An attempt to shift my lifestyle

Photo by Nomade Moderne.

Every few weeks, I make a reflective post, mostly on the state of my own health and wellbeing (although I’ve also written about how my life has evolved). I’ve had some scares before. I once blacked out for 1.5 hours, another time I was sick for about three weeks, and every week-long social media events leaves me usually exhausted and wanting to cocoon for the rest of the year (see my VIDFEST posts for more details).

The time I’ve spent with my family these past few weeks has left me pondering whether I want to continue leading the lifestyle I’ve had for much longer. As somebody once told me, “even hummingbirds need to rest“. I know that I’ve become popular as the ultra-speedy, fast-reader, fast-writer, uncanny photographic memory Hummingbird604. But I am also a human being who can also get really tired and feel overwhelmed.

I plan to take time to smell the flowers, not run around them.
I will try to commit to less things, be it academic or social media or just social stuff.
I will write if/when I feel like it, not when I feel obligated to.
I care VERY little about my stats, but I do care about my friends and my readers, which is the reason why I won’t stop blogging.
I know that everything will be ok, all I need is to SLOW DOWN.

More than anything, I realize that despite the circumstances of my trip to Mexico, I am VERY, very happy. Happy to be alive, happy to be able to help my family go through difficult times, and mostly, just happy to be me.

Adaptation and vulnerability to floods and climatic events in Mexico

This post is worthy of much more in-depth content, but I just wanted to show that the municipality where my parents live is really unprepared for extreme rain. The photos and video shown below show the local river almost entirely flooded (and rather polluted, as you can see).

As you can see, cars are at serious risk of being taken by the river. The local authorities are rather unprepared for these extreme rain events. But the funny thing is, I wonder how prepared are the Metro Vancouver municipalities. I will be doing some research on this topic upon my return to Vancouver.

[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolexpv/2813153322/]

The game of politics in Canada, the US and the local levels

I don’t follow US politics. At least, I don’t follow it seriously. This may be perceived kind of shooting myself in the foot and a serious blow to my credibility as a scholar. Not at all, and I’m going to prove you wrong. I am not the only non-US citizen who is NOT obsessed with the results of the US elections. I could scour Twitter and find those key tweets where people said “hey, can we please get over the whole Barack Obama/Michelle Obama/Hillary Clinton speech and move on to other topics?“.

I understand that there are many American ex-pats in Canada, particularly Vancouver. Many, MANY of them are my friends, and not only Twitter friends or blog-friends, but friends, FRIENDS. I can also understand that many Canadians or Canadian residents are interested in the outcome of the US elections because the US is such a key actor in Canadian life. One can’t ignore the US, simply speaking. That’s also the case in Mexico because the US has a strong influence on Mexican politics (both foreign policy and domestic politics).

You could easily build a case to entice me/convince me of why I should follow US politics. But the truth is, I’m rather disappointed by the lack of interest of exactly those who have been tweeting about US politics on LOCAL (and by local I mean, Vancouver politics). Want some proof? Use Summize (aka Search.Twitter.com) and find tweets about “Gregor Robertson” or “Peter Ladner”. 14 tweets on Gregor Robertson (two of mine, and full disclosure, I said I liked him). 8 tweets on Peter Ladner.

Now, do the same for any of the following keywords: Obama, HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton), National Democratic Convention (NDC). I just did a quick one for Obama and I couldn’t count the number of tweets (they were so many). I’m sure if I used another tool, I could find actual accurate stats on the emphasis that has been given to the US election.

As a scholar who has taught political science, I completely understand why this happens. As a resident of Canada, I can completely understand why this happens. As a resident of Vancouver and someone who has passionately embraced the city where I have lived in for more than a decade, I am dismayed. It looks as though the interest of Twitterers in local, municipal issues is minimal.

While I am absolutely not afraid of retaliation or criticism, I would seriously like to encourage people who live in Vancouver to think about, talk about and discuss the ideas of those people whose decisions will influence YOUR lives. YOUR local livelihood is at stake.

I am not at all asking my readers (particularly my Canadian readers, as I know that I’ve got quite a few from abroad) to stop thinking about or discuss US politics. It’s important. Heck, even I wrote about it (when I complained about the really sad fact that Obama and Clinton had to face-off, because they both would be breaking stigmas and old paradigms).

I just want people to take more of an interest in local politics. And no, it’s not because I’m now in the ballot of the Vancouver Election Contest. I had been ruminating this post since I started getting flooded with tweets about the US National Democratic Convention, the Hillary Rodham Clinton speech, the Barack / Michelle Obama speech, the Joseph Biden speech. Of course, I admire them. I have previously expressed my admiration for Obama and for Clinton. But it came to a point where I was just like “ok, this is a little bit too much“.

