I remember that when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a doctor (MD). I am a doctor now, but not of the type that heals people. However, I did read a lot of medical literature, particularly abnormal growth (e.g. tumors/cancer). I first knew of the devastating effects of cancer when my grandmother became ill with pancreatic cancer. My grandma took every single treatment available to her (chemotherapy, radiation, surgery). She passed away in 1997, and according to my Dad’s family, her agony was tremendously long. At the time, I was in Canada and therefore I was really not informed.
The second time I was faced with the effects of cancer touched me MUCH closer to home. I remember the afternoon when I graduated from my Masters’ degree, my aunt and Mom came to Vancouver and my auntie kept coughing. My Mom told my Aunt that they would go to the doctor as soon as they came back to Mexico and that she should be taking care of herself. That was in November. My auntie passed away in February of the following year. It was lung cancer, and it took her away from us really quickly. To this day, I haven’t recovered from losing the person that I saw like my second mother.
The third time I was confronted with cancer (not myself, but a member of my family) occurred just last year. My auntie (the only surviving sister of my Mom) suffered a really devastating case of colorectal cancer. She did survive for 2 years. You may recall that around this time last year, I had to flow to Mexico as my auntie had passed away and I had to go to the funeral and stay a few weeks to comfort my Mom.
One of my very good friends from the blogging community is currently battling cancer and I am happy to report that his tumors have stopped growing, which is really good news. I had the pleasure of seeing him today during Blogathon and it really cheered me up to see him doing well.
Cancer has been my enemy and the enemy of my loved ones for a long time, and one of these days, we are going to win. I look forward to that day.
This is Entry # 47 of 49
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I recall a conversation with a few friends of mine (a fairly recent one, as a matter of fact) where my friends were telling me pretty much everything I had already thought about. I knew the problem that I needed to tackle, I knew how to tackle it, and I knew what outcome I could expect. And when my friends started doing the whole drill “what you need to do, Raul is…”, that’s when I understood completely what JT felt when I gave him completely unsolicited advice. I don’t need to be told what to do. I sometimes just need to be listened to.
I think that for many people, it’s hard to understand that sometimes all we need is to tell our stories. I am particularly drawn to this approach. I am an analytical person. I did a PhD for a reason. I have the training, the innate skills, the experience analyzing phenomena. I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do or how to do it, when I am faced with a problem. Sometimes, all I need is to tell my story. And the person with whom I am interacting can choose to present a story of hope or a story of despair.
For example, this month has been extremely challenging in the financial front because of the need for project development and the sheer volume of project proposals I’ve submitted and need to continue to submit. Under conditions of an economic downturn, nobody can afford to rest in his/her laurels. However, when bouncing ideas with some of my friends, I’ve basically told what’s going on in my life and in return I’ve received this depiction of a story that would terrify anyone.
It’s not the first time I’ve faced challenges in my life. But I choose to tell a story of hope.
This is Entry # 46 of 49
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Why is it that people place so much emphasis on the follow and unfollow? The only time I really pay some attention (and I react rather harshly, I have to say) is when I am following someone who doesn’t follow me back. If he/she dares to send me a DM (obviously leading to me not being able to reply privately) then I immediately unfollow. You want to know why? Because I never do that to anyone who follow me.
Credit: Intersection Consulting
If I had the mental capacity to follow everyone back, I would. But I can’t. I follow 600 people as it stands. But I have reached my point of saturation. It’s particularly important when there are people that I really haven’t engaged with. Not because I don’t want to, but because our interests may be diverging.
I just hope people understand what not being able to reciprocate every follow does NOT mean they’re not worth it. Nothing further from the truth. Even worse? Some people actually are being unfollowed by Twitter (so, it’s not MY fault, it’s Twitter’s!).
How do you feel about unfriending or being unfriended or unfollowed?
This is Entry # 45 of 49
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I have raved about my Mom many times, and I would love to write her a really nice long post but my brain is fried. So here’s what I wrote about Mom last year (for Mother’s Day)
There are a gazillion reasons why I feel fortunate to have Mom in my life, but these are just a few reasons why I admire her so much. I’m hoping my brothers will translate these thought for her as I don’t think I could read them out loud in Spanish without shedding tears.
I’m grateful to my Mom because
– She taught me the value of hard work and has always been a role model for me. My Mom has been, at the same time, mother, wife, professional, sister, daughter and she has been outstanding in each and every one of these roles. She has always worked extremely hard (and she still does, as she is a university professor).
– She taught me that no matter how difficult the current situation may seem, there’s always a way out and that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.
– She has supported me emotionally and financially in each one of my endeavours. Never in my life has my Mom said “no, you can’t do that because we don’t have the money” or “no, you shouldn’t do that“.
