Photo credit: Stefan Lins on Flickr

This blog still exists, in case you are wondering. Maybe you are a regular who is surprised to hear from me again after so long. Or you’re here for the first time because I gave you a business card or you clicked my link on Facebook, or you Googled me for some reason.

Whoever you may be – here you are at mainwriter.com – so welcome. Perhaps you’ve already noticed this blog has gone without new content for several months before this post. It’s because I’ve been pouring most of my blogging vim into Speaking of Safety – where I write about safety and danger in the workplace. It makes me mad to think of people exposed to danger so others can make a profit from them, and I spend a lot of time soliciting personal stories.

Lately I’ve been thinking about this blog again because I want to share some of the many smart, creative ideas from different people, “crowds,” and communities I mingle with. New videos are on the way, including comedy sketches, skate vids, commentaries, and other madness. Collaborators are always welcome, especially if you aren’t shy, don’t take yourself too seriously, like attention, and have an outrageous streak! Until then, thanks for visiting, and let me know if you have event info to share. xo

Photo credit: Greg Livaudais on Flickr

It’s been a busy time at the mainwriter headquarters. The “new year” isn’t even that new any more; in fact, the first month of it seems to be whipping by pretty quickly.

My safety blog – SpeakingOfSafety – has been a big focus for me. Story ideas seem to leap out at me from all directions, since most people have stories about safety/injuries at work. Let me know if you have one to share.

Another huge focus is my son’s education, which is evolving in new directions now that we are hooked in with BrainBoost Education. He’s having one-on-one sessions in tech/math and is also studying hands-on science in a small group. I’ve also been doing some great learning after meeting for a couple of sessions with BrainBoost director Matt Giammarino, who coached me on managing time and setting up a great atmosphere for learning.

Stay tuned for a new mom and son blog – coming soon! Actually we might do some posts together for this blog, since he is the “vice president” of mainwriter, after all.

This water pump at Watch Lake took some muscle.

I’ve been writing safety stories for SpeakingOfSafety and getting started on a new homeschool year with the SelfDesign program, which has a big online component. I’m using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Basecamp, Action Method Online, and Google Docs for my work and play communications.

Ideas are called for. Lots of them. So I’m pumping them out of my brain when I have the chance. I do some of my best work in the car on my laptop tethered to my iphone outside a skateboard park. I have a portable Ikea umbrella I prop in my car window to save me from screen glare. I keep a lawn chair in my trunk if it seems too sketchy in the park to let my son be alone, with no other skaters.

Then I sit beside the skate bowls, on the grass, trying to work, but today it was hard because a guy was sleeping nearby on the lawn, with a boom box beside him playing loud C-Fox-ish music (presumably to drown out the urban sounds so he could get some rest). He had a shopping cart full of stuff with a bicycle on top.

Toby often says “Watch this!” and shows me new moves at the skate park.

Watch Lake at dusk

Thanks to 100 Mile NetShop, I’m set up for access from my campsite for $5 a day. It was my son who first turned on the computer and found the wireless network, but alas I did not have a user name and password to login to the BC Wireless Hotspot Service.

So I drove into 100 Mile House, called 100 Mile NetShop, set everything up, and am looking forward to connecting from my campsite. I love going online from inside my tent!

At this moment, I’m writing from The Chartreuse Moose Cappucino Bar & Bistro in 100 Mile House, drinking a huge fish bowl of delicious coffee while using their wireless network. It’s my third day in a row here, and it’s been a pleasure.

This quick brown fox jumped up on our picnic table and later stole my flip-flop sandal from outside my tent.

I’m also trying to line up a local safety-related story for my other blog Speaking of Safety – and it looks like I’m meeting with success. It’s a great opportunity to get a local story while I’m outside of the Lower Mainland.

A funny thing happened the night before last: a fox ran off with my flip-flop sandal, chewed it up, and left it about 100 metres from my tent. I had been trying, with little success, to get a good photo of the gorgeous little thing, but I gave up and went to my tent. As always, I took off my shoes and left them outside – but when I got up in the morning, there was only one!

I wasn’t mad about the flip-flop; instead, I was a bit worried that the fox might have gotten sick from eating it. So it was a relief to find the shoe nearby later in the day.

What a sly fox!

View from our friends' place at Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island

This is what I see from the backyard of our friends’ home in Nanoose Bay, where I am staying for one night before a few nights of camping nearby.

I’ll be fitting in a little work, wearing my “safety writer” hat and visiting a couple of workplaces to get stories for my new blog, Speaking of Safety, sponsored by WorkSafeBC.

The rest of the time, I’ll be relaxing creekside – well, as much as you can rest when you have to keep breaking up wrestling matches between two 10-year-old boys. As I type this post, they just came into this room in a big argument after one guy touched the other guy with an old popsicle stick that he licked.

Now they are taking turns jumping on the bed. Loud playing is better than fighting, any day – but I don’t think it will last.

“Superrrrr-man!” yells my son, after a running leap onto the bed.

The running and leaping continues. “Three… two… one! Move!!!”

“Ouch! You landed on my leg!”

“Well I told you to move!”

And the masters of bickering are at it again.

Panelists, from left: Amber Strocel, Kerry Sauriol, Harriet Fancott, Danielle Christopher, Lesley McKnight, and Manda Aufochs-Gillespie at Northern Voice 2010 in Vancouver, Canada, May 8, 2010

Six moms who blog answered these and other questions today at Northern Voice in Vancouver. For example: should parents put photos of their kids online? Can parents give this consent on their kids’ behalf? How will these photos affect their kids’ lives in the future?