I do hope (and expect!) that my Twitter friends will do the same thing when the Vancouver mayoral election draws nearer and I expect (and want!) a barrage of tweets about the local elections. The best way to effect change is to get involved. And I want my Twitter and blogger friends to get involved in issues that will affect them the same or more than the outcome of the US elections.

Congratulations on your wedding, Steve!

My friend Steve Jagger, of Reachd and Ubertor fame, just got married on August 30th. Steve is an entrepreneur, vlogger, social media enthusiast but more than anything, he is a good friend (I know some mutual friends who also speak volumes about him).

Steve, I just wanted to congratulate you and your wife, and hoping that you will only read this post upon your return from the honeymoon! 🙂 No online reading for you now! Best wishes!

Help Tanya’s diabetes research fundraising efforts

You may have read that my friend Tanya Davis (aka NetChick) is joining Team Diabetes, and I just saw a tweet by Colleen Coplick that she needs $900 by Wednesday. Thus, I’m going to throw the heavy artillery and ask you guys to please help with Tanya’s cause. Please help! Here’s a direct link to her pledge page. Thanks!

Self-assured or cocky?

I’m in the midst of a conference, where I published with a co-author who is a very close friend of mine. He and I have been joking around all through the conference, but sometimes I wonder if I give the wrong impression (not to him, but to other scholars and participants in the conference). I know for a fact that I’m a very self-assured and confident guy, but I wonder if sometimes that’s seen as being cocky. Those of you who know me in person (and/or know me through my blog), I ask… do I seem cocky?

Being away feels so weird

I have been away from Vancouver for almost three weeks and I feel so strange. I haven’t really Twittered much, nor have I had a chance to reply to all the emails and tweets I’ve received (thanks all). I am right now feeling of two minds. On the one hand, I miss being in touch with my friends, both online and offline. But on the other hand, being disconnected for such long periods of time just feels… right.

This is definitely family time, and I have surprised and amazed myself by actually saying “no” to a lot of things. Even if you call my land line, this is what I said there (and I turned off any voice mail deposits) = “Hi, I will be away from Vancouver from August 7th to about September 14th. I will NOT be checking voicemail, so if you really want to talk to me, please call back after September 14th. Thanks so much“.

I know that to some people, that may sound even rude, but to me, it felt rather liberating. I *have* to draw the line at some point. I also told many friends locally that this was family time and that there would be no ‘grand reunions’.

My cousins and uncle have been barraged with lots of phone calls and emails (and so have we, myself and my family), and the truth is, right now I think what everyone needs is time with themselves and on their own. We all feel grateful, but at the same time, we also feel overwhelmed.

The good thing is that I’ve managed to do the occasional Twittering and I’ve lined up some blog content to be published in the mean time. I’ve also managed to chat on GTalk for very brief periods of time.

One thing should be said publicly, though. I DO miss you guys, and I DO look forward to coming back home to Vancouver and resuming my life. But in the mean time, I am thrilled to have a chance to spend time with family. It’s been really awesome and centering.

Strange measurement units

While I was finding out some information on the Big Mac Index for my post on a comparison of costs of coffee in Canada and Mexico, I found a list of humorous units of measurement (on Wikipedia, of course!).

Of special note, the milli-Hellen (the amount of beauty that would launch a boat). I wonder what other funny measurements we could create. I would say that the DrunkenRaulMeasurement unit is equal to about three beers 🙂 — any thoughts?

Worst videos yet love the songs…

So Colleen says that it’s not about the video, it’s about the music. Ok, I’ll agree. The following three videos are (in my humble opinion) pretty awful yet I love the songs. In no particular order:

Don’t Call Me Baby (Anymore) by Kreesha Turner

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3iWFjMGQ4Q&hl=en&fs=1]

Viva la Vida by Coldplay

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE&hl=en&fs=1]

Wow (Alternative Edit) by Kylie Minogue

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

New to Twitter? Use a Twitter client

I know that Rebecca has compared Twitter clients at some point, and I recall a post by John Biehler (that I couldn’t find) and one from Gary Jones by BlueFur explaining Twhirl, so apologies if I’m missing another one. Feel free to ping me and say “hey Raul you missed my blog post about Twitter“. I’ve previously written about Twitter etiquette, about the relevance of Twitter, about why I use Twitter instead of Facebook, etc.