– She always given me the opportunity to make my own choices. My Mom has never forced me to do (or avoid doing) anything just because she thought I was about to make a mistake (or that I should embark in any particular adventure).
– She gave me the best gift any parent could give – lots and lots of love. She instilled in me self-confidence, self-awareness and the moral duty to be a good person in this world. I am who I am in many ways because of my Mom. And I am so much like her.
For everything you have done for me, Mom – thank you and happy birthday!
This is Entry # 44 of 49
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Canadian environmental policy seems to be stuck in the topic of climate change since 2006, at least. Why do I say that? Well, because back when I first started teaching Environmental Policy and Politics here in Canada, that seemed to be the big topic of the moment. Canada and the US have taken diverging policy pathways. While up until 2008 when President Obama was elected, the US was considered to be a laggard in regards to climate policy, lately Canada has been perceived as the one behind.
Yet, to be quite honest, I don’t see climate change as the biggest environmental problem. Water, for me, is one if not the most important environmental issues.
Water has been on my main research agenda for the past 6 years, and I foresee that it will remain there. The thing that water resources offer is a very broad array of research questions. Water quality, the right to water, water poverty, water footprint. All these issues are very relevant and remain interesting research puzzles. I have started to get my feet wet in regards to climate policy (particularly adaptation) but it’s a topic that I haven’t mastered yet. Ask me in a year!
This is Entry # 43 of 49
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It’s funny how I am linked to all my friends in various ways, not the least of them the fact that we are all passionate about stuff that is relevant to us. You may have read that some of my guest posters are also passionate about connecting and building networks. I am passionate about building bridges.
I told some of my friends that I am a “Connector”. I am someone who links one person to another, ALL the time. My life has been filled with these instances. I am the one who finds everyone a boyfriend or a girlfriend (except my networking powers don’t seem to work for myself!)
This is not a ‘monetizable’ skill nor do I care to make money out of it. Being able to connect the people around me in meaningful ways has brought me plenty of good karma and brownie points.
This is Entry # 42 of 49
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I think it’s reasonable to say that by the time we’ve hit the 2:00am (PST) mark, our brains are pretty delirious. I am, however, a creature of the night, and not surprising to many of my friends and followers, a very resilient creature. Against all odds, I have beaten some pretty grim odds, particularly at birth.
You all may not know this, but I was a breech baby and I had the umbilical cord tied around my neck. It was an incredibly rough labour for my mother. The signs of exploded blood vessels in my Mom’s eyes have not disappeared ever since. I have photographs from my mom’s beautiful eyes before she gave birth to me and after, and you can tell the difference. Mom had an extremely difficult delivery but with the help of forceps, a really experienced gyneco-obstetrician and The Powers That Be, I was born on an early morning of September, the 19th.
I have lived a wonderful life, by any measure. Not an easy one, but wonderful nonetheless. I have experienced an amazing number of challenges but I’ve survived them all including heartbreak. Almost six years ago, I met someone with whom I thought I would be spending the rest of my life. At a really critical juncture in my life I found out that the love of my life was no more and that I had been cheated on.
I remember calling my Mom and, without even saying a word, breaking down and sobbing incontrollably for 45 minutes over the phone. Mom knew exactly what had happened and did her very best to help me get back on my feet (as did my brothers and my Dad). I may have not had an easy life but what that demonstrated to me (and what I’ve known all my life) is that I have been incredibly, amazingly and overwhelmingly loved.
I know it is hard for people to deal with me sometimes. And while it’s easy to fall “in like with me”, it’s really hard to fall in love with me. I am intense. I am demanding. I set high standards for myself and for the people that I care for. I give it my all in every single situation. I love to the fullest, but that also means that I demand to be loved to the same extent.
Time has shown me time and again that not everybody thinks the way I do and nobody feels the same way I do. But you know what? I don’t care. I don’t know how to live otherwise. If I lived my life differently, i.e. if I was able to live a ‘level’ life where I wouldn’t have extreme highs and lows, I probably would be in another position. But I don’t really want to be at any other point in my life.
I love to be loved, and I love loving. And I do both equally passionately. And this blog that you read, the blog that has been popularized and grown in readership, is still the blog of the same Raul who started it in April of 2006. I’m still that guy. My passion is to love my neighbour just as much as I love myself (which, admittedly, is quite a lot).
I hope you enjoy reading this blog, because this is the canvas of my life.
This is Entry # 41 of 49
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Blogathon: A day that confirms the fact that two-leggers are far below the feline on the evolutionary ladder and really not all that bright.For some reason, these two-leggers spend an entire sunny summer Saturday blogging. One new post every half hour.
