Last year, my friend John Bollwitt wrote a really insightful post where he mused about when is the right point to stop offering your services for free. You should really read the full post, but the sentence that definitely touched a nerve with me was this one.
The part that gets sketchy is when you are asked for your services and not expected to be compensated for them. [John Bollwitt]
I started meditating about this issue shortly after I received a tweet from Mike Jagger who indicated “you are the Mother Theresa of liveblogs“. That, and the sentence above just absolutely triggered a thinking process around the wrong perception that I give out my services for free. Nothing further from the truth. I don’t want to nor do I plan to be the Mother Theresa of liveblogs. I would like people to appreciate the value of my time, the value of my writing and the value of my research skills. I don’t write “for the exposure“. I *have* the exposure, thank you very much! And bottom line? I write for myself, so whether people read my content or not is not one of my concerns, nor is it being “seen”.
I have volunteered my time for the Vancouver social media/tech community to extreme lengths. I am not self-absorbed or self-congratulatory in saying this, I am just being truthful. I have liveblogged numerous events for free. I have covered many events for free. This doesn’t mean that I have de-valued my own work: it means that I am interested in giving back to the community in the spirit of “paying it forward”. However, I work as a freelancer. I am NOT a freebie. Don’t mistake my generosity for lack of appreciation for my own value.
If people are expecting me to liveblog an event just “‘because” they may probably find that I will decide NOT to do it. Liveblogging, writing content for blogs, reporting on events, etc. are just a few examples of actual services, and people need to learn that they should be paid and rewarded. The perceptions that just because we are bloggers we should feel happy that we get invited to events or that anybody can liveblog an event are completely erroneous. Of course, everybody with some degree of knowledge of computers and technology can fire up a liveblogging event on Cover It Live. That’s not that difficult. It’s the skill required to capture the thoughts and meanings of a speaker that is an acquired, honed and valuable skill. Refusing to pay for a service that is provided is tantamount to trying to get a freebie.
For example, when you go for a consultation with a doctor (medical doctor, MD) or a psychologist or a counsellor, do peoplereally expect to go in, and come out and NOT pay anything? No, right? Then why would people think that they can come, ask me a barrage of questions and expect an in-house, one-on-one, free consultation? I have no clue why, but this has happened to me, more times than I care to remember.
There is a big difference when I deal with my friends. For example, if somebody who is a friend of mine tells me “hey can you translate this short sentence for me” (in any of the languages I speak) I am more than happy to do so. If somebody tells me to spend an hour of my time translating, I’m expecting that either (a) the person asking is a very close friend, and he/she will appreciate what I do and (b) the relationship is so reciprocal that asking a favor back will never be an issue. Or (c) that they are going to pay my translation fee.
I would really like to change people’s perceptions that everything can come for free (or be bartered). That’s not true. As Rebecca Bollwitt noted on her post on bloggers for hire, “bloggers who produce strong, insightful, creative and intelligently content have great value.” Bloggers, consultants, freelancers, researchers, all provide important services, and as such, should be rewarded.
Last year, when I was in the process of establishing more of a consulting practice in social media, I asked how to establish pricing strategies in this field, one that wasn’t really mine from the get-go. Right now, I think of social media as just one more of the fields that I consult on, simply because I have accumulated experience organizing social media conferences, giving talks, testing the tools, writing content, and establishing relationships. I have a PhD in environmental studies, that’s where my initial consulting work is. Social media is my “side job”.
As I mentioned in a comment I posted on John’s excellent post, your knowledge is your currency. I spent numerous years doing rigorous research and becoming a specialist in the fields I have expertise in. If anybody wants my knowledge, it comes at a price. I am wondering how do other freelancers/consultants/writers/bloggers feel about this topic. I know it’s touchy and thorny, but I wanted to put it out there.
