Category Archives: The Cultural Landscape

Make Me Feel Important

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A good friend recently had her second child and instead of a baby shower, she had a small gathering where guests shared stories and our wishes for her journey through birth and into becoming a mother of two children.  It was refreshing to be a part of an intentional conversation that created space to tell a loved one how I feel about her.  People were shy at first but the group warmed up quickly and it felt great.

I was at a corporate event last night and 10 speakers took to the stage to share parts of their personal lives with their colleagues.  It was so cool.  Everyone spoke on different topics but the common thread was that they all spoke about what they really cared about.  Again, it was so refreshing to be a part of a conversation that was positive and personal.

I met a brilliant CEO last week who talked about how it’s easy to find people to work for her because she looks for people who lead with their hearts.  How awesome is that?  And how refreshing to learn that a business executive makes hiring decisions that way.

Thinking about these three moments, I realized that they were refreshing because they’re rare.  In our device-equipped society, we spend so much time computing, commuting, and snoozing that there’s not a lot of time left for real connections.  Don’t get me wrong, I love blogs and read a bunch regularly.  And lots of them are very personal.  But unless you know the person writing, it’s just not the same damn thing as talking face-to-face.  And I mean really talking.  Having lean-in moments that you find yourself thinking about for days afterward.   And maybe telling other friends about too.

So why is it rare?  Well, for one thing you need to be present to have those magical moments.  And it’s kind of tiring to be present all the time.  Especially when there’s so much good stuff around us to help us tune-out.  You have to work at it and be open to whatever comes your way.  Which means there’s a degree of vulnerability that comes with being real.  Like, you might say or do something silly and then feel silly then people will think you’re silly and you’ll wish you had of just been cool like The Fonz and didn’t say or do anything in the first place.  But I think The Fonz was as unsure as the rest of us and he needed love too.  Not just ladies, but real love.  Plus, he was just pretend anyway.

It’s so easy to slip into our same old soundtrack of negativity and self-doubt.  And it’s easy to be a part of gossip and useless sharing.  But there comes a point when that’s just way too boring for our spirits and those rare moments become the norm.  There’s nothing like a personal connection and as Claudia Garcia so beautifully says: “pretend that everyone you meet has a sign around their neck that says ‘make me feel important’”.  Then the potential to make those connections is limitless.  Love it – thanks cgg!

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Masthead photo from Franck Mahon’s photostream on Flickr

A Hunch about Lunch

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One of the most important communities in daily life is the work community. What do I look for in a workplace community? Well, there are a few key factors, but the latest to be added to my wish list is ‘a place where people eat lunch”.

Sharing a meal is one of the most powerful ways to build community and being “a place where people eat lunch” can benefit a workplace both culturally and in terms of productivity. Unfortunately, I have been noticing a major absence of shared meals in my working life and have heard this same thing echoed among many of my peers. I’m starting to think I’m going to have to move to Europe to locate this appreciation for the mid-day meal.

North American Culture prides itself on hard work and ambition. Michael Pollan, in his book, In Defense of Food; An Eater’s Manifesto, suggests that as an effect of this ideology, North American’s view food as merely utilitarian fuel rather than something to be enjoyed for it’s own sake. He brings up several examples of the stark difference between North American attitudes to food as compared to European attitudes the most striking example given is a comparison where American and French people are shown a picture of a piece of chocolate cake and asked what word it brings to mind. The most common American reaction is “guilt” while the most common French reaction is “celebration”!

Perhaps it can be chalked up to the fact that I was raised with a European attitude towards food, but I do not believe that eating a protein bar at my desk can be classified as lunch. Nor do I believe that it can have any long-term benefits to my employer or my career. I can see some very real and lasting benefits however, in taking a ½ hour to share a meal with my co-workers.

Sharing a meal is the fastest way to establish shared experiences, which are the building blocks of community. With strong community comes creativity because two heads really are better than one (and all heads are significantly more powerful when they receive more than just caffeine as a stimulus).  Creativity can invigorate a workplace and make its entire workforce more productive and motivated in all of their working hours.

Each of these outcomes produces more powerful benefits than that extra ½ hour in front of the computer and these are just a few of the benefits to be had when you turn your work place into a place where people eat lunch. If you aren’t lucky enough to work in one of these places already, why don’t you try something new for lunch today?