‘My two-legger often makes me meow in aspiration, but at least she was not as silly as Raul to join a blogathon and spend a sunny writing a new post every half hour. There is hope for her yet. Now a sleepathon with a cat nap in a new sunny spot every half hour I can totally understand. Also totally get a birdathon, where every half hour we swat a new bird out of the air, especially the little ones that humm incessantly.’
Photo Caption: Enjoying myself today on a sleepathon, whilst the insane two-leggers run frazzled on their Blogathon
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This is Entry # 40 of 49
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Each Saturday, the Globe & Mail publishes Fraser Simpson’s Cryptic Crossword.
Fraser Simpson is or was a math teacher at the University of Toronto Schools, a private high school, the graduates of which must, by definition, have taken classes such as Latin and the Romance of Antiquity. UTS, as the school is known, has produced 20 Rhodes Scholars and two Nobel Prize winners.
It has also produced a fleet of cryptic crossword fans, or so it would seem to a blogger who befriended some former UTS students while attending McGill University at around the turn of the millenium.
On most Saturdays from 1997 to 2001, a cadre of Canada’s best young minds could be found plastered to a table at one of Montreal’s many well-loved breakfast spots–perhaps the frugally-priced Place Milton, or Leonard Cohen’s preferred establishment, Bagel Etc., known for its savory blintzes–wielding pens and scrutinizing a folded up quarter of the back page of the Globe’s Review section. This page was the then-home of Fraser Simpson’s Cryptic Crossword, and his erstwhile students, whether Simpson knew it or not, were locked in a weekly battle, intent on completing the squares and succeeding at the challenges Simpson continued to supply them, though his days as their teacher were long past.
What makes Simpson’s Cryptic Crossword so compelling is that each clue is perfect. Like a mathematical equation, every character has significance. There is no tolerance for superfluity or flab in Simpson’s clues. Each contains a riddle and a definition. (The latter is, ultimately, the word to be entered into the grid).
Because there are two ways to arrive at the solution, its accuracy has been tested. Thus, unlike a typical New York Times crossword, Simpson’s puzzle can be completed in pen.
Look again at the clue at the top of this entry. The solution is most certainly “idyl”. The definition is “pastoral poem,” and the riddle follows. It can be “found in tidy ledger.” Do you see it? The letters of the word “idyl” are disguised inside of other words. This is what we call a hidden clue.
To learn more about cryptic crosswords, read this read this. Here are some other clues for you to try:
Woman’s shoe moves water. (4)
Responsible creep ordered gear. (2,6)
More plentiful assortment of chocolates with lid removed. (6)
This is Entry # 39 of 49
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Figured by this point in the day all of the stoich folk blogging away for charity on this sunny Saturday could use a bit of sunshine. So although I too I’m slogging the day away working, I am doing so from sunny Steveston, which reminded me of the pics from last Saturday’s Steveston Tweetup.
Enjoy!
Loving life in a seaside village!
Boats at Scotch Pond
Seaside Beauties
The historic beauty of one of BC’s earliest industries.
Delicious eats.
Great Company!
All on the mighty Fraser!
This post was contributed by Erica Hargreave, one of my best friends and the creative force behind AHIMSA Media and AHIMSA Kids.
This is Entry # 38 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I know what it is to have had love, and lost it. I mean the kind of love we all seek, if we’re honest about it – the high romance that inspires poetry and films, the kind that leaves you wild and satisfied all at the same time.
It was the love of a good, intelligent and honest man who was everything I’d ever hoped for, and more. He read me poetry in latin, for heaven’s sake! (and if you don’t know what those Romans wrote, your loss) It was a love that entirely eclipsed my previous two decades of serial monogamy. There was no doubt in my mind, after being an atheist about these sorts of things, that he was The One. And for just over a year, he thought so too. And then he didn’t.
And so I learned the limits of passionate romance.
I know what it is to have poured every creative impulse, every Great, Big idea that came in the middle of the night, every bit of business acumen into growing my own business. It was (and who knows? may yet be) a good business, one that, I believe, would have contributed to the well-being of both people and planet. It was coaching people to manage their money wisely and thoughtfully (and god knows, our fault lines as a culture in this area may yet surface and take a good many of us down into a terrifying chasm) . And while there was every reason to believe it could and should become a phenomenal success story, after four years of my best, I hit my personal wall. I needed a break. While I still hold gentle hopes for it, my zeal is tempered with sober experience and prolonged fatigue.
And so I learned the limits of my entrepreneurial passion.
