Happy birthday, David Drucker!

Since I’m on the road as well, and not being able to access the internet very frequently, this will have to be a really quick “Happy Birthday David” post. I met David Drucker through our involvement in the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup, and we’ve developed a very nice friendship (thanks in no small part as well to the fact that we both are active participants in VBM, BarCamp, NetTuesday, Third Tuesday, etc. and thus we see each other all the time). The great thing is that we also share common friends, so we ALWAYS see each other at events and stuff. Not only is David very technologically advanced, very smart and a really nice guy, but he is also (like me) an immigrant to this wonderful country. We both have expressed our love for Canada at one point or another. For all the great moments we’ve had a chance to spend, to you (and as I hear, your brother) I want to wish you, Happy Birthday! … we’ll celebrate upon our return (I know you’re in Seattle now!). Have fun and give my best to Pam too!

Politics 2.0? Are Canadian politicians using Web 2.0 the right way?

While I know that there is already buzz around the town on the use of Twitter (seen a couple of posts by Buzz Bishop and Kate Trgovac, as well as one on The Tyee’s The Hook, led by Monte Paulsen), Facebook and other Web 2.0 applications by Canadian politicians (like Elizabeth May, Stephane Dion and Stephen Harper), I am a bit surprised that almost nobody has (at least from what I’ve been reading on the sphere) touched on the very basic element of Web 2.0 – interactivity and bi-directionality.

Even if I don’t follow everyone who follows me on Twitter, I ALWAYS interact with the people who follow me. I have just briefly seen the Twitter account of Elizabeth May and she is not following anyone and has not interacted with anyone. The opposite attitude was that of the Twitter account of Barack Obama who basically followed everyone who was following, and then some more.

I don’t know Liz May, but some of my very closest friends do, and if any of those would like to relay this message to her and to the rest of the politicos in Canada, please feel free to do so – TALK TO YOUR FOLLOWERS. Yeah, you could argue with me that Obama never did talk to anyone on Twitter, but the point I’m trying to make is that Twitter should not be treated *just* as a news broadcast. If those of us who evangelize about all things Web 2.0 are really interested in harnessing social media for change, we need to explain to the “newbies” that the crux of social media is the bidirectional, interactive conversation that occurs within the realm of blogs, Twitter, vlogs, Facebook, etc.

And yeah, boo for fake Twitter accounts for political figures!

Torn between two lovers

That’s the title of a song by Mary McGregor, “Torn between two lovers”. Funny enough, I’m not torn between to lovers, but probably torn between two of my loves. Part of me wants to come back to MY HOME: Vancouver. Part of me wants to stay here in Mexico, specifically at MY MOM’S HOME. I love both countries, Canada and Mexico. There are parts of me that are very Canadian and parts that are very Mexican (and of course, since I grew up in so many different parts of the world, there is a bit of other regions in me as well).

I have wonderful friends here in Mexico, and I grew up with them. We shared so many things, and I have got such great memories, that it’s kind of hard to let go and move away from them another 6,000 km. But on the other hand, my life is back in Vancouver. I have made my home there. I feel grounded and happy and loved and welcomed in Canada, and specifically, in the rainy city.

I tweeted earlier that I didn’t know what to blog about. Well, truth be told, I *do* know what I want to blog about. I want to blog about how much I miss Vancouver. I miss my friends. I miss my life there. But I’ll miss my time with family here, specifically Mom. And my friends, particularly my closest ones. Although truth be told, she seems to be taking things alright. And she’s got a new cell phone (better), new MSN address and she is using GTalk and Skype just fine. Thus, I think that I will be able to communicate with her whenever I want.

EDIT – You probably are wondering what “Wave of Mutilation” by The Pixies is doing here. Well, it’s my favorite Rock Band song (well, one of the three or four) and it’s the first one I want to play/sing (depending on who’s doing bass and who’s doing vocals) soon as I get back to Vancouver.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj5OaMMtNow&hl=en&fs=1]

Más vale beber vino que aceite de ricino!