On this blog, I write about a variety of themes, but I figured the predominant element that permeates anything that I do is the fact that my research is in environmental issues and that I have a doctorate in environmental studies. To that end, I used the same theme to choose the Top 5 environmental films I’m looking forward to seeing at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF ’09).
The Backyard (El Traspatio) – A Mexican film that is situated in the Northern border region in Mexico (Ciudad Juárez) and speaks to themes of poverty, cross-border pollution and environmental justice. I really hope to have a chance to see this one, as it is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz: Perils and Promises of Globalization – I’ve followed the work of Professor Stiglitz and in particular, his work on poverty. I am really looking forward to seeing this one. I’m not an anti-globalization scholar, but I always have wondered how other people examine the negative effect of globalization.
Way of Nature – A Swedish film that looks at agricultural production and life on a farm as seasons pass through. I have spent many years studying the leather and footwear commodity chain yet I have neglected to explore more the environmental effects and the economic geography of farming.
At the Edge of the World – A documentary about the commercial whaling industry in Japan and the activists’ battles against this. I have conducted very, very little research on marine affairs despite the fact that my office was located in a building filled with some of the world’s best fisheries scientists. I’d like to learn more about these issues.
H2Oil – a Canadian documentary about the Athabasca tar sands. I have done research on pollution for many years, and in wastewater in particular, so this is the kind of film I should not be missing. This is definitely one I will do my very best to attend. And this is the one for which I could find the actual trailer to embed.
I will be giving away TWO pairs of tickets to one of these films. To win, all you need to do is drop a comment on this post. I’ll draw the winner tomorrow (Wednesday September 30th) at 4pm (given that VIFF starts on October 1st!). So act fast, and re-tweet at will!
Note – These tickets will grant access to any film except the galas, films that are sold out or that only have rush/door tickets available.
I remember as a child having read an article about how“it takes 21 days to form a habit”. I think it might have been in “Reader’s Digest” (this magazine used to be extremely popular in Mexico, and particularly in my household). I have tested it before, with varying degrees of success (mostly, having succeeded, but sometimes not).
I always wanted to know if it rang true only because I was convincing myself that I already had a new habit or whether it worked and I was just verifying the existence of said habit. What did I do? I set out to prove this statement again, using myself as the lab rat.
You may remember that I used to be a night owl. I still think that, to some extent, I *am* a nocturne creature. However, because of the fact that in the past couple of months I have had many more client meetings to attend in the morning, I decided to start shifting my behavioral patterns and wake up early in the morning and work through the day.
I still put in 12-15 hours/day of work, and some nights I do some work late. But I still wake up early in the morning and follow the same routine. I’m working by (at the latest) 8:00am. And I have to say that all those entries I found on Google, and that magazine article I read when I was a child, do work. Today is the 21st day that I’ve been waking up early and starting work at the very latest by 8:00am regardless of how late I go to sleep, and I feel fantastic.
I had thought of writing a review of Chutney Villa (see the menu here) the first time that I went there but I never managed to get around it so the second time I went there with JT I became determined to write a review as I’ve noticed that I keep visiting new restaurants and not writing about my experiences there. Lately, my blog has had a lot of focus on theatre, and my own personal stuff, and less on restaurants, so I figured I had to ramp up the foodie content.
You might be wondering why the heck I took photos of the decor (very pretty) instead of the food? Well, the truth is, we ate SO FAST I didn’t even have a chance to take photos. I know that my friend Degan took photos (as I found them on her Flickr account). We both ordered taali chicken kurma which came with rice, veggies, chutney, pachadi, rasam, vadai, and dessert. I would say that, while really tasty, I found the portions small.
The cuisine at Chutney Villa is primarily South Indian (yes, there are varying cuisines throughout India!). While not too inexpensive, it’s not really outrageously expensive either. I’d recommend it as a good example of well-made Indian food (although Nirvana just a couple of blocks away is good too!). Overall, nice food and great ambiance.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending one of the last performances of Bard on the Beach’s production of Shakespeare’s Othello with my good friend Erica Hargreave. After the performance was over, we decided to go for a walk and we stumbled upon Watermark (on Kitsilano Beach). I had been curious to try Watermark for a while so we settled in the upper lounge of Watermark for a drink.