No Fun Couver Revisited

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Thanks to Rena Warren at Capricornucopia Artworks for sharing!

We had what I call a Tipping Point party in Kelowna the other night: a party where groups of people got together who normally wouldn’t associate simply because they work and play in different social worlds – accountants, employment counsellors, computer programmers, urban planners, landscapers, sales managers and teachers – and I told a story I read through John Horn’s post about Joel Plaskett. Apparently Joel Plaskett refuses to come back to Kelowna because the crowds here are dead.

Here are some important disclosures about me: 1) I’m not from Kelowna, I’m from Vancouver, so I bring an outsider’s perspective and ask lots of annoying questions; 2) I meet exceptional people everyday in Kelowna, but on the whole often agree with Joel. A friend once asked me whether someday I will ever tell people I’m from Kelowna (I always say, “I live in Kelowna, but I’m from Vancouver”). My answer was “Not yet”. But someday I hope I feel differently.

Several years ago, I went to a groundbreaking show at a downtown Kelowna pub where local hero Shane Koyczan opened for Danny Michel.  I’d never heard Danny Michel before and I was stunned when he walked on stage, just him and an electric guitar, and provided the most sonically cool and rip-rockin’ show that one man could make.  Absolutely unbelievable. I’ve been a Danny Michel fan ever since.

Unfortunately I was also very drunk on the occasion – I had chosen to drink stout beer all evening which results in heavy lips and heavy feet – and my most vivid memory of the concert was of me falling on my face on the way to the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was also the loudest noise from the crowd that evening. No cheers, no catcalls, no song requests. And yet, the music that Danny Michel performed that night would’ve started a riot in Montreal, it was that good.

Thanks to Rena Warren at Capricornucopia Artworks for sharing!

So I shared Joel Plaskett’s comments at our party, and instead of angry responses, I got sheepish ones.   Apparently it’s a well-known fact around here that Kelowna has reserved crowds. If you want to go to a great concert, you make plans to leave Kelowna, you go to Vancouver or Washington. Even at hockey games, no one cheers very hard until the playoffs.

A friend of mine who moved to Revelstoke told me an interesting story about the Junior B hockey team there which regularly scored low attendances.  A funny cultural shift happened when Revelstoke became a destination of choice for sports-obsessed Australians looking to work abroad at a ski hill. Australians quickly learn that junior hockey is hard, fast and violent – all the things that Aussies love in their sports – and they’re permitted to drink lots of beer at games. The Aussies started buying up all the tickets along the boards and would stack their beer cups against the glass. They would cheer hysterically when a body check would send cups flying into the crowd in all directions. People around the entire rink would cheer (it’s possible that some betting was involved) and even the players and local fans were getting caught up in the excitement. Attendance at games has never been better.

I now realize that culture has a tipping point. Cities change, sometimes very quickly. When I lived in Vancouver, I remember locals complaining that the city was too boring (this was pre-Olympics) and the media had dubbed it “No-Fun-Couver”. (Even as recently as last spring, I read that UBC was making changes to admissions procedures to accommodate cultural as well as academic variables to make for a more diverse student body.) But I don’t hear as many complaints these days about Vancouver – every time I visit I have a blast – so things must be turning around. For Kelowna’s sake, both economically and culturally, I hope that shift is headed this way or tough times lie ahead.

For discussion, I’m throwing out a licentious thought: that the key driver of well-being in any city lies within your population of 25-35 years old, single, college or university graduates. If you lose more of these people than you attract, bad things are ahead. Because these are your future entrepreneurs, movers & rump shakers. It’s also what keeps your town from becoming a boring place. Kelowna has been failing on this metric and it’s something that desperately needs to turn around. In fact, it’s a key variable that every city should watch.

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Masthead image courtesy of Adam Jones, PhD

Jane’s Walk 2012 – Find your ‘Hood!

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[Editor's note: a few years ago, one of our Correspondents - Phil Skipper - led a Jane's Walk tour of the Cambie-King-Edward-Queen-Elizabeth-Park-The-Mayor's-House neighbourhood in Vancouver. The experience was community-exploration at its finest. And it's happening again this coming weekend!]