I found this saying at a really cute restaurant called “El Chahuistle” and it’s definitely a mantra that many of my Vancouver (and non-Vancouver) friends would use. The translation is “it’s better to drink wine than castor oil”. Since it rhymes, it sounds cute 🙂

And there will be plenty of alcohol in the weeks to come!

In a world of uncertainty…

The last time I was involved in a romantic relationship, my ex-partner told me that “in a world of uncertainty, the only certain thing was my love” and I found that incredibly sweet and thoughtful. It is, undoubtedly, one of the highest praises I’ve ever received. It’s also incredibly challenging to always be someone else’s anchor.

There’s uncertainty in markets. There’s uncertainty in relationships. There’s uncertainty in project outcomes. But how do we deal with uncertainty? What to do to reduce the degree to which we feel unable to predict events? Just a thought.

Witty tweets

I use Twitter both as a tool to interact with my friends as well as a tool to reach out to a broader public. I’ve programmed TwitterFeed to publish my posts (I can’t use WordTwit because I’m not self-hosted yet). Usually I make a concerted effort to write funny tweets, because honestly, I really appreciate reading one, but I’m not always as witty as some of my readers and follows.

I uploaded some funny tweets (you can check my Favorites on Twitter) on my Flickr account, so this is only a sample. A recent really funny one that Lorraine (aka Raincoaster) published recently was this:

raincoaster Web 2.0 Shirley Manson says: Stupid Twhirl! about 7 hours ago from web

I figured that we could start a thread of witty tweets for singers and songs and Web 2.0 (like Lorraine did here), but I’m not witty enough. Any ideas?

Upcoming environmental events in Vancouver – September 2008

Two upcoming events are rather relevant to me and both fall on the same day.

• Green Drinks Vancouver happens again on the third wednesday of the month (Sep 17th, 2008) at Steamworks.
• The Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfasts series continues, and this time, they will focus on the discussions we’ve been having on bottled water. I am SO definitely there!

About the Community Sustainability Breakfast [Metro Vancouver’s website]:

Sustainability Community Breakfasts – Nature’s Health Drink – Always on Tap
Wednesday, 17 September, 2008
from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
British Columbia Institute of Technology
555 Seymour Street, Vancouver

About Green Drinks Vancouver Sep 2008 [Green Drinks Website]

WHEN the next regular Green Drinks is: Every 3rd Wednesday of the month (except in Dec and July) Our next event is on Sept 17th, 2008
WHERE: Steamworks pub at 375 Water Street on the edge of Gastown near Waterfront Station.
Please be aware that due to changing space availability we cannot guarantee we’ll be in the same room each month – if you can’t find us just ask Steamworks staff which room we are in.
TIME:5:45pm-until?

It’s lucky that both of these events fall on the same day, and that I’ll be back in Vancouver by then! And again, I’ve got a full week booked (Brew 2.0, Green Drinks, Launch Party AND a special day!). Can someone please clone me? Thanks.

Brew 2.0 – The Burrard Molson Brewery social media event

Duane insists that if I am going to be a true Canadian and Vancouverite, I *have* to learn how to drink beer. Rebecca has definitely done her part in teaching me how to drink beer (usually when we go out for beers or have a pint with our meals, I ask her – “hey Rebecca, what kind of beer should I go for?“). And Ryan has started teaching me about beers as he knows his brews.

Credit: SnowRunner on Flickr

Well, lucky for me, all of us (Rebecca and John Bollwitt, Duane Storey, Ryan Cousineau and myself) have been invited by Molson to Brew 2.0, an evening of beers, bloggers AND a tour of the Burrard Street Brewery (I know that the lovely Monica Hamburg AND Dave Thorvald Olson are going too, which increases my happiness substantially!).

Credit: Liesa Billings

I have to say that not only do I appreciate the fact that I’m being invited to continue with my formal education on how to drink beer, but also, as a chemical engineer, I am *ecstatic* to FINALLY! tour the Burrard Street Brewery. You’ll see… when I was in undergraduate, my favorite class was Distillation (I took individual courses on each one of the separation processes). I could calculate the number of plates needed to distill X amount of alcohol from a mixture of Y and Z percentages. Now, I get to see brewing processes from the inside!

