individual illumination untangles

Facebook and Instagram

2011-08-29T14:32:00.001-04:00

I've been using Instagram since the end of March. It's my favourite thing at the moment. It's the first thing I check in the morning and the last app I close down at night. During the day, I check in regularly during the day via my phone and a myriad of Instagram viewers out there such as Statigram, inkstagram, and Webstagram. It takes up an amazing amount of time but I love it because it brings little sips of beauty into my life every day. Plus, it allows me a little space and time to be creative.A few days ago, there was a flutter in the news about Facebook trying to buy Instagram. Clearly the folks at FB had recognized the competition. Instagram has a huge number of users I used to share photos on FB, and still do on occasion. But now I post to Instagram first and elsewhere later, if at all. Facebook is a closed space. I have set my privacy settings so that only my friends see my photos. This is where I interact with my friends and share moments of life - posting status updates, responding to invites, sharing news and photos. Facebook is incredibly good for this sort of thing. However, I use Instagram in a completely different way. While Instagram is an open space (I can't really restrict who sees my photostream if they happen to trip across my feed, unless I become a private user), its audience is interested in photography. Well, most of them are. Some are interested in that popular social media past-time - amassing followers. I guess some are more interested in quantity rather than quality. Of my 142 followers, I know fewer than 8 personally. And really only two of my real-life friends on Instragram are into photography and post regularly. Instagram is where I go to be with other fans of photography. Some post pics of their family and lives, others post images of landscapes, cityscapes or studies of objects or people. Whatever the subject matter, it is always presented through a lens of composition, colour and line. That's why when I want a fix of good photographic imagery, I go to Instagram. But when I want to know what my friends are up to, I go to Facebook.Of course, how Google + fits into the mix remains to be seen. I'll have to play about with that before I decide how it fits into the mix.

The Allure of Instagram

2011-08-04T14:23:00.001-04:00

According to Statigr.am, I made my first post on Instagram on March 27, 2011.

In case you don't know, Instagram is a photosharing social network. It's like Flickr crossed with Twitter and Facebook, and it's my absolutely favourite app on my iPhone.

Instagram allows you to take a pic and post it immediately or pull an old image from your photo library. Like another photography app, Hipstamatic, has an assortment of filters that can be applied to your photo. But there are any number of filter apps you can use to process your images before posting on Instagram.

Not only is it exciting to see the support and feedback I've received from other Instagramers (IGers), some of whom are existing friends, many are now new ones, it feeds my soul and imagination to be awash in a sea of beautiful and engaging imagery every morning.

You know when something has taken a serious hold on you when you eschew checking email first thing in the morning to see what @msuze, @mordafoca, @imagraphicartist or @mariannehope have posted. In fact, I spend a good 20 mins every morning reviewing the IG feed (liking and commenting on awesome imagery) and checking on the likes and comments left for me. And every now and then, I get a notice that someone is following me. It's always a treat to find someone new is following but the best is to receive questions and comments.

Like other social media experiences, participants fall into different camps. There are the professionals, serious photographers and designers who have large followings. I'm sure their great posts on IG get them other work. At the very least it's a great marketing channel for them. There are folks who are only interested in having a large number of followers, but to get there, they have to follow thousands of people and pester people about looking at their photos.

There are people who are sharing details of their personal lives - their cats and dogs, kids and spouses, their neighbourhoods and travel destinations. Others are more interested in studying people, still others take pictures of architecture. A large group appear to be fascinated by sunsets and I have to admit I fall into that category sometimes.

The most curious group to me are the bigwigs on other social media platforms who've decided to join IG. Some like @scobleizer, @johnperrybarlow, @mathewi and @waynesutton give us glimpses of their lives hobnobbing with VCs, tech and internet giants. Some are clearly interested in photography. For others, it's a window into their personal lives. It's fun to see this side of them after having followed their Google+, Twitter and blog lives for a few years.

I am continually and pleasantly surprised by the talent out there, especially from folks who don't have backgrounds in art and design. It reinforces for me a belief I've long held that creative acts are not the sole domain of so-called artists and designer. If you want to take pictures, dance, paint, design handbags, what have you, just go out and do it. Enjoy the process and don't get fixated on the outcome.

Here's a sample of my IG posts:

If you'd like to follow me you can find me on Instagram at @zanipooh

Film Festivals: The new distributors?

2011-05-05T11:54:00.000-04:00

Last summer two of my Strategic Foresight and Innovation classmates and I spent a few months thinking about the future of film festivals, especially those with an international reputation and reach.

We were focussing on potential new business models. We explored many ideas One of our ideas was for festivals to get into distribution. After all they are responsible for finding the best films of the year and have strong brands that will resonate with film fans. Not long ago, a New York Times article revealed that Sundance and Tribeca film festivals were getting into that same business.

Getting back into photography

2011-03-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, I was an avid photographer!

The year that I lived in Australia the TV was so bad (to me) that I started to paint and take photographs. Being in a new location is great for capturing images - lots of new sights to experience. Sydney was great for the juxtaposition of British colonial sandstone buildings with new glass office building, beaches and the beautiful harbour that fed my desire to capture images of water.

By the time I left Australia I knew I had to go to art school. So when I got back to Toronto, I studied film and photography. For four years I travelled with a film camera (8mm and 16mm), video (super-8 or digital) and my single lens reflex stills camera. Spurred on by the water images I collected in Australia, I continue to collect watery footage and photos in Barbados, England, Ireland, France, Greece, New Zealand and the US. Clearly, I am complelled to do this. I have yet to discover to what end.

In the spirit of watery images, here are a few from my trip to Vancouver Island. I travel a lot lighter these days - a point and shoot digital and my iPhone (with a couple of nifty photo apps).

