venture that we almost have as many Indian food restaurants as we have sushi joints. When I lived in Manchester, it was the only kind I could really enjoy (frankly, I’ve never been a fish and chips guy and I was a graduate student at the time so I was under a much tighter budget than I’d like to).

So, my question to you this time is (like I did with sushi places a few posts ago)… where do you get your dose of Indian food? Bonus points for being sustainable. Even more bonus points if it’s inexpensive

Shutting down the 98 B-Line is a mistake

Raul — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:00:17 +0000

I was reading The Buzzer today and I read that once the Canada Line starts in operation (August 17th, 2009) the service that the 98 B-Line (Richmond Centre-Waterfront Station) was going to be discontinued. I shouted on Twitter that I thought this was not a good idea. Some tweeps responded to me that there would be duplication of services and that it didn’t make sense to keep them both.

Um. That’s not true, on several accounts.

First – the Canada Line runs on Cambie. The 98 B-Line runs on Granville. The last time I checked the distance amongst both major north-south corridor it was a substantial 12 blocks. Frankly, if I worked on Granville Street and I wanted to get somewhere, I wouldn’t take the Canada Line and then switch. It’s not a short walk, I can tell you (I’ve walked it many a time).

Second – what happens if for some reason the Canada Line is disrupted substantially? Yeah, you can say “oh well, we have the 15 Cambie”. Whose frequency, by the way, is going to be substantially reduced.

My take on this is that the assumption is – everyone who takes the 98 B-Line works at the Airport so since we have the Canada Line we can remove the 98 B-Line. What about the people who LIVE and WORK around the Granville corridor? It just blows my mind that such a great route will be removed.

So, as I usually do – have at it – discuss on my blog.

Win a copy of Blog Blazers

Raul — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:07:18 +0000

I’ve been known to read the odd book about blogging, and I’ve read this one and I’d like to pass it along (I hate having books that stay on my shelves and don’t get read – so I prefer to recycle them). I figured the best way was to share it was to give it away to one lucky reader. Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets by Stephane Grenier is a good summary of interviews with a number of top bloggers (primarily US-based, but useful advice nonetheless). I will draw randomly from the entries (comments on this site) tomorrow at the same time as I draw the tickets to Rent.