Watermark recently announced a super deal with dinner for two, 3 courses meal, and a bottle of wine for $80 – that’s a complete steal! Erica ordered a rose wine that wasn’t all that great, but my two martinis were excellent. Not a bad price, around $ 8.50 (which is standard right now in almost all places in Vancouver). Overall, I had a great time. Haven’t tried the food yet but I’ll definitely consider coming back.
I’m not much of a baker, but I’ll admit that I love it when my friends bake goodies for me. So I was thrilled when Connie Mar informed me about Baker’s Market. Since it’s Saturday, I’m going to be lazy and just post the link so that you can check the dates (goes through the month of October 2009).
As I write this, I am sitting in my living room, surrounded by darkness and numerous candle lights. I have spent the better part of this Friday evening cleaning up my apartment, cooking dinner, making a few phone calls to close friends and my brother, reading blogs online, doing some writing and watching TV.
As I write this, I realize that I have a duality within me that I’ve tried to escape. I am the hummingbird, the fleeting little bird who flies from flower to flower, from event to event, whose attention span is limited to mere nanoseconds. Yet, spending an evening with myself and the couch, cleaning up my apartment floors, washing dishes and listening to sometimes unrecognizable voices on the TV screen, I realize that I like being a polar bear. I like my time alone.
As I write this, I cherish the connectedness of having a Twitter open, yet the isolation of being in a different location and space than my fellow Twitterers. And I enjoy the fact that I can establish a connection yet I can also isolate myself should I wish to do so.
How dual I am? Quite a lot, if you ask me. I’m an introverted extrovert. I love people yet I cherish my time with myself. I am loving and passionate yet analytical and cerebral. I’m two merged in one.
I have always recognized that my apartment is a tiny, tiny place. I have never had a problem with that. I think living modestly has absolutely no bearing on who I am. When I lived with my parents, I used to live in a huge house, with backyard and garage for three cars.
In Vancouver, living in a small place is the story of many single people. Heck, it’s the story of many married or attached people. The one thing that I have found as time goes by is that very few things make me happier than beautifying my apartment. Making it feel more like home. So my latest purchase was this 2 seater breakfast table with glass counter top.
My coffee table is also metallic and has a glass top. I may need to give my other dining table to either my good friend and neighbour DMcN or to a good home, but for now, I feel that I made the best decision in the past few weeks by acquiring (quite coincidentally) this dining set (I have read somewhere that these two-seaters are called dinettes).
And you have NO idea how much better I feel now. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better thing to do on a Friday night than clean my floors and rearrange my dining area. It won’t look exactly like the diagram I show above (which, by the way, was created in Visio) but the seating arrangement will be somewhat similar.
My friends from Invoke invited me to give away a pair of tickets to the movie “The Idiot Cycle”, which premieres tonight … from their email
The Idiot Cycle – What You Aren’t Being Told About Cancer is a film about how cancer starts, and how to stop the cycle.
“Today we are bombarded with 18 million man made chemicals, many that have mixed in the environment to form new chemicals. Only 2,000 of these synthetic man made chemicals have full toxicological profiles. No government in the world knows which chemicals are in what consumer products and at what quantities.”
The trailer can be seen below
I have a pair of tickets for myself (but unfortunately I can’t make it) and a pair of tickets for my readers. If you want to do a guest review of the movie (published here on my blog) please drop a comment and I’ll give you my tickets for you to be able to see it and review it. The winners of my readers’ tickets will be drawn from the first one on Twitter to shout “I want them tickets”
It is a reality that I need a new haircut. I actually probably also need a new hair style. So, when Ray informed me about Toni & Guy offering their services on Sunday September 27th, on a “Pay What You Can” basis (a model that organic, local Rhizome restaurant popularized with their lentil soup) I couldn’t help but start thinking “um, what should my new hair style look like?