Furthermore, as a specialist in industrial and urban transformation, I am always delighted to see an industrial plant still within the confines of the urban core. I am VERY curious to know about the sustainability and water-saving measures implemented at Molson, so you can rest assured I’ll be asking questions throughout.

Credit: Matt Musselman

Finally, two particular elements worth highlighting. As Rebecca mentioned, it’s great that Molson is reaching out to us, social media folks. But it’s also very interesting how they are also embracing Web 2.0 from within the company! I found the Molson Community Blog, and one of the authors, Tonia Hammer, is on Twitter! So I am really looking forward to learning more about how Molson will reach out to the community. Maybe they should be a corporate sponsor to our Blogathon 2009 efforts! (*hint hint nudge nudge*)

Happy birthday, Airdrie!

So it turns out that I missed a great birthday party, but everyone knows it’s because I was in Mexico, otherwise, not even a hurricane would have made me miss it! Just wanted to wish Airdrie a very happy birthday, hoping we’ll celebrate upon my return with some sort of MargaritaCamp 🙂

Airdrie, you’re a great woman, an inspiration and a good friend. AND on top of that, I love Lip Gloss and Laptops 🙂 Can’t wait to do a guest appearance talking men’s grooming/cologne stuff! Derek and you are two of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and I cherish your friendship greatly.

Here is a virtual birthday cake for you 🙂 Happy birthday!

Homelessness Action Week 2008 – October 12th to 19th, 2008

Photo Credit: Matthew Good on Flickr

Last week, I mentioned that I was worried about the lack of interest in local/Canadian politics and the excessive focus on the US election on Canadian and Vancouverite blogs and on Twitter. Well, with the news of an upcoming Federal election (October 14th, 2008), I am very, VERY happy to see the interest of our bloggers, readers and Twitterers renewed on Canadian issues 🙂

During the same week, I tried to remind my readers that in order for us to really participate, and put the public back into public policy, we need to focus on local issues while maintaining a global perspective. One of those hyperlocal issues that I think we need to focus on is the lack of homes and shelter for homeless people. On a side note, I am not too sure that homelessness will be taken up as a Federal election issue, but who knows.

Even though homelessness is mostly considered a regional, municipal/provincial public policy issue, there is an actual Federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy (launched in December 2006). From their About Us page:

Under the HPS, the federal government will offer the provinces and territories the opportunity to enter into bilateral partnerships, improve collaboration and develop linkages between the federal homelessness programs and provincial/territorial social services to help communities make strategic investments that will best serve their homeless populations.[HPS About Us]

Homeless Action Week will take place EXACTLY during the 2008 Federal election week, which is kind of timely, if you ask me. Why? Well, because everything is interconnected. With the 2010 Olympics and the discussions around the gentrification of the Downtown East Side, there will be a need to re-examine the Federal strategy on homelessness. And I have the feeling that Homeless Action Week may be the catalyzer for this re-examination.

Is lack of homes (and affordable housing) an issue? Well, let’s examine the data provided by the Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness.

A 24-hour snapshot count conducted on March 11 th, 2008 indicates that 2,592 individuals were found to be homeless in the Metro Vancouver region. This number is an increase of 427 individuals over the 2005 count data, or an increase of 19% over the number of homeless individuals found in 2005, and a jump of 131% since 2002.[HAW Research Page]

So, the question again is … how can you help? In addition to all of those great suggestions provided on the RSCH page for Homeless Action Week, you can also
– Blog about it.
– Tweet about it.
– Talk about it with your friends, family, etc.
– Write about it (in print).
– Discuss it on national media.

And, two additional things you can do…

One, you could donate your time, clothing items or food to local food banks. Rebecca has for very long been a champion of Metro Vancouver’s food banks, most recently raising over $10,000 dollars for the United Gospel Mission (along with Duane and with the generous help of Matt Good, Matt’s fans and many other participants). Lack of food would most definitely be an issue that homeless people face.