Devon Ostrom / Jane's Walk 2011 Press Gallery

On Saturday, May 5th & Sunday, May 6th, thousands of people in metro Vancouver and around the world will take to the street to answer Jane Jacobs’ famous call to “get out and walk. The 6th annual Jane’s Walk is a chance to explore metro Vancouver’s neighbourhoods with fresh eyes and curious mind. This year in Vancouver, there will be a special focus on learning what makes’ our neighbourhoods unique.

Created in 2007 in Toronto by friends of the urban thinker Jane Jacobs, the free, volunteer-led urban walks have grown exponentially from 27 walks the first year to over 500 walks around the world – from Burnaby to Brisbane and Sao Paulo to Surrey – in over 75 cities and 16 countries.

Courtesy of Pukar / Jane's Walk 2011 Press Gallery - Mumbai

Walks are as varied as the people taking part, and they create the time and space for people to connect, share, and develop ideas about where their communities and cities are at and where they are headed.

Ask yourself – what kind of Jane’s Walker are you? From the Curious who wants to get behind the scenes, the Green at Heart, the Urban Gardener, the friendly Neighbour, the Aesthete roaming the open-air urban museum, the Active moving about the city and the Citizen fascinated by the past and future of the city, its public space and institutions, there are walks for all city-lovers.

Find detailed walks at janeswalk.net, look out for posters with walk details in local shops, select favourites on the free iPhone app and get out and walk on Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th!

CLJ Reviews – The Singularity is Near

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What we read

If you were an HMV, you’d probably be on the couch right now in your sweatpants eating double fudge ice-cream with whip cream watching re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy. You’d probably be wondering where all your friends went. You had CD* listening posts! DVDs*! PlayStations*! At first, the change wasn’t even apparent. But as the months went by, the crowds became increasingly thin. Near the end, only old people visited, and only crazy ones at that. Now, even your old nemesis, Blockbuster, is in the gutter, and could probably use a call.  What went wrong?

Robots. More specifically, robots that will one day be smarter than the smartest human and who will be building increasingly intelligent robots that will one day turn the entire universe into a giant computer. If you’re confused, that’s ok, you should get used to feeling stupid, because humans, like HMV and Blockbuster, are becoming increasingly obsolete. If you’re thrilled about this, you’re either a huge nerd and/or Ray Kurzweil.

In The Singularity is Near, mad scientist techno-prophet Ray Kurzweil makes the case that all progress from the Big Bang to the smartphone has been a relentless march toward ever-greater intelligence through technology. This progress has been increasing exponentially, such that we are now on the uptick of an upward arc that promises to bring about a change in the cosmos so fundamentally mind-blowing, most people struggle to explain it. It’s called “The Singularity”, and according to Kurzweil, it involves cyborgs, genetics, nanobots, immortality, A.I., the Internet, virtual reality, and vitamin pills. Basically The Matrix meets Terminator meets The Hangover. Oh yeah, and it’s inevitable.

[*stands for “Compact Disc” -- kind of like iTune songs that you carry around on a little “plate” but only like about 20, and you can’t just listen to it -- you need something like a "discman" to play it, which is like, uhm, like -- nevermind. Nevermind about the DVDs and Playstations too, k.]

What we did

Part I: Testing the Humans

In his discussion of recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Kurzweil cites the Turing Test, devised to test a machine’s intelligence by having it convince a human that it too is human.  So, in the days leading up to our book club night, I decided to conduct my own little Turing test…

Each day, a different member would receive a text message from me that read:

“Are you here to help me take over the world? or are you here to resist?”

Some were perplexed, others were amused, but all replied, each in their own way.  Little did they know that although the text came from my phone, the words actually came from an online chatbot called Skynet. In other words, my friends were chatting with a robot.

Highlights of “our” conversations include doozies like the following:

Skynet:  Are you here to help me take over the world? Or are you here to resist?
Human:  Ummm. To help you take over the world.
Skynet:  Tell me, why shall we take over the world?
Human:  So the nanobots may roam free.
Skynet:  Does being human hurt?
Human:  Sort of. But the good kind of hurt. Like after a workout. Does being phil hurt?
Skynet:  Maybe an asprin would put you in a better mood.
Human:  No – a hug from you would.
Skynet:  From me? Gee, I am not really sure. Would you play with time travel if you could?
Human:  Yes
Skynet:  Go ahead and try.

Conclusion:  Our future robot overlords are going to be total douchebags and will enjoy wasting our time.