As if it wasn’t good enough with this crazy deal (only valid for in-person bookings at their Vancouver salon, from 11:00am to 5:00pm), all proceeds go to the David Suzuki Foundation (a sustainability-related cause that, as you know, is near and dear to my heart – quite obviously, since I hold a PhD in Environmental Studies). So, I would recommend that you show up early. You might find me standing in line to get an appointment for a new hair style!
I love the local theatre scene, and I’m very excited about the 2009-2010 season. Via Andrew Templeton (of Biographies fame), I heard about The House of Kosa, a TigerMilk production happening at the PAL Theatre (which you may all remember because I wrote about The 21st Floor, the very first-ever production to which my friend Simon Ogden invited me to).
This particular production (House of Kosa) seems to be focused on fashion and I’m always curious to see how people construct (or de-construct) their perceptions of the haute couture industry.
A chorus of models, moonlighting as seamstresses in a basement sweatshop, unweave the twisted workings of the family that inhabit the House above them. The Mother (played by celebrated dancer/choreographer, Barbara Bourget) is in the attic creating the intricate designs, while devising the future of her family. The Father (Michael Springate) is at the breakfast table encouraging his Daughter (Kirsten Slenning) to recount her latest tale of front page debauchery.
I might (not sure yet) have some tickets to give away. [Correction – I DO have a pair of tickets to give away – I’ll draw the winner on Tuesday September 29th at 2pm] If that’s the case, I’ll update the post. At any rate, tickets are $20/ $17 and can be purchased online at VancouverTix or by phone at 604-629-VTIX. It’s amazing. Despite the cuts to the arts, our theatre scene is still blossoming. Kudos!
I woke up this morning to find that GMail was down. First, let me clarify that I didn’t have any problems accessing my own email, but I couldn’t talk via Google Chat with any of my contacts. Then, I checked on Twitter and noticed that everyone, from Adam Ostrow (Mashable) to my friend Tris Hussey (M2O) was complaining about GMail and reminding themselves of alternative modes of backup.
I have several Hotmail accounts, a Yahoo and a UBC IMAP account that I have never connected to GMail. Why? Precisely because of this. The minute I become 100% dependent on GMail, the minute I won’t be able to do my work. Of course, I know that there are things that I have on my GMail that are client-associated, and that’s a bit scary. Yet, I feel completely confident that if I need to clarify anything, I can just simply send a tweet, or pick up the phone and call.
My friends Jay Grandin and Leah Nelson from Giant Ant Media traveled to Dar es Salaam to help a youth group record a hip hop album. The CD release party is on Thursday September 24th, from 6-10pm. It’ll be really hard for me to attend since I’m also going to Timeraiser and to the AmuseConsulting tweetup, but I’ll try to make it. You can even win a free CD if you enter a contest! Details on the party are here.
Via Alex Maurer, I found out about the only Canadian entry to the Greensburg (Kansas) competition The Chain of Eco-Homes. The Passive Eco-Home, with 1400 sq ft, is the only BC (and only the second Canadian) entry to the competition. As per Alex’s words
We are the only BC participant (only one other Canadian) out of over 250 contestants from 13 countries. It is our first competition and we can use every vote we can get quite frankly. Maybe of interest to your blogreaders and you to support us if you/they like what you see.
Frankly, I am always a big supporter of BC-based businesses, so if you feel so inclined, please go and vote for them.
Last week I wrote a quick homage to libraries in general, and to the Burnaby Public Library (BPL) in particular. I went to graduate school (both Masters and PhD) at UBC, so I never bothered to get a Vancouver Public Library (VPL) card. At the time, VPL used to charge anyone who lived on campus to get a VPL card, and since I lived there and I had access to all of UBC’s libraries, I thought to myself “uh, why bother? I have all the academic resources I need here”.