At any rate, I recently connected on Twitter with two bloggers whose blogs I read, Sexy In VanCity (by Emme Rogers) and From Sparkly to Single (by Laura Smart) and made a suggestion, that they download a Twitter client. I haven’t tested many, having only tried Twhirl and TwitterFox (given that I am PC-based).

I love the fact that Twhirl picks up tweets where the @ is in the middle of the sentence (e.g. “How was your weekend, @hummingbird604?”). My recollection of TwitterFox is that it doesn’t pick up those tweets where the @ is in the middle, but since I only have Twhirl here, I have no idea.

I love the fact that TwitterFox accumulates ALL the tweets and replies (thus giving me a chance to see what everyone has been doing instead of browsing through pages of the Twitter website). It also reminds me of direct messages much faster than Twhirl does.

I love Summize aka Search.Twitter. You can search for your own @ replies and make sure that you haven’t missed tweets. But I’ve tried it already a few times and it still DOES miss some tweets.

SO WHAT’S YOUR TWITTER STRATEGY, RAUL?

Right now (while in Mexico) I open Twhirl, and browse the website for the last few pages of tweets. I know, a bit of a waste of time, but I feel a tad uncomfortable downloading the TwitterFox extension on my Mom’s FireFox. But last night I discovered she does NOT use FireFox so I might end up downloading the extension anyways.

Anyhow, since this post is mostly for Emme, Laura, Jonathon Narvey (who just recently joined Twitter) and those Twitter newbies (or those who use the web more often), those of you who are Twitter and Twitter-client pros feel free to chime in and explain why you prefer one client over another. And STOP praising Twinkle and Twitterriffic! I *can’t* use them because I’m PC-based! 🙂 (ok, fine… you can talk about them, since I seem to be the only Vancouver blogger in addition to Dr. Beth Snow who uses PC – shame on us – that’s why you need to give us MacBook Pros!)

Back in academia for a bit

I’m attending (and presenting) at a conference that is being organized by a good friend of mine. All the big gurus in Mexico on the topic are here, and it’s very nice to put a face to the name of the journal article’s author. My presentation went really well and I’ve had a fun time. Mom came along as she is a scholar as well and she wanted to see what was going on (even if it’s not her topic)

However, and I’m pretty sure anyone who knows me well, I get tired really easily when I’m overwhelmed with people. This conference is huge and LOTS of people are coming to say hi and talking to me. When this happens, I shut down and need some space and ME time. I’m excited but also exhausted.

This afternoon, I came back home late to check my email, Twitter and my blog comments and noticed that a lot had been going on. I haven’t had a chance to even look at many of those twets and/or comments. I’m exhausted.

But I’m glad to be again immersed in a field and a world where I feel very successful and on top of things. Whereas I’m always learning something new and still feel not-geeky-enough when it comes to social media, PR and the tech world, I’m a natural-born academic and this world I know very well and I swim with the sharks without any hitch.

However, I hope this is NEVER interpreted as though I don’t enjoy the social media world. I really do! But I don’t feel as “authoritative” when I give an opinion or talk about a topic. I was thinking about topics for BarCamp, and felt a bit helpless because, even though I’ve been asked to collaborate in one particular panel, I feel that I don’t have enough to contribute to a BarCamp just yet.

I’m not self-hosted, I’m not a WordPress pro, thus I feel as though I’m not ready to share anything at BarCamp on my own. That’s quite alright though, I’m more than happy to join collective efforts and presentations, but still, it’s kind of nice to be at this conference because I feel again as though I’m knowledgeable and my opinion has some weight.

Social media for charity and social change roundup (Vancouver)

For those of you who are looking for places where you can effect change and be charitable, here are a few causes you might want to consider:

– Via Jenn Watkiss – Riann Batch is looking to be a Superhero for a Day! The Drop Zone Vancouver is organizing a fundraising event, and Riann is going to be descending single-handedly, as she lost the use of her right arm in a skiing accident last year. Link to Riann’s page is here.

– Via Jay Grandin – Giant Ant Media and The Urban Project are partnering to create a really cool project. In their words [Giant Ant Media – Tanzania]:

Giant Ant Media will be producing a film and web series that follows a group of street youth in the pursuit of recording a hip hop album, with the hopes of breaking out on the Tanzanian music scene. Urban Project, a Vancouver-based charity, will be providing funds to ethically compensate the youth involved via a salary and school fees, while also funding recording studio time.

Their next fundraiser will be a concert at The Anza Club on Sep 10th. Sadly, I won’t be back in Vancouver yet but you’re more than welcome to attend and let me know how fun it was!