Marketing and distributing film and TV

2011-02-16T19:52:00.006-05:00

My masters program is drawing to a close. We're in the final semester of courses and developing our proposals for our Major Projects. This is the point where we are supposed to leverage all we've learned over the course of the program, frame a problem or an opportunity and propose an innovation to respond to the situation.

For years, I've been fascinated by marketing and distribution issues as they related to film and TV. My past work has been in support of feature film production in Canada, so naturally I've thought a lot about Canadian film issues, of which there are many. Notwithstanding the huge issues around getting Canadian films made, once they are, the biggest hurdle seems to be getting people to find them and watch them. Sure that's not so much of an issues for Quebec (congrats and continued success by the way, you guys), but the folks who are part of the English-language market see themselves as competing with Hollywood. Now whether that's the right attitude or not depends on who you are and what you do. Once upon a time, I'd have said that it's indie American cinema that was our real competition because no one competes against the juggernaut that is Hollywood.

Today, with the internet and so many other distractions, the competition for Canadian film runs the gamut from silly cat videos on YouTube, to Bioshock, hipstamatic app on the iPhone, solitaire, video on demand and World of Warcraft. Yeah, all that and a good latte in the presence of friends.

Despite all the other things you could spend your time doing, I still think that people are interested in experiencing a great story, being transform, being transported and or even having their minds blasted by ear-popping audio and special effects that do little to advance the plot - perhaps not all are necessary at once. And, naive as it may be, I still think that there is an audience for the works of Canadian filmmakers.

Some may be screaming that Hollywood is dying. That doesn't mean the end of a good story in a time-based medium. But in the age of the internet, where the big screen caters to little but studio productions, how are niche and indie filmmakers finding audiences for their work?

This is kinda the subject of my major project. I see marketing and distribution as key to the future of film and TV type content. Forgive me for such lazy terminology. While I don't want to perpetuate 20th century labels that are clearly challenged and increasingly inadequate, I'm not sure sure yet what terms to use for the story-based moving images that we see on mobile, bigger and even bigger screens. What is film today? A medium, a style of production, a way of presenting a story? What is TV? A broadcast medium, a box in the corner of the room? What happens if you're like me and you watch your TV, films and other video on your iPad or computer? And I haven't even started to think about other forms that are related - interactive, transmedia etc.

So, my starting point is to look at marketing and distribution because these have been changed by digital technologies and globally distributed networks. The smart folks will forgo duplicating old strategies in the new medium and seek to understand what behaviours are natural to this new space and develop strategies the leverage those natural behaviours. So my research is looking at the folks who are doing something new and fresh - finding their audiences in new places and spaces, embarking on relationships beyond the producer-consumer paradigm. These folks may be making a profit or making a mark. Not matter, I'm all down for new definitions of success.

As a final product, I am supposed to come up with an innovation. Something that will serve an unmet need. Since I'm following the design thinking process in developing my major project I can't say yet what that final product will be. Because I'm not that that stage yet and don't know what shape it will take. Ask me in June or July? I should know better then, or I'll be in deep doo-doo.

Values and Vision

2011-01-31T19:47:00.000-05:00

Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I admit I have had moments of great dissatisfaction in my working career. In the last few years, as I have embraced some new adventures, I have had the opportunity to examine what has worked and what hasn't since I left university . . . the first time, and the second time.

I've taught Romanian engineers to sound less Romanian and more Canadian. Okay, I tried to teach them to sound more Canadian. At that time, I had some difficulties of my own with certain Canadian vowels as I'd only been on this side of the Atlantic a few years. But I maintain that I would never have perfected them if I hadn't had to teach someone else how to produce them. After almost 30 years here, I hardly ever trip over them now.

My working career to date has not be what you'd imagine for someone with degrees in Linguistics, French and Film (soon to be joined by Foresight and Innovation). Over the years, it's touched film production, Artist-Run Centres, an Arts Council, research, internet strategy and government policy. Yeah, and cat/house sitting. I've been a sole proprietor and one of thousands of employees.

I've worked with some wonderful people, imbued with passion for humanity and their work. And I've worked with folks who are bored, angry and resentful. I've worked with folks who have found their niche and others who are still looking. Myself, I've run the gamut, from wildly passionate about my work to pulling my hair out with frustration ("no, I will not write version 27 of this bloody document until you have at least read version 15!!!")

At some point in 2006, I decided to think differently about my future work-life. I decided I wanted to shape it rather than just trip across it. Admittedly, the tripping tactic had been very successful to date, so I won't knock it, too hard. But, I'm seduced by the idea of shaping your future. In order to do that, you need to know who you are and what you want. Not such an easy task, for some.

Since I started that journey, I've met two remarkable individuals who have had rare insight into knowing yourself, your wants and desires and finding your true career passion. They've taught me to critically examine my values, my skills and experience in ways that were not immediately obvious to me. This exploration has been further supplemented by some of the discussions/readings from my leadership and strategic communications courses and on-going conversations with friends who are asking the same questions about their current work situations.

I've been thinking a bit about values. Personal values, organizational values. What are your values? The guiding principles in your life? How do they mesh with the values of your employer? I don't mean the ones your employer espouses but the actual ones you see lived in the culture of the organization. I have it under good authority that if your values and those of your organization don't correspond much, then you are likely to be less than exuberant about your work. Go figure!

Reading about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it's easy to recognize that most of my friends have their basic needs. It's not enough for basic physical needs (food, shelter) to be met. To be happy and fulfilled, we the need to be self-actualized and for there to be strong correspondence between organizational and personal values. But in order to make a change . . . you've got to be fed up enough about a bunch of factors. Until that happens, change won't happen. In the leadership/change-making class on Friday, the prof showed us a formula for organizational change and I think with a modification it works for individuals too.