Now I find myself at mid-life having discovered something lovely. After the tears, the disappointments, the self-recriminations and frankly, confusion (my life has not played out as the story was supposed to go) I’ve discovered a passion deeper than I expected, and that’s a passion for the very fact of life itself. It’s difficult to articulate, but it’s something like this: the externals of my life don’t initially appear to be what I was passionate about. But here I AM. I AM. I still know how to love, and probably more widely and generously. I still experience the muse of creativity and have discovered a much deeper appreciation for the creativity of others. This passion for life itself moves me – almost embarrassingly at times. Tiny birds, their delicate little movements, bring tears to my eyes. So does watching Dene people drum dance – that deep heartbeat prayer. So does, as corny as it sounds, the Where The Hell is Matt video, two years later.
So for the second half of life, while I hope I do enjoy romance again at some point, and I do hope my latent business will yet fully come into its potential, my major passion is: to be as awake as possible to the glory of life itself. To ground myself not so much in the quality of my own life, as in the marvelousness of the interplay of carbon and oxygen and colours and genius, and of our own human capacity for good and evil. So along with the poet Robert Browning, I invite anyone to ““Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, ‘A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!’”
This is Entry # 36 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
Mega blogger, ultra-coder, super sweet Rebecca Bollwitt (yes, you can tell we are friends, can’t you?) is someone whom I have admired for a long while. Throughout the natural evolution of our friendship, I’ve written guest blog posts on Rebecca’s site, shared adventures such as the National Digital Media Day ’08, and have learned a heck of a lot about blogging and WordPress from her. Surprisingly, I had NEVER interviewed Rebecca on my site. I have interviewed music bands, researchers, etc. But I had *never* asked any questions to her to be published as an interview on my site. Since we are under a time crunch, I decided to make the interview VERY short and sweet. Here is a 90 second interview with Rebecca Bollwitt, our very own Miss604.
This is Entry # 35 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
It’s Blogathon time – here at Raul’s Hummingbird604 blog, you can read 48 different blog posts on a number of passions. Some of them will be Raul’s own, and some will be from guest bloggers. Will they all be different? I hope so… because I plan on spending some Blogathon time practicing one of my favourite passions: reading.
I’m writing this post from my parents’ home in Parksville. In the back yard, nestled among my mom’s perfect shrubbery, is a rather unusual garden ornament. It’s a young girl – well, given that she seems to have a version of dragonfly wings on her back, I guess she’s a young fairy girl. She’s lying down on her front, propped up on her elbows with her bare feet crossed at the ankles. She’s completely absorbed in the task of reading the book in her hands. My mom got this ornament because it reminds her of me.
I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read. Apparently, I taught myself to read around the age of four, and could read upside-down as well as right-side up (still can). My mom noticed this talent because I would sit across from her as she read the morning paper, and I would read the headlines out loud and ask her what they meant. Since then, the printed word has been a magnet for me.
It’s all too easy for me to get caught up by a good story – or even the potential of a good story – and let the time fly by. Too bad my tastes aren’t particularly discriminating. In fact, these days I’d rather have a few glitzy magazines on hand. A copy of OK, or Shape, or even Maclean’s is easier to put down than a “quality” novel, which means I can actually get something else done. I made the mistake of picking up a novel a couple of weeks ago, and annoyed my spouse by reading it everywhere, even at the race track, where I was supposed to be cheering on the cars like the rest of the crowd. He’s raised one incredulous eyebrow at me when I’ve indiscriminately gathered three or four free magazines at the grocery store, even when I’m only mildly interested in the content. Hey, it’s a free magazine! I’ll read it!
Reading can also take up a good chunk of my working day if I’m not careful, so it’s a good thing when I can turn my appetite for words into something that pays. I think that my style of concentrated intervals of reading Twitter streams helps satisfy my compulsion to read, and the information I’ve been pointed toward has made me a better social media consultant: I’ve read all the latest trends!
Every passion should find its purpose in serving others, though, and I’m learning to turn this compulsive passion for reading into a force for good. One of the ways I am doing this is by passing along my love of reading to my children. Unlike most boys of our era, they have a great love of reading, and will actually curl up with a book just for entertainment. Or they’ll sit still and listen while I read to them (note: they could read on their own, being 9, 12, and 14, but we like the time together sharing a story).
I hope to spread this passion farther, by supporting literacy causes such as the Victoria READ society. It’s a shame that in one of the most educated countries on earth, a full third of Canadian adults still do not have a functional level of literacy. The printed word is not their friend, even when it comes in the form of a Facebook invitation. I’d like to change that – the written word was created for connecting people and ideas, another great passion of mine.
So expect to see me with a magazine in my purse, a blog on my computer screen and a gleam in my eye. With my money and my time, I want to make the world a more literate place.
Catherine Novak writes at WordSpring, manages the social media strategy of Idea Zone and is a good friend who lives in Victoria and has a way with words that few people I know have.