Two, you can participate in the events for the 2008 Homeless Action Week. Last year, I highlighted some of the 2007 HAW events and had a chance to participate in a few. As I mentioned in that previous post, sustainability, social change and social responsibility start at home, and Vancouver is my home, so that’s where I am trying to effect change.

On that note, I would like to invite you to follow @vanpoverty on Twitter, as this is a project where I am partnering with the brilliant Joe Solomon (@engagejoe on Twitter) to use our combined blogging/social media powers to bring issues of poverty and homelessness in Vancouver to the forefront.

Lessons in security (or insecurity!)

One of the things I have to say I love the most about having immersed myself for the past year in Vancouver’s tech scene is that I have learned a lot about network and internet security. I was a happy user of Microsoft MSN, and GTalk and GMail, until I started to talk to Vancouver’s geeks and they told me that Skype was probably the safest chat and voice talk system around. For reasons that I will not get into here, I will need some pointers as to how to ramp up internet safety.

Yes, I know that this means also reducing access to Flickr, maybe protecting my Twitter updates, etc. Probably remove my name from things here and there. I’m not terribly freaked out, but just think I need to be more careful.

But the most important thing is, I am grateful that my tekkie friends in Vancouver have taught me so much, because now I can pass this information and data on to my family and loved ones. Thanks, folks!

Brothers and Sisters – A reminder

I really enjoy watching the ABC show Brothers and Sisters, as I’ve mentioned before. The song “Pictures of You” is one of my very favorites. And the funny thing is, even though I only have brothers, the family dynamics does remind me of my very own family.

While I am happy to report that my family is not dysfunctional like the Walkers, there are things that remind me of my brothers. The banter and playful chatter amongst the brothers and sisters. The disagreements in opinion, particularly between the mother and the children. But the one thing that reminds me the most of my family is the absolute love and adoration that each and everyone of the members of the Walker family share. This is the case with my own family.

My brothers and I may disagree on issues. We may have confrontations, sometimes. But we love each other deeply and we support each other ALWAYS. Ever since we were very little, my brothers and I got used to being each others’ best friends. We’ve stuck together through thin and thick. Same as the Walkers. That’s one of the reasons why I love the show. Plus, the matriarch is awesome, as is my mother.

I’m looking forward to the third season of Brothers and Sisters, which starts on Sep 18th (very timely!)

No souvenirs, sorry!

Usually, whenever I travel, I bring a few small token gifts for my friends. Obviously, with blogging, the number of friends I have has grown at an astonishing rate. I was thinking about how the heck I was going to be able to bring so many souvenirs in my bags (considering that I can only bring ONE bag weighing 20 kilograms). Thus I’ve decided that I’m just going to bring myself as a souvenir, safe and in one piece. Sorry! Normally I would have brought at least something small, but this time, I’m pretty restricted (due to rising fuel prices!). Sorry!

Roadtrip in Mexico

My brother A needed a ride back to my parent’s hometown from the city where he was so I took my Mom’s car, went and picked him up. I love driving, and roadtrips are a lot of fun. Besides, my eldest brother and I are really very good friends, so it’s always a treat to hang out with him. Unfortunately, Mom had to teach so I went there on my own. Not a bad drive, 3 hours. Normally it would take me 2 but the road was horrible. URGH.

Passed through the city of Ojuelos, in the state of Jalisco (I crossed four states in this trip!). I’ve always loved this construction so I had a chance to take a photo (and I’m surprised at how nice it turned out!).

Lunch was a “full meal” (comida corrida) with soup, the main dish and dessert (banana with sweet cream and sugar). Very inexpensive (the full meal was $35 Mexican pesos).

I was pretty lucky because drivers in SLP are incredibly aggressive, and I had to face some really bad drivers on the road too. And I thought Vancouver drivers were awful!