And three causes I had already highlighted, but just in case you need a reminder 🙂

– Tanya Davis is joining Buzz Bishop’s Team Diabetes and will be running a half-maraton and she’s now going putting her money where her mouth is! Go check her blog entry right now and donate to her cause here.

– Karen Parker is doing the Bicycle Trek for Life and Breath, and you can sponsor her here. Karen is one of the kindest-hearted persons I’ve met. One time, I was feeling down and she took me out shopping and to the Apple Store. How’s that for geek friendship? 🙂

– And last, but never least, Barbara Doduk, Keira-Anne and Matt Good are all doing Paws for a Cause. You’ll find their personal donation pages in each of the posts I’ve linked here.

My friend Gus indicated that he was going to do a charity round-up, so I’ll link here and update the post when he puts his up. UPDATE – Go check Gus’ entry on charity, it’s up already!

Mexican food restaurants in Vancouver: An updated post

Last year, Rebecca asked me to write a review post for the best Mexican restaurants in Vancouver. Not surprisingly, given how widely read her blog is, she is the top result for Google.ca’s search for “Mexican restaurant Vancouver review”. Luckily, that is also precisely my guest post, so I’m just going to update it here.

REVIEWING MY CHOICES FROM THE GUEST POST ON REBECCA’S BLOG

5. First off, I don’t know exactly how I ended up recommending Las Margaritas as one of my top five choices, given that I had a horrible experience a few months later.

4. El Rinconcito Salvadoreño isn’t right now my fave for Mexican food, but Karen Hamilton recently went there, so read her review and come back.

3. Taco Loco. Haven’t been there in months, so I’m going to hold back on my recommendation.

2. Casa Blanca. Haven’t been there in months either, so holding back on my recommendation too.

1. Sadly, apparently Tio Pepe’s was horrible for a visitor to UrbanSpoon (which is too bad because my experience was good). So, won’t make the top 5 anymore. Ooops.

SO HOW DID YOU UPDATE THE POST? THE METHOD

The first step I took was to narrow down the UrbanSpoon listings for Vancouver’s Mexican restaurants. I then looked at the listing and checked which ones I have recently reviewed to get a general feel.

So, here is the list of Mexican restaurants in Vancouver that I’ve recently visited and that I would recommend, in order of how much I like them.

THE NEW LIST

1. Salsa and Agave – Delicious. Tasty. Authentic. Inexpensive. Best place to have lunch with someone you care for (which then explains why I have been there so frequently with close friends of mine!).

2. La Casita – Inexpensive, surprisingly tasty and authentic, and they make some of the best margaritas in town.

3. Tequila Kitchen – Really authentic, very good food, upscale. A bit on the higher end in pricing, but good and very much real Mexican food.

4. Delicados – Kind of Tex-Mex-y. But filling, and quick for a cheap and good eat.

And of course, everyone and their mother have been suggesting that I go to Doña Cata. I was going to go just before I had to come to Mexico, but you can rest assured that I’ll update this post with a review of Doña Cata as soon as I go there for dinner.

THOSE THAT SOME OTHERS HAVE RECOMMENDED AND I HAVEN’T TRIED.

– Topanga Café. Don’t ask me why, but I might venture.
– Andale’s. Not sure about how I feel about this, but may visit.
– Casa de Amigos. They moved, and now there’s Chica’s (another restaurant) but I will try them at their new location.
– Poncho’s. Rebecca and John Bollwitt swear by this restaurant, so gotta try it.
– Zocalo. Even though I live literally 10 blocks away, haven’t tried it. May do it, but not 100% sure.
– Mexicali. Um, no, really not sure if I want to go there.

There were other suggestions in the Lower Mainland, so I might go to the one in New Westminster (Ole Ole I think it was called) upon my return to Vancouver. In the mean time, feel free to drop a comment and/or suggest any other new Mexican restaurants.

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day

I’m probably breaking my own record for posts in one single day, but since I’m pretty much done with work today, I figured I’d share a couple of photos of what constitutes my breakfast almost every day while here. Yes, I’ve gained weight. No, I don’t feel bad. Yes, I love fruit. No, it’s not expensive.

The main component of breakfast in my Mom’s household has always been fruit. The strange cylinders you see there (red and white) are cactus pears (tunas). Cactus pears are some of the tastiest fruits I’ve ever had. I bought about 3 kilograms for 1 Canadian dollar.