Formula for Change
The formula proposes that the combination of organizational dissatisfaction, vision for the future and the possibility of immediate, tactical action must be stronger than the resistance within the organization in order for meaningful change to occur.

Or in other words . . .
Formula for Change/Action
The formula proposes that the combination of dissatisfaction with the organization, (your having) a vision for the future, and the possibility of immediate, tactical action must be stronger than (your) personal levels of risk aversion in order for meaningful change to occur.

It's all relative to an individual's experience and personality. Me, I can tolerate high levels of risk. I don't even have to have a clear vision for the future. I just have to be sure that it's not like the past. In that respect, I'm an eternal optimist, I guess. I enter every new work experience with the belief that it's going to be great. After I have learned the ropes and have seen how things really work, or don't, the frustration sets in. Eventually, I need an attitude adjustment where I convince myself that I'm just not applying myself well or am losing focus (on the main prize). Finally, after much mental self flagellation, I decide that it's time to do something. Thus, while I have discovered that my "dissatisfaction with an organization" threshold is pretty low, I have a high threshold for frustration. Hmm, I guess that's true about a lot of aspects of my life.

Armed with this new insight, I have resolved to end this vicious cycle and embark on a more virtuous one. Thus from now on, I will play closer attention to an organization's culture and see how it's lived values correspond to mine. I'll also stop putting myself up for jobs I can do and focus on work I want to do.

Baby It's Cold Outside

2011-01-16T12:51:00.001-05:00

It's bloody cold out there. Of course, I can hear my Ottawa friends snorting as I say this. "Yeah, that's a typical Ottawa winter day, you Toronto Softy".

So, it's -12 degrees Celsius with a wind chill factor of -22. Winds are northwesterly at about 30 clicks, bbbrrrr. Thank goodness ten years in Ottawa have taught me how to dress appropriately for this kind of weather. Off now to see an Ottawa friend who's in town.

It's only natural that cold weather is making me think about warmer days gone past. Here are some images that make me smile.

Staying in the Now

2010-12-21T13:42:00.003-05:00

The fall has been the most difficult time of my life. Any other trials and tribulations I have ever complained about pale so miserably in comparison. I've been busy. I've been stressed. I have been worried. But to have that all fall on you at one time isn't fun in the slightest. Don't they say that what doesn't break you, makes you stronger. Yeah, I guess so.

Mum appeared to be improving on the road to her recovery and then we hit a series of road bumps. First, slow improvement and the doctors don't exactly know why. Lots of possibilities thrown out there, none of them nice ones. So we try a drug know to help kids with ADHD. It seems to help somewhat. She's more focussed and has reached the highest level of functioning since the initial surgery.

Then, an episode and a visit to emergency. Funnily enough, this is the day she is most lucid, responsive. Seizures are common for folks with brain injuries but the doctors at emergency can't agree with the doctors at the rehab hospital who think the collapses might be heart related. Battery of tests later and nothing much is proven. Unless an event happens to be witnessed or takes place during a scan, it's hard to prove anything. What it means is she's off the drug that helped her focus and now on something to stop possible seizures. No seizures but also less energy and reduced ability to focus.

This is when the social worker starts to talk to about long term care. WTF!! What do you mean she might not come home after the rehab is over. We can't deal with that idea, but we visit the homes and make our choices, hoping it won't ever be necessary.

At a follow up appt with her surgeon, we are told she has "water on the brain" and needs another operation. Heart plunges. But this accounts for why she's talking less and is less and less able to walk, even with help. I'm checking out lots of videos on Ventriculostomies and Hydrocephalus.

Surgery takes place the following week. We are expecting fast recovery. Nope. Mum's back at level one - just like after the first surgery. All the progress she's made over the summer and fall is gone. She isn't speaking at all, needs help to be fed and has no energy. Then, another episode. No need for emerg this time, thank goodness. And then, the offer arrives from a nursing home near us. You have to take the first offer just to get into the system. Then if a space becomes available at a facility you prefer you can move.

We move her into the home and watch her slowly gain strength and dexterity. She's still not able to speak more than a few words a week. Sometimes we get to hear them. Sometimes it's some stranger who witnesses this little miracle. Progress is incremental - not the exponential we are hoping for. But, after several weeks, she is speaking more (few times a day now), is regaining strength, eating well (if slowly) and looking brighter and brighter. An MRI shows that the procedure is working and the water in her ventricles are draining, but at what rate of flow, we can't quite tell yet. But something must be working because she is bright, alert and getting back to what she was like in the later summer/early fall.

Ever since my mum's second brain injury in July, people have been counselling me not to project too far in the future but to stay in the now. It's a nice concept but it's difficult to practice. How do you not hope and wish that things will improve without imagining it improving? Without looking for progress markers, crossing them off when you meet one and throwing another one out there ahead of you. I remind myself that I can't go back into the past and change things and I can't know the future. The only thing I can do is deal with the situation in front of me now. Who is my mother today? What does she need from me today? How can I love her best today?

I'm trying to stay in the now but sometimes I can't help taking a bit of a mental vacation into the past or project a tiny bit into the future.

Social Systems

2010-09-28T11:27:00.008-04:00

My other class this semester at OCAD U's Masters of Design: Strategic Foresight and Innovation is on social systems. It follows a course on systems thinking this spring that was very interesting. While the introductory course was a broad introduction of systems, be they technological or biological, this term is all about systems of people. It has proven very difficult to define social systems. We heard varied definitions. Some were easy to understand and others were examples of the English language that are incomprehensible to regular English speakers.