Banning bottled water in Vancouver and the Metro Vancouver pledge

A large portion of my research agenda focuses on water, despite the fact that sometimes some relevant water issues go unnoticed (did you know that 2008 is the Year of Sanitation?). The good thing about studying water is that questions pop always on my mind and there’s always something new to look at.

Being an academic and a blogger, I look at issues through research-trained eyes, and the whole discussion on banning bottled water in Vancouver is one of those debates that attract me. I am hoping to do some research about it in the short term future.

Photo credit: Ianiv and Arieanna

I am particularly drawn to water issues as I’ve done research both in the environmental engineering field (building wastewater treatment plants) and in the environmental studies field (studying water governance and policy). I am trained to examine problems from the social sciences AND natural sciences/engineering lenses.

A few weeks back, Duane kindly invited me to guest post on his blog. We were doing Blogathon and my post examined very briefly the debate on water privatization, but I didn’t delve in depth.

The whole banning bottled water debate in Vancouver touches on two issues. One of them, the commodification and privatization of water. The other one is the potential health-associated risk of consuming water from the tap. Both of these issues would give me enough material to start a new blog. However, I’m going to just focus on one small sub-issue: bottling water for sale and redistribution (and the health effects associated).

We often (but not always) consume bottled water because we feel safer. Sometimes we consume bottled water simply because we don’t have access to tap water at the moment. There are different rationales. However, one associated (implicit) benefit is that we don’t need to worry about our safety and health if we consume bottled water. Is our tap water really all that bad?

When I worked as an environmental engineer, I would get stomach illnesses whenever I would be exposed to wastewater streams. But I have never gotten sick from consuming water from the tap (neither in Mexico nor in Canada). I know, the whole “revenge of Montezuma” joke is based on a perception that potable water in Mexico is really polluted and thus every foreign visitor will get stomach cramps or get ill when visiting if they consume water from the tap. But it has never happened to me (not even now that I’m visiting).

Metro Vancouver is undertaking a project to have people pledge to consume only tap water and reduce the number of plastic water bottles thrown into landfills. I have to say that I wholeheartedly support this initiative. From their website:

Why Metro Vancouver has a Tap Water Pledge
* Metro is committed to reducing bottled water use by 20% by 2010 to reduce the environmental impact of bottled water
* Millions of single-use plastic water bottles (one litre or smaller) ended up in our region’s landfills in 2007
* We want to provide a tangible way residents to support a sustainable practice – using refillable water containers instead of single-use plastic water bottles

[Metro Vancouver: Take the Tap Water Pledge]

The Tap Water Pledge page has information on health risks associated with water, fast facts, etc. that are aimed to help the public understand the rationale behind the project. Interestingly enough, I didn’t find data on the worldwide consumption of bottled water in comparison to Canada and/or Vancouver. I think this would be a broader perspective. From the IBWA statistics page, their 2007 stats report, I found out that Mexico is the second largest consumer of bottled water in the world, with 54.1 gallons per capita (but is this figure per year, per month? If one drinks one litre of water a day, how many gallons is that a year? I hate websites with poor statistics!)

Now, from a social media perspective, I have to say that while I think the page is a good resource, I would probably take a much more “public understanding of science” approach to it. I have to say that it would be fun to undertake this type of project, and it would merge Web 2.0 with sustainability research…. Hmm… good idea!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: For some statistics on bottled water consumption, the International Bottled Water Association has some data. But I couldn’t find anything on Canada. Frustrating.

Launch Party Vancouver 5 at UnWine’d coming up

There is a great thing about NOT being on Facebook and having caring and awesome friends who know this and still take the time to invite me to events through normal email: I always get the invites in the end 🙂 And therefore, even though I’m not the official organizer (Maura Rodgers, Jordan Behan and Danny Robinson of Strutta are), I feel as though I can invite y’all ( yes Matt, I do say “y’all” … it does sound very Texan, doesn’t it? 🙂 ) to Launch Party Vancouver 5, which will take place on September 18th at UnWine’d (great timing!).