I decided to go back on caffeine (I’ve had about a cup of coffee every third day or so) and Mom uses the mug that JT got me for Halloween one year 🙂

As you can see, breakfast includes scrambled eggs with chorizo (not always) and lots of papaya and banana. The only thing that I often disliked when eating this heavy a breakfast was feeling sleepy. But lately I’ve noticed that I can usually feel rather awake if I have the coffee LAST, instead of before starting my meal.

I also have found that I am now documenting my life much more with photos and video (of course, having the equipment is important). And I now try to carry my Flip camcorder and my digital camera everywhere (you iPhone’rs stop bugging me!). Below you will find video of the fruit stand where I buy juice and fruit for breakfast.

[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolexpv/2801464023/]

My brother is engaged!

Well, technically not my blood brother, as I have only four of those, but HZ and I have been best friends for a long while, so I call him my brother. I’ve gushed about him several times on my blog 🙂 He is funny, sweet, smart and a lot of fun to hang out with. Did I tell you how smart he is? Yep, he is VERY smart. He did a PhD in stuff that I would not even go near by (he’s an expert in energy and sustainability) – as you can see, between him and I we got it all covered, water and energy. I can seriously tell you that he is one of Canada’s top academic rising stars. AND he has always been there for me.

HZ lives in Vancouver with (his now fianceé) CS, they’ve been together since Nov 2005 (about 2.5 years now), and lived together for about one full year. I’ve gushed about CS before, as her birthday celebration happened just recently (at one of my favorite restaurants, Bistrot Bistro). Well, so I opened my GMail the other day (relatively late as I had been out with Mom for breakfast) and I got an email from HZ telling me that they were ENGAGED!

I’m very, very excited for them. They make a really sweet couple, and I am very grateful for their friendship and look forward to the wedding. And in totally characteristic fashion for these two lovebirds, SHE proposed to HIM 🙂 That is SO cool 🙂 Talk about girl power! 🙂 Congratulations to HZ and CS on their engagement! Now the question I have is… do you want me to liveblog your wedding? 😉

Online dating… the discussion continues

I often wonder if being single is what makes those of us who are still not hitched to think about it loudly and write about it on our blogs. At any rate, I share my friends’ concerns and questions, so I am going to give hat tips to Tanya and Duane who started awesome discussion threads on their blogs about the whole online dating thing (read Tanya’s great entry here and Duane’s awesome post here, although his is more focused on who picks up the tab).

For a bit of context, I also had posted questions about dating before, but never really got deep into the discussion (the most recent was an entry about whether dating is a skill that needs to be honed). One time I even gave the website ShagABlogger some exposure and asked about inter-blogger relations and hook ups.

Recently, while looking for a photo, I came across an interview with Pete Cashmore of Mashable.com where he talks about dating. You can see part of the interview below.

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

What I found interesting (I have no idea who Pete is dating and how he met said person) is that the discussion at some point revolved around meeting someone NOT online but hanging out at specific social circles (like the Meetups I often attend). While I recognize that we are immersed in a “New Normal” where we meet potential partners and friends online (I can now admit that I’ve met some of my best friends online, as blogging has brought me numerous friends to whom I am close now).

The thing is, blogging in my case (and I think in Tanya’s and Duane’s case is the same) has allowed people to get to know me before they actually meet me in person. Also, I might be able to find a potential mate while on Facebook, but… as I’ve said before, I’m not into the whole Facebook Poke thingie.

So, the question remains… what do do, what to do? In the mean time, I’m going to go on the record and say that I thoroughly enjoy my singlehood.

More happy anniversaries! and a Happy Anniversary Registry

Man, I really should keep a registry. Just last week, Matt Collinge told me that his and his wife’s anniversary was today (as a result of my recent post congratulating Derek and Airdrie), and Jordan Behan just disclosed on Twitter that his and Alex’s it had been last week. Now, I just heard that Corinna and Adam‘s anniversary is today! CONGRATULATIONS, ADAM AND CORINNA!

Guys, how about a local Vancouver tech registry for anniversaries so that I can say congratulations all in one batch? Yes, I’m talking to you Rebecca and John, Matt and Maktaaq, Ryan and TLO, David Drucker and Pam, Darren and Julie, Ianiv and Arieanna, and all of you married-couples-friends-of-mine whom I am currently blanking on 🙂

Heck even if you’re not technically married (yet), you still get to be congratulated ( yes I’m talking to the rest of you whom are technically hitched, or about to get hitched 🙂 )

At any rate, congratulations! 🙂

Vote for me?!