This is Entry # 34 of 49
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We are blessed by the friends we have, and our friends from Mojave are here keeping us company and providing us with an amazing display of beautiful music, vocals and lyrics. I interviewed Mojave a few months ago (remember my 7 Questions with Mojave?) and I have kept in touch with them all the time. I love their music, I love their energy, I love the kind of environmentally-focused stuff they do. And boy, are they ever amazing!
Credit: Duane Storey
Mojave played Crow’s Funeral at my request and I am absolutely privileged. Thanks so much for joining us in our Blogathon 2009 adventure! Check their music on Blip.fm
This is Entry # 33 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
When my good friend who normally authors this blog asked me to write a post for his blogathon, my first question was, naturally, “what should I blog about?” After all, Raul and I share many common interests such as sustainability, but my own blog also covers other topics like Canadian politics and international conflict. And then there’s his chosen cause for this blogathon, raising funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. So many angles and agendas – what’s a blogger to do?
Most readers will probably be familiar with the broad outline of recent history in Afghanistan prior to the American-led invasion. Soon after consolidating their power throughout most of the country, the Taliban rule sent a nation already on the brink into the abyss. Health care was just one more area where this thuggish regime couldn’t possibly provide for its people. Indeed, women especially were deprived of health care, since they were only permitted to be examined in the presence of female doctors – and of course, since the Taliban forced all women to stop working, or even leave their house without the permission of a male relative, there were no female doctors.
Nearly a decade after the Taliban’s overthrow, and despite these thugs’ efforts to sabotage this fragile new democracy, the situation is improving in Afghanistan when it comes to health care. From USA Today:
Infant mortality has dropped 21%, while tuberculosis treatment has expanded from 15% to 97% of cases, according to the Johns Hopkins surveys and World Health Organization data
… In 2002, 9% of Afghans had access to basic health services, and now 85% do, Afghan Health Minister Sayed Fatimie said in an interview. “It is a tremendous achievement,” he said, “because the national health system of Afghanistan had collapsed.”
Canada has played a big role in helping keep Afghans healthy. We’ve helped in the development of clinics and provision of health care services, and are helping eradicate polio. We have much to be proud of.
But when it comes to cancer, the challenges are daunting. From this American Society of Clinical Oncology report entitled Epidemiology of cancer in Afghanistan:
The analysis was done by inviting existing patients in a cancer assistance camp organized in Kabul Afghanistan. There are no existing cancer registries or treatment facilities in the country. Patients travel to neighboring states for treatment.
How are these points all connected? Readers may recall the case of Namatulla Zaman. He was a six-year old Afghan boy who showed up at a Canadian military camp in 2006 with his grandfather, seeking urgent medical help. Namatulla was soon diagnosed with terminal cancer, with about one month left to live (Canada In Afghanistan).
A Canadian soldier contacted his church in Edmonton, which overnight raised $10,000. This was used for Namatulla’s medical care, living expenses, transport and finally, his funeral.
The youngster only lived one more month, but Canadian intervention was able to ensure that his final days were lived in relative comfort, free from the constant pain he’d experienced before coming to the camp.
In Canada and the wider Western world, we have access to health care resources, technology and support that people in other parts of the world can only dream of. I’d like to think that in future, more young people like Namatulla in Afghanistan will have treatment for their cancers or other health problems and have the chance to live full and healthy lives. This will require staying involved, providing security and assistance for a nation that needs our help.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
Despite the fact that I’ve been lucky in that I’ve enjoyed some of the best Mexican food in Vancouver (see for example my reviews of Don Guacamole, La Casita, Delicado’s, Salsa and Agave, to mention but a few, there is no doubt in my mind that the best Mexican food you can get is in Mexico. And hands down, the person who makes the best Mexican dishes worldwide (I don’t care what anybody else says) is my own mother.
Her “carne con chile y arroz’ (beef steak with chilli and rice) is the best in the world
She makes amazing menudo…
She makes the best breakfast (the most important meal of the day)…
I am SO hungry now. And I miss my Mom. I wish she could make me breakfast after Blogathon. Alas, she is in Los Angeles, where she will be celebrating her birthday (tomorrow). *sigh*
This is Entry # 31 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
That was the question Raul posed to start the ball rolling on this post, my contribution to the Blog-a-Thon. I have many: books, film, writing, music, but there’s something which has, over the last two years, seeped into my life like a rash that won’t go away which I’d like to take a moment to share with you.
You’ve probably heard the whispers; women in hushed tones discussing the latest image, news tidbit or video clip. I’m talking about “Twilight”. It’s a phenomenon that has entered pop culture at nearly every level. The big question everyone seems to be asking is why. Why has a mediocre series of books and equally mediocre film managed to cement itself so deeply into pop culture in such a short amount of time? Sadly, I don’t have all of the answers but between hundreds of weekly posts from various fansites, an inside out knowledge of the material and a weekly podcast dedicated to deciphering this very question, I have come to a conclusion: there is no single answer. That said, I have two theories:
Romance: who doesn’t love a good romance? And what could be better than an epically tragic, fatalistic one that ends with a happily ever after?