The one that makes sense to me is this:

"A social system is defined as a set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal" Rogers, Everett M. (1983). Diffusion of Innovations. Keeping this definition in mind, it's not too hard to recognize schools, companies, social networks like Facebook or Flickr, and much much more, as social systems.

For the class assignments, we are asked to identify a social system, study it and then propose some redesign of the system or part thereof. Social system redesign is a lot like making cultural change, at least from our readings. I have a strong desire to pick my former work environment and totally redesign it (in my mind, unfortunately) but there is nowhere near enough time to tackle that task.

I'm really drawn to looking that the system that distributes audiovisual content (film, TV etc) but that's more of a socio-technical system that a pure social system. But closer examination of some of the factors affecting distribution in Canada (cultural sovereignty, Canadian content rules, the reputation and perceived quality of Canadian content) might lead me closer to the "social" aspect of the system. Plus, I've been chomping at the bit to redesign this system. Of only someone would give the the chance.

Looking at the future of kids entertainment

2010-09-22T10:59:00.041-04:00

Back at school again. Second to last semester before tackling the Major Project. Courses this time around are: Foresight and Innovation Studio, and Social Systems.

Foresight and Innovation Studio is hands on. In addition to book learning we also get to do some. Woohoo! Still trying to pin down a good definition of foresight - there are lots around but here's one that works.

Foresight is a systematic, participatory, future intelligence gathering and medium-to-long-term vision-building process aimed at present-day decisions and mobilising joint actions - EC funded FOREN project

What are the aims of foresight?
"[Making] better, more informed decision in the present . . . exploring new markets, products, ad services . . .navigating the rapids of today's constantly shifting, increasingly complex global environment - Hinds and Bishops, 2006.

So my group and I are looking at the future of kids entertainment with a horizon of 10-20 years down the road. This will be a mini run-through of the steps we would likely take for our major projects. And for me, since I will probably look at some aspect of the intersection of the internet, TV, Film and Interactive Digital Media, this will be a good dry run.

We are working with a large media production company in Canada. They are our ambassadors into this domain. We are mapping out the systems that interplay in the kids entertainment domain: broadcasting, merchandising, broadcast regulatory, Cdn cultural policy, political, etc; the stakeholders: kids, parents, advertisers, policy makers, toy manufacturers etc; the blurring of boundaries between domestic and international markets; and the trends and drivers of change that may have an impact on possible futures for kids entertainment.

It's a group project, and like good foresighting, reflects different perspectives and backgrounds. While there are challenges in working in groups the benefits are great. As I have realized so far in the program, I'm not really a finisher. I'm great getting started, figuring out the issues (the real ones and not just the perceived ones), the patterns, possible routes to follow for fruitful solutions,
I am not as strong at the convergent thinking part - narrowing down on one key solution and then implementing it. Here, I need help from people who are good at this. Thankfully, some of my group mates are good at this.

First assignment is to discover and explore key trends. I've done a bit of this already working as a graduate research assistant on the 2020 Media Futures foresight projects underway at OCAD University's sLab. But it's still tough to find the right angle and make sure to be articulating significant implications for the industry. After we finish this task, we will be tackling scenarios. Should be interesting.

A Long Absence - Again

2010-09-20T10:58:00.000-04:00

Summer was cut short in some respects by my mother's brain surgery. A brain bleed caused her to collapse and she starts the long journey of recovery. We are gutted but carry on, giving her the support and love she needs to find a way back to us.

I've been learning a hell of a lot about brain injury and the implications for her (and us) in particular. Eleven weeks after the surgery, she has completed three weeks in rehab at the very facility where she used to work. As the manager of human resources, she hired some of the folks who are now tending to her. We are seeing small improvements as she becomes stronger, and more aware of what's happening. The nursing staff have been amazing, both at the hospital and in rehab. Can't say the same for the doctors, unfortutately. Well, we haven't seen much of them. Then again, why are we troubled by that? Only because we believe that they are more important the the nurses, which, speaking from experience, is exactly true. Not that they are useless, far from it! But we undervalue the amazing work of nursing staff who tend to their patients with love, affection and genuine care for their well being. I cannot extol their virtues highly enough.

The brain is a marvelous thing - so complex even the experts don't understand the half of it. I have been reading Norman Doidge's book The Brain That Changes Itself. Who knew that Neuroplasticity would be so interesting? The brain "is a plastic, living organ that can actually change its own structure and function, even into old age."

Postscript: School has started again but, while often very interesting and rewarding, it sometimes seems rather incidental.

Still very much enjoying being back in Toronto

2010-07-02T22:17:00.004-04:00

Now that's the temperature I was dreaming about

2010-06-22T21:16:00.001-04:00

Seeing as our January trip to Cuba was underscored by cold temperatures, Sandy and I decided to return to Cuba. This time we went to Cayo Guillermo and had absolutely glorious temperatures. Not one day under 30 degrees - heaven.

We spend almost every waking hour in or on the sea. It was bliss. As usual, the Cuban people were lovely. Our fellow visitor were mainly Brits from the northwest of England. And if you extrapolated from this group you'd think all English men had shaved heads and lots of tattoos. And they had a penchant for older wives. Hmm.

Expert interviews

2010-05-24T20:55:00.004-04:00

Final assignment for research methods studio - expert interviews. I decided to follow up on research I did last summer. Last summer, a colleague and I conducted research into the performance of Canadian films on the international film festival circuit. We looked at the number of films screened and awards won at 14 festivals around the world and compared that to how a bunch of other countries did.