Yeah, you read right. I am not sure about how to feel about being in competition 🙂 I’m always a bit shy/nervous/uncomfortable about asking people for votes. Shameless self-promotion is not really a trait of mine (except when it comes to UrbanSpoon, hehehe). This time, I’m flattered by the attention but also a tad embarrassed to do self-promotion, particularly as I am in great company in all cases. I am grateful for all the votes regardless 🙂

In the first one, I made the final round of voting on the HotBloggerCalendar (Guys). Pretty self-explanatory 🙂 … Tyler Ingram is also in the ballot!

In the second one, I have been nominated in the Vancouver Election Blog Contest. A large portion of my content is Vancouver-centric (particularly restaurant reviews) and I’d like to believe that I highlight Vancouver’s environmental (and other municipal) issues. I am passionate about poverty alleviation, fighting homelessness and reducing environmental damages, so I am honored to be part of this ballot, which includes a number of really good Vancouver bloggers, some of whom I consider friends of mine.

So feel free to vote as your heart tells you (though I’d also be forever grateful if you voted for me!) and thanks in advance. I would also like to congratulate my fellow contestants in both contests (sorry, that sounded cacophonic), I’m honored to be in your company.

Blogging and journalism: Reinvention or destruction?

I had this post as a draft, and recent online discussions (thanks Maura, Jordan, John Bollwitt and Greg!) have opened an opportunity for me to resurrect it. Maura tweeted that Bill Good asked whether blogging was ruining journalism. One of the central points that worries me whenever this discussion occurs (and it often occurs in MSM) is that bloggers are not recognized as a new form of media, and as this quotation by Cynthia Webb from The Washington Post indicates (my emphasis)

Blogs and bloggers of all stripes, whether or not they like this fact, have become part of the journalistic discourse. That hasn’t stopped many bloggers from contending that they are not practicing pure journalism and therefore are not governed by the same ethics. This is a slippery-slope argument. Many bloggers say they want to be accepted by the mainstream media as another facet of public discourse, but this seems to be a hard goal to achieve if plagiarism, a cardinal sin in the world of journalism, is brushed off as a minor offense (or no offense at all). Just because blogs are a “free medium” doesn’t mean that rules of playing fair need not apply.[Cynthia L. Webb, Filter, The Washington Post, Apr 9, 2003]

The main point of this quotation relates to how some bloggers may not attribute and source, but this is only one of the points – the ethics of sourcing and attribution. There are MANY other points where journalism and blogging overlap, and they still seem to be getting into a fight. The point is, in my view, that blogging has indeed become another way of reaching an audience, and thus, there is a place for it in the journalistic discourse. No need to fight, just understand each other.

The relationship between mainstream media (MSM) and blogging seems to almost always be rocky, no matter what. But is it really reinventing journalism, destroying journalism, or can we create a symbiosis where both can co-exist? I’d be curious to hear your opinion.

[SIDE BAR – A very good post by Rebecca picked up on these points last year, and it’s still very timely/current]

Water footprint: A new tool to examine water scarcity and use

Water is a topic that I’m actually rather passionate about (and I’ve previously written about it, like my discussion of the culture of flushing and the concept of water governance). I love researching it and writing about it, particularly because a professor whom I really respect a lot (part of my doctoral committe) told me that the two issues he saw were going to be the most important in the future were water and energy issues. I came across the concept of water footprint via the Max Gladwell blog (actually their twitter account – Hat tips to Max Gladwell!).

What is the water footprint? Well, I am guessing it is modelled after the ecological footprint that Mathis Wackernagel and Bill Rees coined in 1992. The website WaterFootprint.org defines:

The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. Water use is measured in terms of water volumes consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for any well-defined group of consumers (e.g. an individual, family, village, city, province, state or nation) or producers (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise or economic sector). The water footprint is a geographically explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water use and pollution, but also the locations.[Water Footprint.Org]

It’s an interesting concept, particularly when we apply it to our day-to-day staples, like a cup of coffee (that according to calculations by Hoekstra and Chapagain is about 140 litres of water per cup). As indicated by the Environmental News Network, the concept of water footprint gaining adepts. I was kind of pleased to find that the writer of the ENN article was associated with the World Resources Institute (WRI). One of my very best and closest friends is also associated with WRI as he did a post-doc there, and their datasets on water are some of the finest that I have encountered. Truly speaking, I would not mind doing a post-doc there.

I would like to know if any of my readers actually thinks much about his/her water consumption patterns. Do you ever think about your water footprint or your ecological footprint?

Menudo, how I love thee!

No, not Menudo the Puerto Rican pop musical group! Menudo is a traditional Mexican soup, and as very properly indicated by the Wikipedia entry, it’s often thought of as a cure for hangover (no, I didn’t have a MargaritaCamp for myself, I went to bed relatively early).