But the truth is, now that my office is (well, it’s been for a year) downtown Vancouver, and seeing as I continue to do research, I need additional access to libraries. I have Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre campus (and Belzberg Library) right across from my office and UBC Robson Square a few blocks away, but I am proud and delighted I am now the owner of a Vancouver Public Library card. VPL is also on Twitter. I’m a happy camper… now, New Westminster, Coquitlam and North Vancouver Public Libraries, here I come!
I love George Stroumboulopoulos (aka George Strombo) and I’m pretty sure many Vancouverites do too. I also like dark comedy. The folks at ComedyFest have kindly sponsored tickets for a quick contest for Edge of the Fest with George Strombo on Saturday, September 26th, 2009 at The Vogue (8:00pm) and for the show Out of Bounce my Ass double feature at The Cultch on Fri. Sept. 25, 7 pm/9pm (NOTE – the latter double-feature show is pretty non-politically correct and dark – so you’ve been warned!). If you want to win, drop a comment on this post and I’ll draw a winner tomorrow (Sep 23rd) at 2pm. Since I’m drawing tickets to two shows, I’ll do two draws at the same time. Will announce winners here and on Twitter.
I am flirtatious by nature. I just needed this quiz to confirm it.
You Are a Natural Flirt
You are a true people person, and you find it easy to relate to others.
So when you’re into someone, you can’t help but broadcast it.
For you, complementing, smiling, and touching is second nature. You like making people feel good.
In fact, you may be accused of flirting when all you’re doing is being friendly. Sometimes you accidentally send out the wrong signals.
Everyone always complains that I NEVER publish a happy birthday to me post so that they can wish me a good birthday so here it is. Thanks everyone for making me feel so loved.
I rarely, very very very rarely shout. Not on Twitter, not on Facebook, not on any platform. And not even in real life. This morning, while trying to create a Facebook event, I tried to email all my friends to share it with them (it’s on my Facebook profile now, but still not shared with my friends thanks to annoying Facebook). I shouted on Twitter how much I hated it (and yes, I deleted that tweet by now).
I feel really bad about that. I’m passionate, yes. I live my life to the fullest, yes. I can’t do anything in the middle. I’m not a middle-of-the-ground kind of guy. I love, and I hate. I enjoy and I suffer. And everything I do, I do intensely. I know that there’s something to be said for being level, and I definitely are 99.9 % of the time (I am a Virgo, after all). But today, I just couldn’t cope.
So, I’m going to echo my good friend Susie Gardner in saying “I’m breaking up with you, technology. It’s not me, it’s YOU”
🙂
Hope you all are doing well on this Friday afternoon. I’m heading out for some fresh air and errands.
So I went to Launch Party Vancouver 8 the other night. The party itself was fantastic, something that should not be a surprise to anyone. The folks at Strutta and the Bootup Labs Entrepreneurial Society really know how to throw a party. That said, I was faced with the most expensive martini I’ve received ($ 14). Admittedly, there are more than one lounge in Vancouver that serves martinis in the $10-15 range. However, the martinis I’ve drank at those lounges are WAY better than this one. And I *knew* from the get-go that I was going to pay $ 15.
Now, the thing that really irked me was that the bill was totally a surprise to me. I bought a drink for myself and I asked the bartender for a martini. She did a 1 oz gin and tonic for Chris, whereas she prepared a mixed drink with two shots in a martini glass without a stem. Sure, you can say that I could expect to pay a bit more for a 2oz, but to charge me $7 for the first shot and $7 for the second shot is really something that surprised me. A 2 oz martini usually will go from $7 (at Cafe Crepe) to $14 (at say, Voya). But … dude, Voya martinis are like, REAL martinis.
I don’t usually rant about how expensive a drink is, unless I think I was charged without my consent or without being informed or when the drinks is badly made. Really, if I want good, solid and well-made martinis, I have a HUGE selection of places to go (there’s for starters 1181 and Delilah’s). Circa Restaurant Lounge will definitely NOT be the place where I’ll get my next drink, that’s for sure.