“As a parent you make lots of decisions for your kids every day,” said Amber – who blogs at http://www.strocel.com. “I put their images online and I use my best judgement.”

Amber said her kids – aged 5 and nearly 2 – “don’t have a problem” with their photos being online. She said she would not put their photos online if they asked her not to.

Someone asked what if your kids apply for a job in the future and a potential employer researches the Web and finds photos of them from long ago?

Kerry – the creator of Crunchy Carpets and Wet Coast Women – said that, with evolution of technology, having these photos online will be commonplace. Employers will realize the difference between private and professional lives.

“Being on the internet is not going to be weird for our kids,” she said.

Someone asked the women how they felt about the term “mommy blogger.”

Lesley McKnight said she wouldn’t necessarily refer to herself as a “mommy blogger.” She is a freelance writer who blogs about her family life to remember the moments of each day. Her blog is “like modernized scrapbooking” and she prints it each year.

“I feel like a person having the experience of raising a family,” Lesley said. “It’s about capturing a fleeting moment in time and putting it into a tiny bottle. What you’re doing on a day to day basis, is going to be more important down the road… It’s about capturing the moment – whether you’re a dad or a mom.”

I first met panelist Harriet at Langara Journalism School in 1992 and we worked on class projects together. She blogs at See Theo Run about life with her baby son, who she and her husband adopted last summer 2009. Theirs is an open adoption, and Harriet is documenting it, keeping the anonymity of the birth family, who remain an important part of their lives.

Since Harriet started telling her family’s story, she has been contacted by adult adoptees, birth moms, and other people who request info, play dates, meetings, etc. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up. In the past, coincidentally, she worked for Adoption B.C., so she can probably steer them in the right direction because of that (in addition to her own experience.)

We also heard from Manda Aufochs-Gillespie – creator of The Green Mama and Danielle Christopher – of The Momoir Project. Thanks to all for a good conversation.

Update: May 16, 2010

I feel remiss in not including the views of Danielle Christopher, who was the only mom to say “yes” she is a mommy blogger. She blogged about her experience on the Northern Voice panel in her post “Is Mommy Blogging the new Tupperware?”

In it, she says: “I am proud to be a mommy blogger. In my blog, I am leaving a legacy for my daughters. They will have all these stories to read and cherish forever. I do not have personal accounts from my mom. She died when I was ten.”

Slide from Kimli Welsh at Northern Voice 2010

The hour is late, so I will share one story that really sticks with me. It’s the story of blogger Kimli Welsh – creator of Delicious Juice Dot Com – and how she used cognitive behavioural therapy and social media to overcome her social anxiety.

“I’m terrified of each and every one of you,” Kimli told us. “But it’s not you guys; it’s my thoughts.”

Kimli’s stories stood out because I relate to them. I, too, have bought tickets to events and then chickened out of going at the last moment. And, like Kimli, I’ve also made some great connections with people thanks to Twitter.

She described social anxiety as “an overall bummer” that “makes you miss out on a whole lot of fun.” True that, in my experience.

Social anxiety affects 1 in 8 people

“It’s been estimated that social anxiety affects 1 in every 8 people, and can range in severity from uneasiness in social situations to a debilitating fear of the unknown,” reads Kimli’s write-up for her talk at Northern Voice.

“Learn how to use Social Media to overcome your terror of the unknown. Get out of your comfort zone! Take on new challenges! Weed out the crazy to forge new friendships and the exciting times that are rightfully yours!”

She also suggested we reassure ourselves with this positive affirmation: “No one here is cooler or more important than anyone else.”

Over and out.

Photo credit: Sergio Bertolini on Flickr

For example, today I was in touch with a photographer who took photos of construction workers in Thailand. (And it’s not the person in the photo I used in this post.) I contacted him via Flickr to ask if I could use one of his photos to accompany a story I am writing about workplace health and safety.

He responded: “thx for your mail and asking before taking ”

He gave me permission to use his picture for my blog, asked me to send a link to the exact photo, and told me how to credit him. So simple, in this day of “help yourself” technology. Just ask permission and give credit.

Getting into the new ergonomic setup here at my home office in East Vancouver, B.C. Canada

My office is looking so great! It’s spacious, bright, and clutter-free. This is where I will work and be productive and creative and engaged. The right things will be in the right places when I need them.

“Where’s that file on la-di-da?” Ah. Here it is. Read, read. Think, think. Type, type.

With everything in easy reach, I will feel so inspired and motivated. I’ll spend less time on Facebook and Twitter. I’ll drink more water. I’ll start doing yoga again. I’ll ride my exercise bike (and my real bike!) and eat the right things at the right time… and, and…

Walking into the Ikea experience on a Sunday in Richmond, B.C., Canada

It’s a white Fredrik work station from Ikea. I haven’t even decided what to put on the shelves, and there is room for my desk top and lap top.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I referred to WorkSafeBC’s publication How to Make Your Computer Workstation Fit You. Then I re-adjusted my nice Aeron chair that I bought “gently used” last year – the height, arms, angle of the back. Now, as I sit here writing, this chair feels great. I’m using it as it was designed to be used. It’s a great, supporting chair – mmmm – love the lumbar support…

This new setup seems like the answer to the upper back and chest pains I’ve been having. More exercise – and yoga – will be part of the solution too. I’ll keep you up to date, and I’d love to hear stories from people who found ways to avoid pain while working long hours at a computer. Got any secrets? Suggestions?

Putting away all the stuff

These new shelves of the workstation offer new space. What is the best thing to keep on them? What is the most efficient way of organizing my stuff so I will be inspired to produce great work and find everything I need? Please tell me if you have any suggestions.

Now I’m going to return to the tasks of “putting everything away in its new place”…