I apologize to my vegetarian readers, but truth be told, I *love* menudo. When I was a child, I used to refuse to eat the actual meat, but ever since I asked for it to be minced (a trick I learned about 10 years ago), I can now eat small amounts of meat. But to me, the real appeal of menudo resides in the social nature, and the family-oriented ritual.

Sunday rituals would include menudo for breakfast with my parents and all my brothers, followed by church and then, as my brothers grew older and started getting married, my brother S, my Mom and I would go for menudo. When I visit, I also often go for menudo with my Dad, although the fact that he and Mom are no longer together makes for fun visits, because they get along really well and thus we can go for breakfast (Mom, Dad and myself) making acquaintances and old friends who see me with both my parents at the same time, really puzzled. Hehehe. I know, I love shocking people. But the truth is, they both love menudo and I love hanging out with both my parents, so what better occasion than having menudo for breakfast? The breakfast of champions!

For my vegetarian readers, I should let you know that there is a vegetarian version of menudo, where the meat is substituted by minced gluten steak. Pretty yummy, if I say so myself. If I can learn how to make vegetarian menudo, I’ll try to organize a potluck when I get back to Vancouver. You should also know that I eat my menudo with LOTS of lemon (lime?) and LOTS of chopped onion. The photo at the top is of my plate, and the one at the bottom is of my plate BEFORE I added my usual condiments.

Provecho!

Building a house…

To those of you who are friends of mine from off the blogosphere and/or based in Mexico, this may not come as a surprise, but I don’t think I have ever discussed this on my blog. I bought a plot of land in Mexico, in my parents’ hometown, a couple of years back. I haven’t really paid much attention to it simply because I live in Vancouver and heck, why would I care unless I *really* planned to move back?

Well, in recent weeks, the whole business of “building a house” has crept up on me again, due to several friends. First, Darren shared with us a walk through of his and Julie’s house (a 3-D online view, pretty awesome if I say so myself). Second, my very good friend LdG (with whom I had dinner a couple of weeks ago) and I have been talking about building a house (she is an architect, and a very good one at that!). Third, last night I had the pleasure of hanging out with my Mom’s best friend’s son and their family, and he has built a dream house, with an in-house gym, a separate apartment for his Mom-in-law and a painting studio (as his Mom-in-law is a painter).

I didn’t get to see the separate apartment, but the whole idea is outstanding. I also like Darren and Julie’s idea of having a building exclusively for their offices, but I’m not 100% sold on the fact that the office building is fully separate from the house. I recognize that this allows for separation of work and living space, but still.

In my case, I want a one-level house (multiple levels might be ok, but only if the levels are separated by one or two steps) with a separate office space, but that is connected to the main house (a corridor or something). With said office space, I want a meeting room AND a lecture room (as I probably will want to hold small workshops there).

Why two rooms instead of only having one that doubles, you might ask? Well, I firmly believe that you need a separate room to hold meetings with clients. Say that, for example, I want to teach a small workshop and my Mom, or any of my brothers, need to meet with a client. I am not going to interrupt my workshop on account of them having to have a meeting, right? That’s why I want them both separate.

I also want to design a small visitors’ parking space, separate from our garage. This would allow for clients to visit directly my (home) office and not have to park outside. The plot isn’t really all that big, but I saw what my friend did with 500 square metres, so I think I can do much more with 1,250 square metres. I’ll let you know if I actually manage to pack everything I want there!

Props to Darren for introducing me to Google Sketch (I haven’t installed yet but will do so when I get back to Vancouver). And of course, I also got some ideas from my dream house in Vancouver, the one I could not buy no matter how much I wanted to.

Go into the Flickr photo so that you can see my note on connecting the house and the studio.

My dream house’s studio (on 18th and Columbia)

Another really important point is that I want my house to be as green as possible. I have some understanding of the green building literature, and if I wanted to, I could be certified as a LEED Accredited Professional, but given that my research is more on the larger scale, urban/spatial environmental policy, I am not really all THAT interested in doing that. But still, I would be happy if I could find a Mexican architect who is knowledgeable in green building codes and practices, as I might entrust him/her with building my dream house.

For those of you interested, the Canadian Green Building Council has lots of resources on green buildings. One thing you can be assured of, regardless, is that my house will have recycled water and water-saving options, as well as energy-saving options. That, I can do without being LEED certified.