The characters: Stephenie Meyer may not be the best writer but she weaves a great yarn which features some wonderful characters. And then Catherine Hardwicke comes along and gives them physicality. I’m openly on Team Edward and I’ll admit it, it’s as much to do with the character as it is with the actor. I simply can’t turn away from the hair
There is more than just fun when it comes to “Twilight” as there are a few issues which may be cause for concern (the stalker-ish boyfriend, something else about teen pregnancy and, oh yes, the supposedly anti-feminist action of our heroine Bella, a girl who has become a sort of icon to millions of teen girls) but I don’t see these as problems. Instead, I’m thrilled that something which seems so innocent and purely entertaining has managed to escape into the real world, encouraging mothers and daughters to talk, to discuss important issues and to bond.
It’s a great feeling when something so apparently inconsequential has such a huge effect on so many individuals. I am quite happy to call myself a Twilighter.
Marina Antunes is not only a good friend of mine but also one of the forces behind Row Three, one of the best podcasts for movie reviews out there. She is also incredibly witty, funny and we both share a love for all things KR. She blogs on The Marina
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
Disclosure – This post has been sponsored by Andrea Coutu as part of my campaign to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. Blogathon is a charitable event and no monies ever come to my hands. The donation goes directly to the BC Cancer Foundation. Thank you to Andrea for her generous contribution to my Blogathon.
Credit: bPedro
If I had a dollar for every time I have been told that consulting is easy and two dollars for every time I have seen supposed-to-be “expert consultants” screw up entire projects, I would be retired and living in the Cayman Islands. Seriously. I have conducted research, teaching and consulting for the past 10 years in the fields of public policy, environmental policy, urban sustainability, transnational environmental movements and water governance. I have advised companies on environmental auditing, ISO 14001, cleaner production processes, etc.
Credit: Matthew Burpee
Yet, EVERY SINGLE TIME I find myself wanting to produce much better work, polish my abilities, and become a better consultant. I wondered for a long while whether I would be able to find someone who would coach me and guide me through the process of becoming a better consultant. Enter Andrea Coutu’s site, Consultant Journal. I learned about Andrea (and this may be a surprise to her) even before we followed each other on Twitter, because she used to drop comments on Darren Barefoot’s blog. I found it interesting how a consultant would teach others how to become better consultants (or how to launch their consultancy practice.
You’d think that Andrea would be worried to be put out of business, but when I asked Andrea how did she get into this business, she mentioned the following:
I originally started Consultant Journal because I was being asked to mentor so many new consultants through my marketing business (www.andreacoutu.com). I’d been working in careers and education consulting, in addition to marketing consulting, so Consultant Journal just sort of grew from there. I see it as changing the world, since running a business allows people to take power into their own hands and hopefully put their own values front and centre. I know you see your business in a similar light.
For me, as a consultant who is always looking for ways to improve his services and product delivery, I definitely see the potential and how powerful it is to have someone like Andrea work with you (as a coach) and how her site could be used by consultants (or consultants-to-be) who want to build a successful practice. Take, for example, her most recent post on how to set consulting fees. This is probably one of the most thorny issues I have faced, but I am delighted to read Andrea’s advice. I’m really glad that Andrea started Consultant Journal!
If you would like me to write a blog post about your company or a topic of your choice and pledge to the charitable cause I am supporting, please get in touch with me via my contact form. Sponsorships range from $ 50 to $ 200.
This is Entry # 29 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I have stolen the title of this post from Colette. I think it embodies a fair quantity of my own passions, which I notoriously take up, absorb deeply, and then set aside as I pass to the next thing.
So there is my general case for passion. I might have written a longer essay on the subject here, but I doubt you need one. Instead, because it’s seasonal, and because it’s something I have some love for and experience with, I’m going to tell you about sweet preserves.
I have been canning jams and jelly for about four years. My wife is sure I only do it because I’m cheap and because I’m crazy, and it’s hard to disagree. A typical sweet-preserve canning session involves several hours of fussy, messy labor, most of it inside a hot kitchen, and generally in August. You’d have to be insane to enjoy it, and the supplies are expensive enough that it’s difficult to justify the effort. Put an actual cost on your time, and anything short of an industrial batch of preserves is downright expensive, even if you get the fruit for free. Also, if you do it wrong, you run a small chance of poisoning yourself or others, so it has to be done well if it is to be done at all.
But I do it nonetheless.