Part II: Robot Debate

After a meal of kale lasagna, Book Club held its first formal debate, a battle for the future of the planet. Fighting on the side of the Humans were Neo (Matrix), John Connor (Terminator), and Ned Ludd (Luddite). Fighting for a Machine-dominated future were The Internet and Ray Kurzweil Version 2.0.

The humans led the charge with holistic bravado and panache. With uncharacteristic speed the humans quickly amassed a wealth of arguments that they soon began to hurl at the machine side. John Connor expressed leadership, Neo wowed with free choice, and Ned Ludd fell into a loom.

Without hesitation, The Internet launched a stupefying counter-attack, shocking the humans and my apartment neighbours with his booming voice and seeming omnipotence.  After The Internet nearly persuaded the humans that they were unknowingly living in a virtual world like in the Matrix, Ray Kurzweil (v2.0) followed up with a mind-blowing assault of quotes and post-cryonic bombast from (the original) Ray Kurzweil’s vast sphere of knowledge.

Counter-attack after counter-attack left both sides weary and worn. Despite valiant efforts, the humans were ultimately upstaged by the machines’ ability to simulate passion and drama, so successfully that by the end of the war, the judge (probably a robot himself) struggled to identify who was human and who wasn’t.

What we thought

Members’ opinions were mixed. Some welcomed Kurzweil’s robot future (obsequious sycophants), while others greeted The Singularity with their middle finger and a sawed-off shotgun (figuratively speaking). Eat lead, tin-man!!!

Some argued that while Kurzweil knows computation and mathematics very well, some of his “facts” outside his realm of expertise are plain wrong, weakening the strength of his overall argument. That, and the fact that he’s a megalomaniacal know-it-all with a messianic complex that seems to have an unhealthy relationship with his dead father.

So what does the future hold? Well, if you’re reading this on your smartphone, the luddite within tells me the robots have already won. If you come looking for me, I’ll be building the resistance with the Amish.

Learn More (and perhaps together we can slow the machine onslaught on humanity)

Transcendent Man, documentary about Ray Kurzweil and The Singularity
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Transcendent-Man/70117003

All things Singularity:
http://singularityhub.com/

Live forever by uploading your memories:
https://www.lifenaut.com/

Kara:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0KTUysrwgQ

Prometheus, prequel movie to Aliens:
https://www.weylandindustries.com/site/david

It all started with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi

Canvassing the Country

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A cool story came to me across our virtual editor’s-desk that couldn’t be more fitting for a feature on the ‘boot.

It’s a community, using ideas from across Canada, coming together for a cause.

The bonus – it’s a community of artists, as a recovering painter and printmaker myself it’s exciting to get to talk to inspiring people working on a really cool project.

Here’s the skinny:

The MFPA (That’s the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists) have selected artists across Canada to work together on a canvas. It’ll travel the country as each artist paints a portion that is representative of their region. It’s like the Voyageur guitar, but less like a guitar and more like a tapestry of Canadian inspiration all in the name of supporting disabled artists and showcasing what can be achieved in the face of adversity.

That a group of artists are coordinating a collaboration across Canada is noteworthy enough. That the group of artists are all facing significant challenges, have found drive and inspiration through art, and are using that to inspire others is fantastic.

I got to talk with the painter Cody Tresierra, he’s got the canvas first and is painting a scene of the Stanley Park totem poles and coastal mountains as a representation of the West Coast. He says most of what he paints for the public is representative of the West Coast, and that lots of it is kind of a diary of where he goes. For himself and friends he does portrait work and experiments with really pushing colour.

Learning, seeing others progress and the ability to meet people from all over the world through the MFPA have been key for Cody. He was inspired to take up painting himself when one night, about two years into rehab at Pearson after a motor vehicle accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, he saw a lady painting with her mouth. The ability to produce something real you could look at and share had him hooked.

Cody’s perseverance in the face of adversity is inspiring – and his work is fantastic. Take a moment to connect with the group making this happen and use their dedication as inspiration to get something creative and constructive done yourself.

Go check out the MFPA – The association supports artists through selling cards, calendars, books and more, and  bookmark the Canvassing the Country page – each artists is also recording their work and you’ll be able to follow it as it develops and travels across Canada.