I’ve been really looking forward to attending an event at UnWine’d. Many of my close friends live in the downtown/Yaletown/West End area and therefore I often walk by on my way to take the 98 B-Line at Davie and Howe. I’ve been so remiss with trying new places that I’ve not had a chance to go there, so when Maura invited me to LPV5 I got really really excited, not only because I get to see my tekkie/social media/PR friends, but also because I get to try a totally new place.

This should be a warm-up week for the following week, when lots of things are happening. Gus did a round-up post for events for September, I did one too, and obviously I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you of Vancouver Bloggers Meetup (Sep 25th) and BarCamp (Sep 26th).

If you want to register for Launch Party Vancouver 5 you can do so through Eventbrite here.

Thank you

You don’t need to know the full story.
You don’t have to know all the many reasons why I am so happy this evening.
But you deserve to be thanked. So, THANK YOU.

For various reasons, I’ve been feeling particularly blessed and happy today. One of them was the recognition that my blog is where it is, and that I, as a blogger, am where I am in no small part because of the great people who read what I write. It’s an honor, it’s fun, it’s fulfilling and more than anything, it’s a labor of love.

While I was reflecting on how I’d write this short thank you note, I thought about what is THE most fun part of the blogging I’ve done in the past couple of years. It’s the conversations. It’s the Web 2.0 element. It is the interaction. On Twitter. On the comments section. In person, at Meetups, WordCamp, Launch Party, Net Tuesday, Third Tuesday, Vancouver Bloggers Meetup.

You, who read this, are very much a part of this blog. For all these reasons, and many more, thanks.

Latin music – Inolvidable by Reik

Obviously, while driving around I tune in the local radio and thus I end up listening to some of the music that is popular here. This is a song I really enjoyed, Inolvidable by Reik. Video from YouTube.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ65hs1iBh0&hl=en&fs=1]

Putting back the public in public policy

Public participation is touted as “the foremost element of modern democracies“. Since any policy decisions made by politicians and bureaucrats alike will have an impact on society (the public), it would make sense to include those individuals whose lives are affected in the actual decision-making process.

Credit: KeepItSurreal

Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) take it upon themselves to participate in various ways in the environmental policy-making process. Human rights organizations often seek to galvanize public opinion and protect disadvantaged people. This the basis for a healthy, participatory society.

Unfortunately, it would seem as though not everyone is interested in engaging in public participation processes. Earlier last week I voiced my discomfort when I found out that there was much more interest from people who are on Twitter in the American electoral process than in Canadian or Vancouver electoral issues.

I was relieved to find a number of comments on my post agreeing that we need to focus on local issues (although we can’t forget international affairs). More recently, people have started to tweet more and blog more about the upcoming Vancouver mayoral election and the potential Federal election that could take place as early as mid-October 2008. These are, in my view, good news.

That’s why I would like to encourage my readers to take it upon themselves to put back the public in public policy. There are HUNDREDS if not thousands of issues that we need to focus on, and I am going to highlight just a few (all of them, which I’ve written about before).

* The need to support small local businesses.
* The lack of a strong, nation-wide water policy in Canada and a deficient regional strategy in Metro Vancouver, particularly in the management of wastewater.
* The lack of transparency in the development of Bill C-61.
– The need to re-assess the whole Eco-Density concept and understand the heterogeneities within the Vancouver urban region.
– The whole Provincial Transit Plan of British Columbia and how other countries can teach us lessons on transportation policy.
– The lack of a homeless strategy that really addresses the needs of the needier (which are affected by, amongst other things, snow and other climatic elements).

I could go on, and on, and if you have been reading my blog for a while, you’ll easily find the issues that galvanize MY opinion : water, environment, sustainability, homelessness, urbanization, human rights, electronic rights. Oh, and POVERTY. Let’s not forget about poverty. Now, let’s go back to the issues that galvanize YOU! Never has the phrase “think global act local” been more relevant than now.