My first love in this matter was blackberries. They’re ridiculously plentiful around town. It’s nearly impossible to not live within walking distance of some bushes, and since the most common local species is that unwanted foreigner, the Himalayan Blackberry, it is perfectly legitimate to not only pluck the fruit but also to cut back the canes with a hand pruner at the same time (which means fewer arms scratches and easier pickings). The native Pacific Blackberry is harder to find, but remains a treat for the connoisseur.
It’s easy to pick a large bucket of berries, far larger than most people could use fresh. From there, freezing is a legitimate option (especially for pies a few months later), but making jam (or, slightly exotically for blackberries, jelly) is charmingly old-school, not to mention good on toast and good for those with not much freezer space.
I won’t get into the details of jamming and canning here. Workable recipes come with every packet of pectin and are available at fine internets everywhere. The short version is that you heat the fruit, add an astounding amount of sugar, a bit of pectin, cook until it’s ready, and put it into carefully sterilised jars. Do follow the directions, though: this is food chemistry, not a fry-up.
I love blackberries, but I didn’t really love canning until I got to crab apples.
My church, which happens to be behind my house, has a lovely and prolific crab apple tree on its grounds. Like most of their ilk, the fruit is nearly inedible, or at least an acquired taste. The marvel is that this annoying fruit transforms into a ruby-red jelly. This colour is not hinted at by the pale flesh or mottled skin. Just as remarkable as the colour is the taste. It’s not obviously superior to any common fruit jam, but it is novel and tasty and entirely worthy of the trouble of making it.
Giving away a well-made jar of crab apple jelly to friends is a fine present, speaking as it does of hand-craft and the specialness of something you can’t buy at the local supermarket.
So, there’s plenty of other windfall fruits and berries coming to ripeness right now. Go find some, pick a whole bunch, and make yourself up a batch of jam or jelly. Make enough for friends: as long as you’re going to suffer, you at least ought to get some Christmas presents out of it.
Ryan Cousineau is a dear friend of mine who is a very sweet man (despite whatever his online presence may suggest, particularly on Twitter) with a wife who is just as sweet (The Lovely One). I consider both of the Cousineaus my good friends and I really appreciate and enjoy their company. Ryan has provided me with very sage advice even when our opinions have been diverging. Ryan blogs at Wired Cola which is, sadly, coded in Drupal.
This is Entry # 28 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I suffered a devastating breakup halfway through my doctoral degree. In fact, I suffered two blows: one, changing the topic of my dissertation and the composition of my doctoral committee altogether, and having my heart broken by someone who cheated on me. I took time away from my PhD for a while twice. However, one good day I decided that I was too passionate to let heartbreak and changing tides defeat me.
Credit: Leo Reynolds
I came back. And I came back because I am passionate about teaching. I am a tough instructor, and a tough student supervisor. But you know what? I am a very caring individual. I care about creating the conditions for my students to grow, mature and learn. I’m an excellent teacher, I know that.
And the reason why I am so good at teaching is because I am passionate about it.
This is Entry # 29 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I am passionate about connection. Defined as a noun connection is a relationship or association, a link or bond.
Connection is why I am a personal coach and connection is why I am an advocate for and an enthusiast of Social Media.
It is through our connections the spark of growth appears. We have a great conversation with a friend, we read an empowering article on the web, we connect with a part of ourselves we didn’t know existed or we may not have seen for a while.
As a coach it is part of the process to connect with clients. In this context it means to “be with” or “share the experience” of a client.
Connection allows for empathy, understanding, insight and self development . It truly makes the whole process to flow. Connection is an openness that facilitates communication and learning.
Social Media is another form of connection. However, it creates a conversation or an opportunity to touch another, to have an impact or to reach out. It allows so many of us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Social media informs, challenges, and entertains.
Think about the number of times you connect every day. What kind of an impact does this have on you? What ideas do others inspire? What feelings do they evoke? By allowing ourselves to be connected we take a risk, but one that is a necessity of being fully human.
Jennifer Priest is a personal growth coach and blogs at Dancing in the Moment. Jen and I have grown to become friends and we are both very interested in the field of coaching (although I’m not a coach myself yet). She has given me some really great advice and I’m grateful for her friendship. She blogs at Dancing in the Moment
This is Entry # 26 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I am a scholar who likes all things water, but as you can imagine, I can’t possibly be an expert in every single aspect. One of the research streams I have never delved into is marine/ocean policy. It’s a topic that really interests me but I don’t have enough expertise. So when Rosemarie from the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre got in touch with me (thanks to Jose Gonzalez from Tourism BC) and offered to bring me to Sidney to visit, I jumped at the possibility.
The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is NOT your traditional aquarium. It’s an interactive series of exhibits that allows the little ones to interact with their surroundings and to observe marine life and the phenomena associated with them within an environment that makes learning fun, but that is also very respectful of the needs of the marine life that is embedded in the SODC.