Joel Plaskett’s Microcosm of Community

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rebecca / flickr

It’s Sunday morning. Last night Michelle and I saw Joel Plakett Emergency (Joel Plaskett’s band is an/the Emergency) play at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, which is a big deal because Joel Plaskett almost never comes to Vancouver.

Reflectively poetic interruption:

I love Maritimers. In fact, Maritimers are probably my favourite kind of Canadian folk. Fun fact, Martin Renauld is probably my favourite Canadian, mostly because he’s from Quebec and won’t know exactly how to react to this comment. Anyway, like I was saying, I love Maritimers. One of the greatest years of my life unfolded in Lennoxville, Quebec during which time I lived with three fantastic gentlemen from Halifax (Cole Harbour), Nova Scotia. Jon, Justin and Adam were/are in possession of the sort of mischief, poetry, kindness, storytelling, and intangibly-unique-sociability reserved for folks from this part of the world. For years I have enviously listened to their stories of The Plask’s performances in person, over the phone and watched their posts/videos online – my theory is that he plays in either Halifax, Moncton, Charlottetown, or somewhere in the woods of Cape Breton once a week. And I’ve been jealous because I love Joel Plaskett almost as much as I love Maritimers. So last night was a pretty big deal for me. For all of us in Vancouver.

Here are my three favourite things about the Joel Plaskett Emergency show in Vancouver:

1. “Joel Plaskett: What a Beauty!” This was an overheard from the guys behind us, which was inspired by Joel (I feel like I can call him Joel) laying on his back as he sang, told stories and nearly killed himself by getting tangled and electrocuted (“electrangled” ©Copyright John Horn 2012) in what he described as an “overly ambitious stage show” – the show included red-light-rock-n-roll-monkeys and they were/are awesome. Also included on the list of things that make Joel Plaskett “a beauty” are the following: Canadian unpretentiousness (he arrived on stage wearing jeans, a jean jacket and, you guessed it, a jean shirt), soul of a poet, friggin’ hilarious, weird quirkiness (best evidenced by some of the most amazing hand gestures I’ve ever seen), and the stage presence of a truly gifted showman Showman.

2. “Do not deviate from the set list.” Following multiple requests for certain songs from certain audience members, Joel responded to the group (he was brilliant with his fan-engagement throughout the evening) with this quotation. And then he told a story about why he thought that this was the funniest thing anyone has ever yelled at him during a show. Fantastic.

3. Diverse Musical Stylings. Joel Plaskett can rock with the best of ‘em (“Lightning Bolt”), he can make you tear-up with a love song (“I’m Yours”), he can make you dance with a catchy pop song (“Through & Through & Through”), and he can make you laugh with some of the most creative lyrics this side of K’Naan (“North Star” or “Come on Teacher” or “Extraordinare” or “Fashionable People”). Oh, and he’s got some sentimental gems that get to the heart of community (“I Love This Town”).

In conclusion, from his Canadian Tuxedo to his storytelling to his balls-out rockin’, Joel Plaskett is a community-builder (unless you’re from Kelowna) through and through and through.

His cross-Canada tour just kicked-off and you should check out when he’s coming to your town. Because Joel Plaskett is all kinds of awesome.

4/13 Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden
4/14 Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
4/16 Banff, AB – Banff Centre
4/18 Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall *
4/19 Edmonton, AB – Winspear Centre *
4/20 Saskatoon, SK – U of Sasks, Louis Pub *
4/21 Winnipeg, MB – Garrick Centre *
4/25 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre *
4/26 Ottawa, ON – Bronson Centre *
4/27 St Catharines, ON – Brock Centre for the Arts *
5/18 Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
5/19 Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre *

* with Frank Turner

BC Booze Laws (FINALLY) Get a Facelift

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A couple years ago I was down in Longview, Washington visiting some friends of the family. The town had long been in decline since the collapse of the local lumber industry, but the local movie theatre was still doing decent business, despite the recent competition from the DVD/PvR/Video on Demand/Home Entertainment systems that had been crippling the profits of many other small mom and pop theatres.

Their secret? Booze. That’s what I learned from the Kelso Theatre Pub’s owner (a big bull of a man who’d returned recently from a stint oversees in the marines). The secret to the theatre’s success, according to him anyway, was the ability to serve beer, pizza and other pubby foods to patrons while they watched their favorite flicks. The whole theatre was decked out with large coaches in the balcony and tables in front of the seating for easy-pizza access. It was brilliant. So why can’t BC do the same thing?

