Almost over...

This semester is dragging, but I can finally see the end. I'm an hour away from submitting my final project for operations and then my last exam is on Monday night. One last weekend spent on homework. Woot!

After that, it's all about enjoying the summer in fast forward. On Tuesday, I'm going to see Paris Je T'aime at Cinema 5th Avenue, on Wednesday there's volleyball and then I'll try to make it to Vanier Park for the fireworks, Thursday is another football game with Scott and Sherri, Friday is dinner around Commercial with Lara and Gerri and then there's the BC Day long weekend. I'm sure I can find lots of fun things to do to fill three entire days OFF! Mom and Dad are coming to Vancouver on August 16 and we're doing a short trip to the Okanagan. Dina, Steve and family are also visiting Vancouver in August.

Can't wait.

Happy third!

July 18, 2007 was the mark of three years on A Frog in BC. Three years of writing semi-regularly about life on the West Coast. I'm not sure I ever thought this blog would become a permanent fixture in my life...

28 touching stories

Although I already have a fair volume of reading to do for school, I try to read other books as well, for balance. Reading before bed lets my brain disconnect from the crazy pace of the day. The latest book I just finished was touching and an eye-opener.

28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen puts faces on the 28 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Stephanie Nolen tells the stories of 28 individuals either living with AIDS or whom have had their lives impacted by AIDS: grandmothers raising their grandchildren because the parents have both died, AIDS activists, people who were infected by their partners, following an accident, middle class folks who no longer can afford the antiretroviral drugs to fight the disease, and even a prostitute exposed daily to AIDS but still testing negative.

The book could be depressing, but I found it, on the contrary, to be a source of inspiration and, hopefully, understanding. Within the boundaries of our culture, I find it challenging to understand and accept how others deal with the disease. How can a wife sleep with her husband without a condom even when she knows he is sick with the deadly disease, how can families and neighbors turn their backs on a person recently diagnosed, how come drugs and funds never reach the people they are meant to help? This book sheds a gentle light on some of the issues that have accelerated the spread of HIV/AIDS across the continent.

The battle seems impossible to win, yet people still fight. The determination and strength from people who have nothing is uplifting and humbling. I shall keep these brave individuals in mind when I find myself facing a hard day.

How I do it

I used to find that I never had enough time in a day to keep up with world news and new technology development while having to go through all the required readings for class. I found a way to address this with RSS.

You've probably seen the RSS logo on blogs and web sites, but most people don't really know what RSS is for. We did a short presentation in class about RSS and, in a class of 50+ MBA students (in a program called Management of Technology), the majority did not know what one could do with RSS.

Simply put: RSS allows you to subscribe to content on the web. Instead of visiting multiple sites to see if any new content was published (like you would visit A Frog in BC!), you subscribe to the RSS feed of a web site in a feed reader (also called aggregator). I use the Google Reader, it's free but requires a Google account (also free). Every time you access the reader, you can quickly browse through snippets of stories that were published by the various web sites you've subscribed to. If a story seems interesting, you click a link that redirects you to the source web site and can read the entire text.

I take 30 minutes at lunch to browse new content in my reader. I subscribed to feeds from the following sources:

• BBC News
• CIO.com
• David Airey - Creative design
• Eco Geek - Technology for the environment
• How to Change the World - Guy Kawasaki's blog
• Inhabitat
• Leading Blog - Leadership
• The Economist
• World Changing

On average, these sites have 2-5 new stories every day (except for BBC News and The Economist, they tend to publish a slightly larger number). If I had to chase this content around, I don't think 30 minutes would be enough.

That's how I do it. If you also use a reader to keep up to date with your favourite web site, you can also add A Frog in BC to your list of subscriptions! Just look for the web site by name.

That's hard

Having to go to class after a long day at work is hard. Having to sit at the computer all day throughout the entire weekend when it's sunny and warm outside is harder. Knowing that your friends are at the beach while you're sitting in front of the computer is brutal... Focus, FOCUS!