As we conducted the research we couldn't help but notice how the quantitative analysis gives an impression of how Canada has fared but don't get to the important of participating in film festivals in the first place. A qualitative analysis was needed. So I did a small pilot project to get some insights on what might become future research. I conducted expert interviews with a handful of film professionals (including producers, directors and distributors). It was a great learning experience and enabled me to get deeper insight into the different perspectives of these professionals. While I have worked in the film industry as a funder, policy maker, festival employee and film makers, I didn't' want to assume that I knew it all (not that I would).

Back up your computer

2010-02-19T20:48:00.002-05:00

My hard drive crashed and burned as I was trying to upgrade to Tiger! Argh!!!!!!

Luckily, I had automatically backed up my files with Carbonite. So I didn't lose any data but I maxed out my bandwidth allowance restoring backed up files.

To my utter surprise I was still covered by AppleCare - woo hoo!!! And they upgraded me to Snow Leopard with the new hard drive. I got Mobile Me too, which I love. It's amazing how I survived before. Enter a new item in the computer's iCal and it shows up on the iPhone. Add a new contact, and it appears everywhere. It's perfect for an addled mind like mine.

I just love technology!

Challenge the way you think!

2010-02-17T20:18:00.001-05:00

This term we are studying research methods (who know there were so many) and systems thinking. Both very interesting areas that have changed the way I think about my work. I never considered myself a researcher. I always imagined that role as something that only resides in an academic setting. Someone with a doctorate in something obscure who never left their office.

In fact, the researchers I have met in the last couple of years are nothing at all like that. Not that they aren't rigorous or well educated. No, I have come to understand that there's a whole host of people who do applied research. Research that has a direct impact on something or a direct output. Designers do a lot of research before designing something - that's just as true for product designers as it is for policy makers.

To be honest more of the research we are looking at this is design research, therefore more applied. That's way more fun than literature reviews.

The other course is an intro to systems thinking. Fascinating, really. And something everyone should study at some level. Definitely something my public servant friends should know more about.

Chilly Cuba

2010-01-20T21:08:00.000-05:00

My friend Sandy and I spent a week in Cuba, where we met up with our friend Melinda. While it was warmer than Toronto, the temperature in Varadero and Havana was downright chilly. Thank goodness we remembered to pack sweatshirts and long shorts.

Grad School

2009-12-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

They say the third time's a charm, and I have to agree.

Three times I have been accepted into grad school and finally I decided to take the plunge. The first was to do a Masters in Linguistics at Ottawa U. Ottawa seemed so far away and so small town, and I wasn't sure what I would do with a graduate degree in the syntactic acrobatics of the bilingual communities of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Frankly, I fancied making a bit of money after 5 years in undergrad. I went to Australia instead.

Sometime later, after having explored film and video at Ryerson, I got accepted to York to study Anthropology. Visual anthropology was what I was really interested in. I didn't fancy wading through the first year intro before getting to the juicy stuff. And besides, what was I going to do with a Masters in Anthro? Lacking foresight, I decided to get a job . . . in the film industry!

Some more time later, after having ascertained that the misogyny and hierarchy of film sets weren't to my liking (nor working outside in the middle of winter), I decided the federal government was my home. Clearly, I had no idea what the terms misogyny or hierarchy actually meant.

Who knew that a degree in Linguistics and film would lead to a job in film policy. And a home in Ottawa for almost 10 years. Since Masters degrees in linguistics and anthropology were clearly too vague for me to pin a future career on, I decided to study something I'd never heard of before - Strategic Foresight and Innovation. Okay, people have heard of innovation, but what the heck's strategic foresight?

By the end of the program, I hope to be able to answer that question.

Design Thinking

2009-11-17T19:58:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about design lately. My grad program is a Masters of Design, after all! We won't graduate as "designers", like my interior-, environmental-, graphic-, etc design friends. We'll be the sorts of people who apply design principles to non-traditional design situations. Like what, I hear you ask? Like, policy, business processes, business models. Yeah, stuff like that.

I entered the program with a grand view of crafting a new cultural policy for the 21st century. Lofty eh? It didn't take me long to figure out that I could very well design a cultural policy for my own little island, but that was not likely to happen here in Canada. Kinda reminds me when we were trying to craft an arts policy for Canada and ended up with an arts policy for a Branch, okay, a sector, if you really want to split hairs.

One of our first assignments was a design thinking challenge. Design thinking is what designers do naturally. Rather than seeing a problem and figuring out how to fix it, you seek to understand the context, figure out what's going on and what the problem actually is (coz it's not always what you thought it was) and then you come up with a whack of possible ways to solve it. Finally you work with the best solution that fits the circumstances. Our assignment was to find an innovation in the context of the H1N1 pandemic. So we had to understand the context (what is H1N1 and its implications for Toronto?), find a problem waiting for a solution, explore a whole bunch of ways to solve that problem and pick the best one. Finally, we had to prove how it would either save lives, save money or make money.

Fast Company has a nice article on design thinking.

It was a challenge but a good one. We were a group of people who'd never worked together before and didn't know each other at all. We had our bumps along the way. What do you expect from a group of strangers grappling with a working process that was new to most of us and counter-intuitive to some?

Apart from teaching us about design thinking, the assignment taught us a lot about our classmates: how they think, problem solve and collaborate.

Hiatus Over

2009-10-02T19:07:00.001-04:00

It's been far too long since I last posted. And the last few posts were about not posting. What does this tell me? I'm not very good at keeping a blog going!

So, here's my promise to do a better job in what's left of 2009. Not for your benefit, but for my practice.

Over and out!

I really am quite inconstitent about posting, aren't I

2009-09-27T15:43:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post (again). In fact, a whole season has come and gone since the last time I wrote anything.