The Rio - courtesy of Christopher Richmond

Turns out we now can – sort of! Weirdly enough (considering his portfolio), this week Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy and Mines (what he has to do with liquor regulation is beyond me)  announced a change in the Province’s licensing. Provided it’s an”adult-only event” in the auditorium – I guess that means NC-17 rated movies (nothing tastes better with horrible violent or rampant sex scenes than a cold frosty one) you can drink booze in theatres. Here are the specifics according to a recent Vancouver Sun article:

Multiplex theatres will now be allowed to apply for a licence to serve alcohol in “adult-only auditoriums and adjacent lobbies.” Single-screen and live theatres will now be allowed to apply for a licence to serve alcohol in lobbies, if minors are present, and in auditoriums, if it’s an adult-only event

Big thanks go out to the Rio (my favourite little neighbourhood theatre), Denman Cinemas and undoubtedly countless others (props to Councillor Heather Deal and MLAs Spencer Chandra Herbert and Jenny Kwan) who made this happen.

Now we can finely drink a beer while we watch a movie at the same time. CRAZINESS!

Header image by pocius

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is in Full Bloom!

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Images by Allison Blake

I first learned about the Japanese tradition of Cherry Blossom festivals, or Hanami, during an undergraduate course in the philosophy of aesthetics. I heard about how everyone would take time out from their busy schedules to sit under the trees and immerse themselves in the beauty of the pink blossoms. We discussed how the beauty of the blossoms has as much to do with their fleeting presence as to do with their exquisite appearance. This awareness of the transience of the blossoms themselves and the happiness we derive from their splendor is described in the Japanese aesthetic term “Mono no aware” or “an empathy toward things”. This is an enduring concept in Japanese cultural and aesthetic traditions.

I have always looked forward to and admired the Cherry Blossom season, which is particularly rich in Vancouver thanks to many trees received as gifts from Japan. My parents have a cherry blossom tree that for years served as an exceptional climbing tree and a fortress of sorts. I remember climbing it while it was in bloom, and how I could be completely concealed within the cloud of soft blossoms. Now, every year the first budding cherry trees fill me with anticipation for when warmer, sunnier days will slowly but steadily start to beat back the gray damp walks to and from the Skytrain on my daily commute. I know that the cherry trees will only bloom for a short time, and by the time they are gone, I will be enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin once again!

Until I learned about the Japanese traditions surrounding this season, I had never really considered how brief a time we really have to enjoy these particularly pretty trees in the span of a year. Learning more about the aesthetic and philosophical traditions surrounding the trees deepened my appreciation of these natural art forms. I can’t help but consider how their slow emergence, or sometimes sudden appearance, transform a familiar landscape much the same way a piece of public art can change the experience of a familiar place.

The fluffy blossoms spanning every shade between fuchsia and white are even more moving when grouped together. There are countless streets lined with the blossoms and the VCBF website has 900 suggestions of places to visit and walks to take to appreciate the blossoms in all their glory. They even include updates of when a particularly popular area is no longer in bloom so that you don’t end up disappointed.

My particular favourite  spot is one I visit 5 times a week, twice a day. The entrance to Burrard Sky Train station is a tiered garden lined with rows of cherry blossoms and Magnolias. On nice days, the sun shines through the blossoms illuminating them like a forest of lights! As the buds continue to multiply, so do the number of people who stop to take photos, or simply to sit beneath them and bask in their magnificence for a while. I highly suggest you do the same. It is simply breathtaking. It is one of the best art shows of the year.

Happy Easter!!

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Easter is a great time to get together with your family or close community, chew on some ham, turkey or tofurky and re-connect after the long and dreary months of winter. It’s sorely needed after the three month stretch of rain, snow and clouds that is the winter in Vancouver.

Word is soon we’ll have a vacation day in the middle of this post-holiday stretch courtesy of Christy Clark called Family Day. Until then, Easter will remain for me the beacon to which we can look forward to a break from our labour. It also happens to be a nice dividing line between dreary winter months and the coming bloom of Spring.

So with that said, best wishes to you and your community during this Easter Break. Enjoy the chocolate eggs, time off work and (or course) the company of good friends and family!

Photo by stevendepolo