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.

A gateway to Vancouver Island: Departure Bay, Nanaimo, B.C.

I put this question out on Twitter yesterday and was grateful for the suggestions I received.

Following a tip from @boutiquemac and @HiredGuns – we visited Mon Petit Choux Bakery & Cafe at 120 Commercial Street (at Wharf) in Nanaimo.

And it was great.

Tasty drinks, good food, Bob Marley playing on the stereo, and a comfortable, open space with big windows and a nice view.

For some reason, on a whim, I decided to try a London Fog for the first time.

The cafe we visited in Nanaimo today after consulting with the Twitterverse

I ordered a hot London Fog for myself and an iced one for my son.

We also split an order of French toast and it was a nice touch that the waitress asked the kitchen staff to put it on two plates for us. It was, as the waitress described it, like a bread pudding style, rich and tasty.

We have one more day, and plan to check out Bocca on Fitzwilliam or Serious Coffee on Commerical, suggested by @rcthink – and @amandabrittain has me curious about Modern Cafe near the convention centre. “Best mac and cheese ever!”

We saw this boutiquemac sign right beside Mon Petit Choux, so I stopped in to say thanks to whomever tweeted the suggestion. Turns out it was Jason, who came out from the back to say hi.

It’s always interesting to see the face behind the tweet – and so cool to be able to get advice on good cafes when you’re in another town. The Twitter community comes through again FTW!

My little dog does his morning business

Last week some people on Twitter had a big heated argument about poo – after someone requested parents stop sharing scent-evoking details about their kids’ diaper mishaps.

I don’t want to name names, but I will say that both people in the conflict are smart, strong, funny women whose blogs and tweets I read regularly. One is a mom who had tweeted a comment about the smell of her toddler’s poo – how the child’s poo was so strong-smelling that its stench had travelled into the house from outside.

A lot of parents would commiserate with this mom and we might laugh together about the disgustingness of cleaning up crap. But for people without kids, this can be pretty disgusting – and that was the response of the other person in the Twitter argument. She responded to the poo comment on Twitter by asking parents to “quit talking about your kids shit. It’s disgusting. No one wants to hear about it.”

The mom who mentioned the poo was very offended (and maybe hurt, I imagine). She accused the poo-objector of being mean-spirited and an angry Twitter back-and-forth ensued. They even said the F-word to each other!

Ask anyone on Twitter how they feel about reading other people arguments in 140 characters per retort. It’s a bit like a fight in hockey. You aren’t supposed to enjoy it but you do.

The woman who objected to the talk about baby poo said the mom should “have some decorum.” Ouch. They rehashed a couple of past incidents, disagreed, then joked a bit at the end.

Now that I think about it, it seems there’s been less poo talk. Or has there?

Mechanic Brendan Grant shows my boy around the auto shop

This homeschooler’s “field trip” was an important piece of education for my young son who has developed a serious passion for cars during the past few months. Ironically, he was never very interested in cars when he was younger – never “drove” his food around the table like some kids. It all started fairly recently with the British show Top Gear and his fascination just keeps growing.

As his mom and “educational facilitator,” I try my best to find opportunities for him to explore his passions and interests. So I sent a message to Brendan – who I met originally via Twitter as @bmgauto – and asked if we could come take a look around his shop. Brendan agreed and we headed out to see lots of tools, parts, and cars. Brendan patiently answered all his questions – and, believe me, there were many!

Even though Toby was very excited, he walked around carefully and didn’t touch anything without being invited to do so. People who know my son have certainly seen his wilder side, but in this instance, he was a perfect gentleman – albeit an extremely inquisitive one.

A couple of times during the visit, Toby turned to me with a huge smile and gave me two thumbs up. At one point, he passed me and whispered “Thank you so much for bringing me here!”

Whether or not he ends up working as a mechanic is not the point. The point is that he had a chance to look, touch, and learn about something that excited him. And, as his mom, there is no better education I could hope for.

Huge thanks to Brendan for making it happen!

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.

Coffee connoisseurs Blake Hanacek and Emily Sproule at Agro Cafe's new retail location 550 Clark Drive

Blake Hanacek is the founder of Agro Cafe and Emily Sproule is a sales and service manager for the Ethical Bean Coffee Company. Both local companies sell certified organic fair trade coffee, and support many of the same values. My son and I met with Blake and Emily this morning at Agro Cafe’s new retail location at 550 Clark Drive in Vancouver, B.C. for a cupping session.

What’s cupping?

The term “cupping” is new to me; essentially, it’s a taste test in which coffee geeks try different beans and different levels of roasting. I found out about today’s cupping from Blake via Twitter and, if you want to follow him, it’s @agrocafe. Ethical Bean’s Twitter handle is @EthicalBean.

In 2004, Blake co-founded a Kenyan-based NGO called AGRODEV (Agricultural Growers Resource Organization Developing Economic Viability). After meeting with small scale farmers in five coffee-producing countries, he developed his unique Crop2Cup™ direct trading program, and opened the first AGRO Cafe in 2006 in Yaletown. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Global Resource Systems from the Faculty of Agricultural Science at UBC and a Masters of Watershed Management from the Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability at the UBC.

Educating people about fair trade and sustainable agriculture is Blake’s passion – so I was glad when my 9-year-old son asked: “What’s fair trade?”

Blake explained that traditionally coffee farmers keep about seven percent of the money paid by the person who ends up drinking it. The rest of the money goes to the importer, the roaster, and the retailer. But with fair trade, farmers keep about a third of the money paid by the consumer.

“The farmers that grow and produce our coffee beans are incredibly important to us. Our cafes are their livelihood,” reads the Agro website. “Our customers, who stop for a cup of coffee while shopping on Granville Island or Yaletown (or Clark Drive) are ensuring that our farmers around the world can support their families.”