It's been a busy 6 months. I've survived a parent with brain injury, three weeks in a Cuban hospital (not a bad experience at all), a whirlwind trip to Greece, Turkey and Spain, a research project that just wouldn't end and the beginning of grad school. All that after selling my house and moving to another city. When you look at it that way, I can't say I have been too lazy.

175 cool experiences in Toronto update - Item 30 - Scarborough Bluffs

2009-03-31T02:37:00.004-04:00

I love the water.

I love great views.

I love great views of the water.

Scarborough Bluffs!

http://picasaweb.google.com/zanipooh/EarthHourToronto2009?pli=1#

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-31T01:32:00.009-04:00

I find all the commotion around Earth Hour 2009 to have been quite amazing. It was great to see so many people and businesses supporting the idea. Sure it's only one hour, but it's a symbolic hour. With a bit of effort we reduced our power consumption in the city by about 15% and a whole lot of people had some fun.

This year, I decided to stroll around downtown Toronto to see which buildings were dark and which ones were brightly lit up. We headed down to Queen and could see the crowds amassing before we got to Yonge street. We popped into Nathan Philips Square for a bit, in time to ring in the hour, them we headed down Bay. I wanted to see what the folks in the business district were doing. Normally, the lights are on on most of the floor. This time many buildings were almost completely dark or very close to it. Very impressive.

There were a few glaring exceptions on my Bay, King, University, Dundas stroll. The Scotiabank branch on Bay and Richmond was very bright. As if there was a deliberate attempt to buck the trend. So too was the Second Cup at University and Adelaide. Bright, bright, bright.

We were not the only ones checking out the situation. We encountered lots of people strolling the city. Couples, family, gaggles of girls, etc. While it's more likely that this had something to do with the fact that it was a Saturday night, I like to think that they were partying in the spirit (or spirits) of Earth Hour.

All in all a fun evening, despite the fact that we realized, once we were out, that we'd stupidly left some lights on at home. Doh!!

Some photos of the night:
http://picasaweb.google.com/zanipooh/EarthHourToronto2009#

175 Years of Toronto

2009-03-05T11:33:00.005-05:00

In 1934, on March 6th to be exact, the City of Toronto was incorporated. At the time the population was about 9,000 people. Today, it's more like 2.6 million. Obviously a lot can happen in 175 years.

In honour of this important anniversary, and my return to this great city, I have decided to explore the great things about Toronto. So over the next 9 months, I want to experience 175 things in, about, of or in this city. And I will report back on how things are going.

Here are a few ideas that already come to mind, in no particular order.

1. Take a walk through Allen Gardens
2. Stroll on the Beaches boardwalk
3. Enjoy a Mojito at Julie's
4. See an IMAX film (can you believe I haven't seen one since Ontario Place in the early 1980s)
5. Read a Jane Jacobs book - She called this city home
6. Buy a book at a local indie bookstore - okay I know that's not really a challenge for me
7. Rediscover old haunts and neighbourhoods
8. Stroll by the spring gardens on Euclid Avenue
9. Catch lots of live music at Harbourfront
10. Visit the Power Plant
11. Visit the MOCCA
12. Visit the new AGO, at a more leisurely pace this time
13. Visit the ROM
14. Cycle the bike paths on the islands
15. Cycle the Martin Goodman trail from the beaches in the east to the Humber River in the west.
16. Go sailing on lake Ontario
17. Take an architectural tour of the city
18. Taste the Mayan chocolate at Soma in the Distillery District
19. Jump up, just a little bit, at Caribana
20. Try a zumba class
21. Follow Mayer Miller on Twitter
22. See a bunch of films at Cinemateque Ontario

That's a good start.

Suggestions are also always welcome.

Update: I've started a list and you can add to it here -

Ottawa Bus Strike - Day 50

2009-01-28T10:17:00.002-05:00

50 days and counting since the buses were last running in Ottawa.

My friends back in Ottawa have been have been pretty dignified about the whole strike thing. I'm impressed. They've taken to walking, car pooling and sharing taxis. For the most part, they live relatively close to their offices so the going is pretty easy. But they remind me of the hundreds of thousands who don't. Those poor souls who used to spend an hour on the bus and now are losing jobs or lots of sleep walking for hours in frigid temperatures.

I feel for them. But I can't help feeling glad I am back in Toronto. Of course, Toronto has been known to have the odd bus strike too. So I won't be too smug about being here and not there.

Check out this video from comedian Rick Currie. His reworking of a Johnny Cash song is inspired.

Top 5 things I will and won't miss about Ottawa.

2009-01-04T01:46:00.006-05:00

Now that I have been gone from Ottawa about 6 or 7 weeks, I have had some time and space to think about the impression the city left on me.

Top 5 things I will not miss about Ottawa

#5 - Federal government politics (with both a big and a little "p") - While I am glad I had the chance to learn about parliamentary processes (wait, am I actually really glad to have learned about parliamentary processes? Not sure), the business of government, public service and the important role government can play in people's lives, I am so not going to miss having to wade through Ottawa's politics.

Some of my colleagues squeal with delight over the shenanigans on the Hill. As a spectator sport it can be juicy and fun. But actually trying to get meaningful work done can be a different matter. It's probably a really good thing that Canadians generally don't get what happens in our capital city. Then again, if more Canadians really cared and understood what happens on Hill, we might find ourselves in different circumstances.

#4 - Freezing rain - I just don't get it. If Ottawa is one of the world's coldest capital cities, why is there so much bloody freezing rain. I was not born in Canada. I didn't grow up with skates on my feet. So, I will never find it amusing that I can can skate on lakes, rivers, neighbourhood park rinks and sidewalks. Nope, don't get that. Why didn't I discover yaktrax earlier?