I also want to take a minute to thank people who have voted for me on the Vancouver Election Blog contest. Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) has been the leader for a few weeks now, and that’s awesome and deserved since she’s been covering all things Vancouver (which have included political issues too!) for over four years. David Eby is also in the ballot, and he has always been a strong advocate for homeless people. There are new blogs, like VanCity Buzz who are highlighting small, local businesses (which is a series I enjoy), and there are more experienced bloggers too, of course… there’s Gordon Price and Paul Hillsdon and Frances Bula and Stephen Rees.

I have also seen the evolution of the contest, and I have to say that, in my view, every one of the nominated blogs are deserving, as each one provides a unique perspective on Vancouver. People may or may not agree on what bloggers write, on their style or their ideas, but as it has been attributed to Voltaire (although some disagree on this too!), “I may disagree with what you are saying but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it” (I found that some people attribute these words to Evelyn Beatrice Hall).

On the authentic Mexican food topic

I recently updated my post on places for Mexican food, and I got all sorts of feedback and suggestions for places to try.

However, I figured I’d let you know that I’ve been enjoying a lot of really authentic Mexican food. Since my eldest brother is in town visiting for a week, we went for breakfast this past Sunday to the same menudo place we usually go to (he’s a menudo fan) with Mom.

We didn’t order quesadillas or tacos, but I was SO tempted, since the tortillas are hand-made.

We all had a nap (since we needed it as we had been awake since 4 am) and then we hung out around the city, having a chance to sample a typical snack with cucumber and jicama (called “chalupa”, see below).

Finally, we ended up going downtown, attending a church service and then having hot-dogs for dinner. These are awesome times.

Restaurant review – The Irish Heather

Lorraine aka Raincoaster reminded me of a good spot in Gastown (as I was complaining about Chill Winston) in addition to my trusty Flux, La Casita.

Yes, sir. That’s The Irish Heather. Usual Irish fare, hearty, not extremely expensive, good beer (if I’m allowed to say this, as I am not a beer connoisseur).

The first time I set foot in The Irish Heather was probably when I finished my MBA/MEng but I only went back with Colleen, Tris and Lisa. I ordered sausages with mashed potatoes and gravy, tasty and filling. Everybody seemed to agree it was good, and I had no complaints. I’ll be back for more, that’s for sure.

How to insert “blogger” into my CV?

So I’m updating my resume (not the CV, which is more academic) and I’m trying to figure out a good way to insert all the non-paid blogging I’ve done. I have the skills, I know some HTML and a bit about CMS (not that I’m a Joomla! or Drupal or even WordPress geek, but heck I do know some stuff, and I do my own stunts).

I thought of writing something like this

“2006 – to date – Owner, writer and editor, Random Thoughts of a Student of the Environment, also known as Hummingbird604.com. -“

But I’m sort of at a loss as to what else to write. It’s not like I’m a professional blogger, but I want to “sell” those skills I have already.

Then, under Skills I was going to insert something like

– Basic HTML, Content Management Systems.

I dunno. I’ve never actually had these skills and this newfound knowledge until I started blogging, so I’m sort of at a loss. I mean, I do have a 2 page resume that presents me as an environmental consultant, but I want to be able to speak to what I know about social media, etc., and use those new skills in a new job.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

What else is missing on my local guide?

I am overprotective. One of the things I enjoy the most is protecting people (I think this comes in part from feeling short, small and disempowered and then learning martial arts to fight back bullying, and in part from being of a nurturing nature).

With only a couple of weeks left until I return to Vancouver, I want to leave Mom with a full guide to life here. Let me explain: I was the one who did the contracts for internet and cable TV, I am the one who usually organizes things here at home and at her office, etc.

So I am creating a “local guide” not only for her but also for my brothers and myself for when we are in town. Since we (my brothers and I) left this city years ago, we find out about things and have a steep learning curve whenever we are here. A couple of weeks back, my brother and I were having a tough time finding a good internet cafe with scanner and printer. But I finally found an internet cafe only four blocks away from Mom’s home.