The catering for LPV8 was really well done, so I won’t chide them on that. The food was fantastic. The service? Impeccable. But not having a drink menu where I can see how much I’m paying for a 1 shot and 2 shot drink and then be charged that way? Um, that’s a no no. This is not the first time that something like this (“hey you want me to make you a martini?” and then double-charge me) has happened, so I’ll be more careful next time I’m out drinking with friends.
The folks at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival have treated me extraordinarily well, and they have been kind enough to offer a pair of tickets to the closing film of VLAFF, “La Buena Vida” (The Good Life). You may remember that this year’s country of focus (2009) was Chile. Well, La Buena Vida is a Chilean/Spaniard co-production.
La Buena Vida tells the story of four characters – Teresa, Edmundo, Mario and Patricia – in Santiago, Chile, in 2008. All are strangers to each other, but live in the same bustling city. All of them are chasing their dreams: Teresa tries to save lives as a psychologist; Edmundo is a hairdresser who dreams of owning a car; Mario wishes to join the Philharmonic; and Patricia works on surviving daily life. As they follow their dreams, but struggle with misfortune, each of the characters will be surprised by where life takes them.
Drop a comment on this post any time before 4pm on Friday September 18th, 2009 and I’ll draw the winner at 4pm and announce it both on Twitter and here on this post. Thanks again to VLAFF for sponsoring this contest!
NOTE – La Buena Vida will be shown at 7pm on Sunday September 20th, 2009 Granville 7 Cinemas (GR 7) at 855 Granville Street (at Robson).
Anyone who thinks that Vancouver is a dull, no-fun-city, need only to start searching online for things to do. One of the most fun festivals that I have been recently invited to, ComedyFest, is taking place right now (from September 17th to the 27th). I have been reviewing the lineup and I’m quite impressed. Steve Martin (whom I absolutely adore, particularly in his Cheaper by the Dozen 1 and 2 roles as the father of a 12 kids troupe), George Strombolopoulos (who is considered Canada’s boyfriend – heck, if George is Canada’s boyfriend, what am I? chopped liver? hehehe), Tom Arnold (whom I really like as a comedian) and Arrested Development’s David Cross.
I have been offered a pair of tickets for my readers (a pair to one of two shows, so in total, 2 sets of tickets). I’ll be announcing a contest in the next few days. In the mean time, I would encourage you to check the lineup. You can find them on Twitter @VancouverComedy and Facebook so you can check them out.
The feature I was looking forward to testing the most was the scan-to-PDF, since that’s one of the features we geeks would need the most. Imagine this scenario – someone sends you a piece of paper to sign (a document in PDF format). So you have to print it, scan it to PDF, sign it and then send it back. I recently had to do this with a licensing agreement for one of the book chapters I’m publishing this year. I couldn’t do it because the scan-to-PDF feature would not allow me to do so.
In my opinion, this is not a fault of the printer, but an unfortunate feature of ever-evolving software. Since I’m running Windows Vista (an operating system that I find incredibly cumbersome), it’s hard to set up the scanners (despite the fact that apparently, the scanner is already set up). I grew increasingly frustrated and searched on Google for solutions, to no avail. I am not alone in this, I have tracked my own website’s stats and searches for “how to get help to make the HP PhotoSmart C309 work for scan to PDF” are relatively frequent. I think this is something that must be easily fixed and that should be in the help (I read the manual but didn’t find an easy explanation as to why this happens.
My laptop has frozen a few times waiting for the printout to come out, and there have been a couple of times when printing will not happen unless I re-start the printer (and sometimes, my laptop). I think that this is just a little glitch with the wireless setup. Overall, it’s a printer that will do what you need it to do (copy, print in color, black and white, double-sided printing, etc.) – the only feature I haven’t gotten to work is the scan-to-PDF. I’ll have to continue testing and update this post. It’s definitely an interesting and valuable printer, worth checking out.