#3 - The Chaudiere Bridge in winter - Perhaps the crappiest bridge in the city lay between my home and my office. Somewhat interesting (and thankfully short) during the summer, this bridge was the absolute pits during the winter. It never drained properly so there were always salty snowy puddles or icy patches along it's "pit"iful footpath. Not being at home on slippery surfaces, the walk to work had the affect of making me arrive frustrated, angry and experiencing back pain, something one might expect more at the end of the day.

#2 - Terraces de la chaudiere (or Shoddy Air) - Now, the home of Canadian Heritage, Environment, Indian and Norther Affairs and the CRTC is perhaps no more toxic than the other government buildings in the city. The number of people with chronic headaches, runny noses, fatigue and depression cooped up in these towers is probably no greater than other architectural misadventures of the 1970s. But my old office building has the name that sums it all up.

#1 - 38 degrees C below zero - Again, fully admitting that I wasn't born in Canada, though I have spent two thirds of my life here. But how it is natural that anyone wakes up in the morning and upon hearing the temperatures says to themselves, without skipping a step or a beat, "okay, I know how to dress for that." Really, I ask you!

Funny, how the winter figures heavily in my top 5 list. If Ottawa were either more closely situation to Toronto (and therefore warmer) or somewhere tropical (therefore warmer still), I might still be there.

Top 5 things I will miss about Ottawa

#5 - Byward and Parkdale Markets - Farmers' market rule! Wouldn't you prefer to buy your fruit and veg from local farmers? When I worked in the Byward market during the summer months I loved being able to pop out at lunch and pick up my fruit, veg and salad for the day.

#4 - My first real estate purchase - stacked townhouse with big windows, hardwood floors and a gas stove, only steps from the Ottawa rivers and within a short walk of my friends.

#3 - Ottawa River bike paths - Ottawa is blessed with miles and miles of bike paths and a ton of them run along two rivers (Ottawa and Rideau), the Rideau Canal and Dow's Lake. I need to live near water. Preferably a large body of water. Enjoying the rivers and the canal on the bike kept me sane.

#2 - Gatineau Park - My Toronto friends understood the significance of having a HUGE park replete with lakes, skiing and hiking a mere half an hour from the centre of town. I suspect many Ottawans recognize how lucky they are. Beats the 2-4 hour drive to cottage country for Torontonians.

#1 - My awesome friends - I arrived in Ottawa knowing no-one and left with a group of wonderful friends who I hope will be in my life for a long time to come. That group is growing larger as two have given birth recently and two more additions are on the way.

Now that I have done a top 5 list for Ottawa, I guess I will have to do one for Toronto.

2009-01-04T00:58:00.001-05:00

I've just returned to Toronto after almost 10 years away. I left for a 5 month contract in Ottawa. Five months turned into a year. A year turned into another year. I was still thinking that I would return to Toronto and carry on with life. But a curious job presented itself to me with an opportunity to follow a career path and ear a regular salary.

At one point somewhere near the three year mark, I remember saying to my friend Melinda that I couldn't imagine ever returning to Toronto. We were walking along one of my favourite parts of Ottawa, the river path behind the Houses of Parliament. It was warm, probably late spring or summer, and everything was a luscious green. People were enjoying the outdoors. Ottawa was at it's best, in my eyes. This may have affected my mood and precipitated my pronouncement. I truly believed it.

Some people love Ottawa in the winter. It is a wonderful city for doing outdoorsy things such as skating on the canal, cross-country skiing, and snow shoeing etc. If you like that sort of thing. Me, I don't feel quite warm enough for a good 9 months of the year, so even through I gave it a try, several tries in fact, I couldn't get excited about Ottawa's long, cold and snowy winters. I just don't like being cold and I start to feel chilly around late August/early September.

Still, after returning to Toronto, I have realized Ottawa winters have changed me. I still don't like that season anywhere near as much as I absolutely and positively adore the summer. I realize I can handle the winters in Toronto much better than I used to. It just doesn't feel so cold in comparison. Sure I learned to dress appropriately in Ottawa. I've outfitted myself with requisite the head-to-toe coat, the arctic winter boots, fleecy hats, woolen scarves and down-filled mitts. I quickly discarded any attempt to look fashionable. Not worth the hassle. While I am by no means a fashion plate, it's fortunate that Ottawa will never be considered the fashion capital of any region other than perhaps that small area referred to as Eastern Ontario.

I grew to like Ottawa. When I arrived, what stood out the most for me was its odd mixture of architecture - grand old Ontario-style houses, embarrassingly drabby, small town store fronts, inspiring national institutions (National Gallery, Parliament etc), 1970's federal government offices blocks that reach the heights of ugliness, quaint post-war bungalows and red brick row houses. When I left, it was a city that had changed significantly over the course of 10 years. I left a city with a vibrant arts culture, even if it has to fight for its life every year at municipal government budget time, a rich diversity of cultures, inviting self-contained neighbourhoods that offer its residents a great life, more music festivals than you can shake a stick at, miles and miles of river walking paths, and great friends.

Ottawa gave me a career. It was not a career I sought out. I stumbled into it. At no point in the course of my education had I ever said "You now what? I really want to check out this cultural policy thing. I just won't be happy until I am a policy analyst for the government." Nope, never crossed my mind. Probably because I had no idea what cultural policy was or how to analyze it. It wasn't an unfortunate stumbling. I quite liked many aspects of my work. Of course there were other aspects that were less than thrilling. I was happy to be learning and deepening my understanding of the culture game in Canada. It definitely feed some passions.