On the way home, my son ranted about how “mean” it is that certain big, famous coffee companies are ripping off farmers in other countries. Thanks to Blake for another great instance of learning from the people in our community…

Mentor Steff and her protege

Now people 11 and up can sign up for Steff’s one-on-one Cooking For Kids (and Adults). Check out her ad on Craigslist to sign up for a session at her home in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.

“Kids like learning about cooking from me because I relate to them, keep it simple, but I don’t dumb it down,” reads her Craigslist post. “It tastes great and it’s the kind of meal you’ll want again and again. I’m a big fan of Jamie Oliver, and it shows in my cooking — wouldn’t that be great to have in YOUR kitchen without you doing it?”

After reading Steff’s tweets for several months, I met her last year in real life at a corn maze “tweetup” (i.e. a social event initiated and planned via Twitter.) My son had an urge to run around the maze and ended up with really rowdy behaviour among all the polite, angelic toddlers and preschoolers. I tried to reign him in, but it was very difficult.

On the way home, Steff struck up a conversation with him about his interest in cooking, and after a few moments, his behaviour turned right around. We ended up stopping at Safeway on the way to Steff’s so we could get the ingredients for a dessert made with dark chocolate and out-of-season fresh strawberries.

Later – before I knew of her plan to offer classes – I asked Steff if she would consider working with my son, the home schooling guy who loves to cook. And now – thanks to Steff – he can make a delicious chicken pot pie. He learned to make a lower fat version of the dish, using chicken stock instead of the liquid and drippings from an entire chicken carcass. She explains her focus on healthy adaptations on her craigslist ad:

“Having lost 70 pounds through diet and exercise, I’ve learned ways to ‘fake’ fat flavour while keeping foods healthier and lower in salt and fat, but not always — ‘diet’ awesome pot pie is an oxymoron. There’s always baked falafel or spring rolls, though.”

The science of cooking

Steff talked with my son about the science of cooking – explaining how it’s all about the process of using heat to evaporate the liquid from foods. She told him how to prepare and store chicken safely to avoid bacterial contamination. She also stressed the importance of keeping a clean, well-ordered work space in your kitchen. (I think she said: “Get cleaning if you want to eat!”)

We drove away from Steff’s with full bellies, a big bowl of leftovers, and another pot pie to drop off for some Twitter pals who are under the weather and mourning the loss of their dear old cat. On the way home, my son said he was “even more into cooking” after his time with Steff. And, at this very moment as I write this post, he is in the kitchen making stock for soup.

Orange Day Volunteers at UGM, Photo by Leah Gregg on Flickr

Yesterday I received an invitation from Derek Weiss, senior public relations specialist for Union Gospel Mission. UGM is a Christian charity well-known in Vancouver for providing community meals, clothing, emergency shelter, faith-based services, and drug and alcohol recovery programs.

Here’s Derek’s invite: Join Vancouver bloggers and UGM staff and volunteers as we chill together and get the word out online about the Orange Day campaign. Then, weather permitting, we’ll walk over to Crab Park to have some fun Orange Day activities and create bright, fresh “analog tweets” to spread the love and encourage homeless in our city and guests at the UGM meal.

When: Monday, March 29, 6:00pm (Chill Winston meetup); 7:00pm (Orange fun at Crab Park)

Where: Meet at Chill Winston, at the intersection of Carrall, Powell, and Water Streets.

What to bring: Outdoor-wear; camera or cellphone with camera to take pictures of you with your posters.

Who: Everyone is welcome

The Orange Day campaign is a week-long fundraising program to raise money for UGM’s annual Easter meal. “For the week leading up to April 2, you can transform Vancouver’s streets by having fun, helping the homeless community, and sharing your adventures online.”

You can read more about the Orange Day Campaign here.

Kudos to UGM for their efforts to make a difference!

Rob Cottingham at Vancouver Twestival March 25, 2010

Rob Cottingham is one funny guy. He took the stage and joked about not being at South by Southwest in Austin Texas last week, and how reading everyone’s tweets from there made you feel left out from the cool kids’ party. He joked about Twestival protesters (reminiscent of the Olympic protests), about the annoyance of this year’s allergy season, and more.

Rob is, according to his Twitter profile, a “social media enabler” and he’s also a cartoonist for Noise to Signal and co-founder of the company Social Signal. He blogged about his experience: “If you were there, thanks so much for laughing. You made my night and I hope you had fun.”

You are welcome to my laughter, Rob – and yes I had fun.

Lots of people worked hard to make this event happen, so thanks to everyone. Rebecca gives all the due credit over on her blog, so just go over there and check it out for details. Jonathan Hanley also covered the event for The Vancouver Observer in his article “Socializing with more than 140 characters at Vancouver Twestival“. Love that headline!

Earlier today, Twestival organizers tweeted the total was up to $310,000 so far, with a final tally to come from the hundreds of citites participating. Yay!

Image credit: imelda on Flickr

“On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness,” says the About page for Twestival.

The charity to benefit is Concern Worldwide. Based out of Ireland, this is: “an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to reducing suffering and ending extreme poverty.” One-hundred percent of funds raised will go towards Concern’s projects that focus on providing education for some of the 72 million children in the world who don’t have the opportunity to go to school.

The Vancouver goal was to raise $4000 and we’ve already exceeded this in ticket sales. At the moment I hit Send on this here blog, Vancouver Twitter folks have raised $6402. I’ll update with a final total for Vancouver and the rest of the world.

Aside from the fund-raising aspect, Twestival is also a great opportunity to meet people in real life, after reading their tweets online for so long. Come on down if you have time and $20!