Gallery of the Drifters – understand the foundations of the ocean food web. Our Oceaneer will introduce you to algae, plankton and our amazing jellies. Examine these essential life forms up close or on the flat screen with the video microscope. Plankton are responsible for every second breath you take… think about it.
Ocean’s Heartbeat – our wet lab and a classroom like no other. Check out the teacher’s desk – it’s got fish in it! Peer into the mini-ecosystems through microscopes. This is the best way to see the ocean. Check out the streaming live video from Race Rocks and from underwater at Sidney’s own Bevan Pier. The Ocean’s Heartbeat is used on a priority basis by school groups but everyone is welcome between classes.
Gallery of the Salish Sea – you now feel like you are surrounded by the ocean. Colourful aquarium habitats teem with marine life from the Salish Sea. Hundreds of fish, invertebrates and marine plants recreate the ocean and give us an underwater view that most people never see. The ocean is so full of life; in fact 99% of the living space on our oddly named planet Earth is found in the ocean. Check out the wolf eels, rock fish and especially the octopus in their overhead grottos.
Touch Pools – using the one finger rule, shake hands with an urchin and be tickled by a sea star. With the breathtaking view of the Gulf Islands, the Salish Sea and our active volcano Mt Baker as the backdrop, spend some time with our Oceaneers as they introduce you to what we call hands on/hands wet learning.
There were many elements and features that really impressed me but the one that really stuck in my head was the fact that the SODC has made it part of its mandate to get involved with the local community, so they have numerous volunteers from Sidney (and many little ones!) who participate in the exhibit, therefore raising environmental awareness and building a little bit of a local network of sustainably-minded people.
I will have an extended composite video but for the purposes of Blogathon, my intent was primarily showcase the great work of the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre. You can check them out from 10am to 6pm, every day and you can also donate to their great cause. For $ 12 for adults and $ 6 for kids, it’s a REAL bargain.
The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre offers numerous opportunities for education. I had a chance to see a couple of volunteers who were tracking marine life visually and then taking photo captures, something that I found both educational and fun.
This is Entry # 25 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I think it’s great that the ever so sexy Raul is blogging for the BC Cancer Foundation. I know cancer has impacted my life a little more than I’d like. Oh Hell, any cancer is more than any of us should ever have to deal with. This is why its important to be preventitive, which means ladies, that unless you want to put yourself in Cam’s hands, learn how to properly give yourself a breast exam.
Alternatively gentlemen (& lesbian ladies), Cam’s not got such a bad idea here. Might not be a bad way to get to second base with your current lover. I mean your just looking out for her health after all. Very sweet of you really.
Kisses,
Emme xoxo
Emme Rogers writes about her life as a single, sexy, thirty-something gal in Vancouver at Being Emme. She is lovely and a great friend. And I’m definitely charmed by her capacity to love.
This is Entry # 24 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
I had the pleasure of being a guest of Salt Spring Air within the same visit I did to Sidney. They flew me from downtown Vancouver (outside the Westin Grand in Coal Harbour) to Ganges (Salt Spring Island) and finally they took me to Sidney. I also flew from Ganges back to downtown Vancouver (a fantastic flight that you should take sometime soon). I have to say that I was thoroughly spoiled by Salt Spring Air because not only did they take me to Sidney and to Ganges and back, but I was also shown around the Saturday market (another post forthcoming).
Obviously, the first question I asked (given the relevance of air travel to my research) was “do you offset your carbon footprint?” to which Philip Reece (one of the co-owners and my kind guide in a visit to Ganges and the rest of Vancouver Island) answered that they indeed offset their emissions, with a local company in Salt Spring Island that invests in local projects. That’s actually a pretty neat idea if you think about it, because we often focus so much in offsetting in remote locations that sometimes it’s important to make sure that the local community benefits from the same type of projects.
For a roundup of Salt Spring Air’s schedules you can click here. Their rates are extremely reasonable if you consider the time that it takes to get from Coal Harbour to Ganges using traditional methods (imagine a bus trip, then a ferry trip, then a drive into Ganges). Actually, on my flight back from Salt Spring Island, a young woman was sitting right besides me and she said “you know, it’s cheaper for me to do this than to take the ferry, and SO much more convenient”. What better endorsement than an actual client that is satisfied?
Salt Spring Air is also embracing social media and you can follow them on Twitter as @saltspringair. They have been offering excellent Twitter-only deals for potential customers so you probably would do yourself good by following them!
I will be updating this post with a composite video of my actual trip, but during Blogathon it’ll be really hard to do video editing so I’ll re-tweet once I have updated it. For now you should check the video I have on my Flickr.
This is Entry # 23 of 49
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!