I felt naked…

Stop thinking dirty thoughts! I was just referring to how naked I felt yesterday afternoon when I forgot both my Flip video camera and my digital, point-and-shoot camera. Ever since I got more into blogging, vlogging and all that jazz (thank you Flickr, Vimeo, Viddler, Vodpod!) I’ve carried my equipment around to document things around Vancouver and elsewhere. Yesterday I couldn’t snap any shots of me looking all snazzy (in a beautiful suit that still fits me!) and that really upset me. Now, I feel naked unless I have some sort of camera with me…

Twitter, Gnomedex and holding an attention span

Several of my good friends, including Tanya, Tris, Airdrie and Derek, and DaveO just to mention a few, are at Gnomedex in Seattle and by the looks of it (just check Derek’s Flickr Gnomedex 8.0 set), having an absolutely great time. They have been attending talks and Twittering about it. While I did miss going to Gnomedex (Airdrie had already suggested earlier this year to try and make the time for it), I feel like I’m there thanks to all these fine individuals.

Now, while I read their tweets, I ponder how the speakers may feel about all this Twittering. Let me explain. When I started teaching using Blackboard and WebCT (both online collaborative tools), I felt slightly uneasy about having my students with their laptops open and on the internet. Why? Because I felt that there was a possibility that they would not be paying attention to my talk. I sometimes feel this way when I give a talk where I have a somewhat techie audience.

Truth be told, I didn’t feel this way when I presented earlier this year at WordCamp Fraser Valley, but somehow there were a lot less laptops there than I imagine are available at Gnomedex. And given the iPhone, you really don’t need a computer to be Twittering.

How do the speakers feel about this? I mean, part of me would be happy, even flattered that people are twittering about them and their thoughts as this means that their insights are being shared to a potentially worldwide audience. But there’s this inherent nagging feeling I have that somehow I’d wonder if they’re paying attention.

Maybe this isn’t as deep or insightful a reflection, but I just wonder if presenters at Gnomedex do care about capturing everybody’s attention or are more interested in getting the message out (thus caring less about whether they are being listened to, and more about whether those listeners are relaying and disseminating what they’re listening to a larger audience. Just thoughts here on a Friday night.

PS. One of the myriad reasons why I really hate not having gone to Gnomedex is not only that I’m not hanging out with my friends but also the fact that I REALLY wanted to meet Chris and Ponzi Pirillo. Every one of my friends say that they are really awesome and a great geek couple and would love to have had a chance to get to know them more. Hope they come up North for BarCamp Vancouver 2008!

Mexican mainstream media sucks: The case of the Mexican divers

By now, just about everyone knows that I have paid very little attention to the Beijing 2008 Olympics on my blog. There is a reason behind that. I really don’t care much for Olympic Games overall. I have played national-level and semi-international level, competitive volleyball and two of my brothers were highly ranked worldwide in other sports, so I know exactly how these things work. Unless a string of good luck strikes, competitive athletes (particularly amateur) are underfunded, underpaid, and generally, treated as second-class citizens (I can provide lots of real-life examples, so don’t come to me and tell me this isn’t the case).

However, I did follow with interest the performance of Olympic bronze-medalists Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz (in synchronized diving). These Mexican athletes proved that they are able to compete in the world stage (Mexico has a poor history of medal-achievements in many, many sports). Paola Espinosa was highly favored to rise to the podium given her latest good results.

However, today I read on the Mexican mainstream media coverage headlines like the following:

“Paola and Tatiana succumb to the Chinese divers”

“Paola and Tatiana lose against the Chinese divers”

And a series of other stupid headlines. The coverage is atrocious. The Mexican mainstream media is portraying Tatiana and Paola as losers. Nothing further from the truth. Espinosa and Ortiz ended the competition in 4th and 5th place, respectively. They finished the Olympic competition as two of the top 5 ranked divers worldwide.

I witnessed the competition and was really happy and pleasantly surprised with Tatiana and Paola’s performance. Having followed diving for a few years, I knew that some Mexican divers who were really good, ended up breaking down and having really poor performances at Worlds or Olympics because they caved to pressure.

However, this was never the case with Tatiana nor Paola. Instead of caving to the pressure and going for easier dives, they kept up with the rest of the divers (congratulations to the Canadian diver for a silver medal!). This showed the real competitive spirit of Tatiana and Paola. They kept fighting and gave a good fight (even though I still think that the judges heavily favored the Chinese divers). I am sure they’ll achieve a medal in London 2012.

Felicidades, Paola y Tatiana. Ustedes hicieron un gran papel..

Regardless of what the Mexican mainstream media says, Paola and Tatiana are winners. And in case everybody forgets, they are the first Mexican female divers to achieve a medal in Olympic games. For the record.