I had a quick call this week with a contact from university who recommended a few key people that I could get in touch with to find a final project. I'm very excited about some of the opportunities he pointed me to. There's a lot of great work being done around corporate sustainability in Vancouver. I spent this morning researching these opportunities and e-mailing people to offer my help with analyzing and recommending an approach to an existing business problem. Cross your fingers!

Last night, I had a pleasant dining experience with Lara and Gerri, at a restaurant called Chill Winston located in Gastown. The food was excellent, the ambiance was relaxed yet trendy and the crowd was around our age, a mix of artsy and business. People were having animated discussions, laughing, enjoying dishes such as venison medallions (this is what I had, melted in your mouth), tuna tartar (shared as an appetizer) and Alaskan scallops. The lovely owner, Sonia, came to our table to chat and ask about our dining experience. And you can't get more Vancouver than using a black crow as your logo. The birds own this city!

OK, quick lunch for me now and back to work. I have a final paper due for my operations class and it's not going to write itself ;)

Hot summer!

It must be July. Yup, it's sunny and hot in Vancouver, really quite lovely. Might not be so great when I play beach volleyball tomorrow, but otherwise, who am I to complain.

Hallelujah! I finally have a passport. It only took, what, four months? Even though I hadn't really planned to travel anywhere, I felt so naked. What if I had to travel? I know!

I'm spending lots of time these days on my final project for one course, and preparing to possibly start my final MBA project in the fall. I don't have classes in September and was originally thinking I should take a semester off. Recently, I was wondering if that would be a good idea, taking a long break and having to go back to school in January. If I can find a project (hence the mad research work these days) and get it approved by August 10, I'm going to put my head down and stay in school instead. At least I won't have any evening classes.

If this plan works, I would have only one course left in January and could graduate early. Not bad.

Talent

I was looking at old pictures on my Flickr site when I came across a comment from my cousin Marylene. Her comment had a link to her own Flickr account and that's how I discovered that we have some serious talent in the family.

Check out A Sheep's Mind, Marylene's photoblog. There are some good pictures, I already have my favorites including this one of her and her boyfriend, and this one of an experiment involving Sprite and grapes. Warning! The pictures are fairly large and will take a few seconds to load. You can also see them in a smaller format on her Flickr site.

My brother is also an excellent photographer, I just wish he would share his pictures with the rest of the world (hint hint). Actually, I'd like to make a special request for my upcoming birthday: I would like to do a photo session with you bro. I don't have many nice pictures of myself and it would be fun to take a few next time I visit Montreal (I'll be there in September for Anaïs' wedding). What do you say?

Better weather than originally planned = busy weekend

Wow, way to pack three days Mel. Not with homework, work work, but just fun activities with friends.

Let me see. There was a stagette on Friday for a colleague from work. We had dinner at Brix in Yaletown and then watched live improv at Theatersports on Granville Island. I have a lot of admiration for people who can do improvisation, I can't imagine trying to come up with witty remarks in front of a live audience. Kudos to these guys. A few sketches were really funny.

Then, Sarah and I had initially thought we would go climbing on Saturday because it was supposed to pour, but the weather was sunny and warm, so we had a little change of plans. Accompanied by Lara, we rented a powerboat (well, somewhat powerful, more like a floating deck) and went cruising around the harbour. We packed a picnic, a few beers, and enjoyed the scenery from the water. Amazing how many people were out, especially sailboats. It was very windy on the water.

I was impressed by the crowds on Granville Island. The place is always a zoo in the summer, but for Canada Day (and because of the Jazz Festival), there were people occupying every nook of the place. This year is the second year in a row that the Vancouver Jazz Festival has outdoors concerts, and they are really popular.

Today was another sunny day. Some clouds moved in during the afternoon but we didn't get any rain. Lara has visited Whistler in the past, but always when the weather wasn't cooperating and she never had a chance to see the view from the top. We decided to take a little trip up to the mountains in a cute yellow Mini Cooper from the car co-op. Weeeee!

I'll be spending quite a bit of time with Lara in the next 30 days because she is moving back to Montreal in August. I am so sad to see her leave, our relationship has strengthen in the past three years that she's been living in Vancouver and I am now losing my best friend. I know we'll keep in touch virtually and see each other probably once a year in person, but it won't be the same. I'll miss her terribly.