I’d be interested in reading what other users have said. I’ve seen traffic come to my posts from searches on Google and Bing for this printer. Drop a note in the comments section if you’ve used it.
I wrote this review of the HP PhotoSmart Premium Fax Series C309 as part of a blogger relations program by Hill and Knowlton on behalf of their client HP Canada. I am not paid to write the review. HP Canada has made it clear that I can keep the printer should I desire to do so. In any review I write, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions or should your company want to send me a product for review, feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.
Shakespeare sure knew how to portray jealousy. I was already in love with anything Shakespeare, but now I can proclaim that I am an absolutely adoring fan of both Shakespeare and the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, now in its 20th Anniversary season. I was delighted to have Erica Hargreave join me for a superb performance of Othello, the tragedy of a man who is originally absolutely infatuated with his lovely wife, but then becomes insanely jealous. I have seen Othello in various incarnations in multiple languages (before this, a French adaptation).
The fact of the matter is that misplaced jealously drives people apart, no matter what. At the core of Bard’s “Othello” we find an extremely talented cast that unveil the intricacies of interpersonal relationships. Iago plants the seed of fear of infidelity and deception in Othello, while Desdemona does good things that can be misconstrued as bad. Overall, I really enjoyed the performance and even though it was a 1:00pm show, the Kitsilano Beach tent at Bard was fully packed. The cast’s acting is excellent although I found the play a bit on the long side (3 hours almost). This is, however, not a surprise. Shakespeare loved to take his sweet time developing a character’s storyline.
I would strongly recommend you to attend Othello, although Bard may be sold out by now. You can check online about availabilities and ticket prices. Thankfully, I got to share this experience with Erica, we both thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I do hope that I’ll have a chance to enjoy Bard in 2010. I really enjoyed all the previousshows I attended.
Disclosure: The tickets to attend the play and a previous pair of tickets for a lucky reader were sponsored very generously by Bard on the Beach. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.
I am a born bookworm. When I was a little kid, my parents would be forced give me books instead of toys. Why? Because I asked for books rather than new toys. I used to read on average 60 books a month, and I’ve explored anything from English literature to criminology to interior design to gardening. My reading, while not the same lightning bolt speed, is still very solid. For those of you who love it when I share little tidbits of my personal life, one of the things I have studied is indeed library science. Yeah, as if I didn’t have enough with dancing, theatre, school and volleyball, I also read books on how to classify books.
I did the cataloging of my family’s library (yes, I used the Dewey decimal classification system – this was before the Library of Congress system was adopted worldwide). I created a database with all of our books, and whenever my brothers or parents would loan a book to other members of our family, I would have a sign-out sheet and cards on the back-covers of each book.
Thus, it should not come as a surprise that I shivered and almost shed a tear when I signed up for my Burnaby Public Library card. Yeah, I get emotional around books. I wouldn’t have done a PhD if I hadn’t been consumed by a love of learning and fascinated by books. The big shocker to you should be that in all my years of living in Vancouver, I have never obtained a Vancouver Public Library card. And now, I have a BPL one, which means that my next step is getting my VPL user card.
The Burnaby Public Library has branches in Metrotown, McGill, Cameron and Kingsway. The BPL recently hosted a Rock Band competition for teenagers, and has many interesting programs. While I was here (at the branch near Metrotown, on Burnaby’s Municipal Square) after having had a great chat with Jason from the Burnaby Board of Trade, I wanted to focus on doing some academic and research work and I found it interesting that almost ALL the study carrels (very nicely designed, I might add) were full. I am always delighted when public services are fully utilized by their local communities. I’ll definitely be a regular customer of the BPL.
BPL is a member of the Public Library InterLink system, which enables you to borrow library materials from any InterLINK library simply by registering your card.