Thus, I want to create this local guide with tips for anyone of us who comes and visits, or for Mom to deal with stuff here. Of course, she does not need this but I think it’s handy. I’m having a hard time as to what else to include, so feel free to add suggestions in the comment section.

So far, I have written the following:

• Phone numbers in Canada, Mexico and the US for me and my brothers (home, office and cell phones)
• Phone numbers in Mexico for my best friends
• Phone numbers in Mexico for my cousins and aunts/uncles (home, office and cell phone)
• Phone number and contract number for cable internet and TV
• Address of the nearest internet cafe
• Address and phone numbers of the nearest food take-outs

I’m sure I’m missing lots of useful things, so do feel free to offer suggestions. Thanks!

BlogWorld 2008, strong Vancouver representation!

Sometimes I’m not aware of what people are up to because I can’t read their blogs at particular times. For example, I have been unable to read Airdrie and Kerry Anne’s Lip Gloss and Laptops, Ianiv and Arieanna‘s Blogaholics site (though I haven’t checked if I can read any of their other blogs), Karen Fung‘s and the Max Gladwell blog. VERY frustrating.

However, thanks are due to Twitter, since I recently became aware that Tris, Ianiv and Arieanna, Gus, John Chow and Rebecca are all going to BlogWorld in Las Vegas, from September 19th to 21st. And no, no, no. What happens in Vegas comes straight to Random Thoughts of a Student of the Environment, aka Hummingbird604.com 🙂 I want the full 411!

P.S. If you’re going to BlogWorld, feel free to drop me a comment 🙂

Septiembre, Mes de la Patria

I heard this slogan hundreds of times while I was growing up… “Septiembre, mes de la patria” (september, month of the homeland). TV and radio spots would highlight the fact that the Mexican Independence Day was coming up (September 16th). Everywhere you went, you’d see booths where flags and other Mexican memorabilia would be sold.

My parents live about 30 minutes away from Guanajuato, where the Mexican Independence’s biggest battle was fought. While the Independence was declared late at night on September 15th and in Dolores Hidalgo (about an hour by car from Guanajuato), most accounts focus on the battles taking place in the city of Guanajuato.

I grew up immersed in this patriotism, and was always excited because my birthday was so close to the Mexican Independence Day. Interestingly enough, I have felt for a long while now that this sense of nationalism has been fading. Mexican culture is rather complex and I can’t say that I’m an expert, but I’ve been feeling this sense of a massive exodus since a few years now.

Immigration, and transnational migration are topics that I’m interested in and that affect me, but they’re not at the core of what my research and writing interests are. However, given that I’ve spent a few weeks in Mexico now, I can speak to the sense I have that many, many Mexicans want to leave their country. And that’s a bit sad, in my view, as it seems like a sign of fading nationalism.

Another reason for this apparent fading nationalism is a sense of disempowerment and lack of trust in the Mexican government. I was reading some statistics from a poll by the nation-wide newspaper Reforma, whereby the rate of approval of President Calderon went down 2 points in the past year (reaching 62%) and the credibility of his messages went down from 54% in September 2007 to 44% in September 2008 (Periódico Reforma, p. 10, Encuesta Reforma: Séptima Evaluación del Presidente Felipe Calderón). I have been feeling a sense of desperation in Mexican society that may be leading to a massive exodus.

However, there are many people that are hopeful and that just keep going and working really hard IN Mexico. I was talking to a cleaning shoe man last night, and he said that while business had gone down, he was really happy that he was still finding work. He mentioned that he noticed how for many people, making enough money to put food on the table was more important than having their shoes cleaned. Yet, he still was hopeful and working hard at it.

There are many wonderful things about Mexico, and I’m very happy to be here now, and I’ll be happy to be back in Canada too. I can navigate both worlds and feel at home in both countries. And although I’ll be away from Mexico on Independence Day, I plan to celebrate in Vancouver. If I were in Mexico on July 1st, you can bet I’d be celebrating too! 🙂 And I am also sure I’ll find ways to help Mexican society from wherever I am.