I became a home owner. After, I'd settled into a career as a policy analyst, I felt the urge to own a home. It was quite strong and I recognized that it was more likely to happen in Ottawa than in Toronto. I was lucky, very lucky. I bought at a good time and found a lovely condo built by a housing developer with an excellent reputation. I loved my neighourhood. By the time I left, I could walk home from work and pass the houses of many of my friends. Not bad, I say.

Nothing stays the same. I started out in arts funding and then moved to arts policy. Then, I had the opportunity to move into film policy. A door opened for me to explore new media and the affects that digital technologies were having on the cultural industries. It's not really a linear trajectory. In fact, it's more cyclical or spiral perhaps. I started out taking photos and dabbling in watercolours. I say dabbling as it never really progressed beyond that, despite the switch to acrylics. Still, it opened up the world of light, colour and texture to me. Studies in media arts at Ryerson lead me to film and video. I'll never forget the pleasure of seeing my first over exposed roll of 16mm black and white film. It was at the time when new media was just taking off, but we didn't call it new media then. I was interested in things computer-related, desktop publishing, computer graphis, computer animation but wasn't fussed by all the programming involved. So I stuck with moving images. It was the media arts connection that took me to Ottawa, where I went back to the arts, then to film and then to new media again. You get the idea.

New experiences led to new directions. I was extraordinarily fortunate enough to get an education leave from work to do a residency in interactive art and entertainment at the Canadian Film Centre. While I had had the feeling that something was missing for a while, the experience at the CFC confirmed two things for me. One, that I wanted to do something more creatively active than policy analysis. Two, that it was time come back to friends and family in Toronto.

So, now 9 years and 9 months after I left Toronto, I find myself back in the city. Even though I'll miss Ottawa and my lovely friends there, I am very happy to be back home. Besides, I suspect I'll see my Ottawa friends here much more often than I saw my Toronto friends there, with the exception of a few T.O friends who grew to like Ottawa a lot.

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T17:44:00.003-05:00

Best wishes for a wonderful 2009. May there be tropical skies in your future!

The countdown has ended

2008-11-11T14:56:00.002-05:00

After weeks of sorting and packing, my condo is now empty. The movers picked up my stuff and are on their way to Toronto. Well, Mississauga actually. Somewhere there my stuff will hang out until I have a place of my own to put it. I don't think I did the best job of packing. Suspect I have left stuff out that I will never use and packed away stuff that's essential.

Still, it will be refreshing to make do with a fraction of my stuff.

Great memories flood back. Dance parties, dinner parties, weekends of narrative therapy, hanging on the couch with the cats, great conversations, wonderful food and wine. Enjoying the company of my friends.

On the 13th, this place will officially belong to someone else. Weird. This place only knows me. Will it like the new owner? Will the new owner treat it with the care and loving it deserves. I hope so.

T minus 30 and counting . . .

2008-10-15T10:02:00.004-04:00

In 30 days time, I will no longer be owner and resident of my condo.

It's a weird feeling.

I've only had my condo 4 years, it's true. But, it was my first real estate purchase and the first time something big was mine. Not my parents' or family's, or something I shared with someone else. It was all mine. Since it was a new construction, I made the decisions on counter tops, flooring, wall colour, cupboards and the extra deep tub (which I barely used in end).

In less than 40 days, I will no longer be a resident of Ottawa.

That's weird too.

I came to this city for a 5 month contract and ended up staying almost 10 years. The largest part of my time here has been great. There have been a few less than stellar moments, but when I leave I will leave with great fondness for the city and its residents. Okay, most of its residents.

Thinking about design and science

2008-10-15T10:00:00.003-04:00

I came across another geat TED.com video about Design and the Elastic Mind.

According to the TED website "MOMA design curator Paola Antonelli previews the groundbreaking show "Design and the Elastic Mind" -- full of products and designs that reflect the way we think now."

Enjoy!!

Media Lab Exhibition

2008-10-03T14:24:00.005-04:00

Last night at the Lennox Contemporary Gallery was the CFC Media Lab exhibition of the prototypes created by the 2008 residents. Five groups with five projects that touch the themes of conversation and connection to community.

After two days of building walls, tables, and podiums, mounting projectors and screens and hiding miles of cables under grey and white gaffer tape, we finally got our projects up and ready to be presented to the VIP crowd that the CFC had invited.

It was a great event. We finally got to show the world our projects and engage in conversations about them. Press from the Space Channel, Toro magazine, CBC and elsewhere milled about interviewing the residents.

Of course there were the obligatory speeches, delightfully short and to the point, and appreciated by all. And we received official notification that we'd graduated and were now among the ranks of treasured alumni.

All in all it was a lovely evening. One that ended with an unexpected yet pleasant surprise.

Conditionally Sold

2008-10-02T13:58:00.003-04:00

After much griping about how long it was taking to find a buyer for my condo, I finally got an offer. I guess I was expecting it all to happen quickly. And really, getting it sold in less than a month isn't that bad. What with the doom and gloom of the North American economy and the upcoming general election, I guess folks were thinking longer about their real estate choices. But I am happy to say that I received a good offer for my lovely home and I have accepted it. I just have to wait for the conditions of sale to go through and then I can pull out the bubbly.

So now I have to enjoy every last minute of the 5 weeks I have left in my lovely home.

You can't take it wth you

2008-09-28T21:57:00.005-04:00

In August, I decided to put the condo up for sale. I had no idea that it would be such a traumatic experience. Sure, I have been planning the move back to Toronto for a while, but this act really made it a reality.

I can't believe the effort it took to de-clutter the place to get it ready for going on the market. You practically have to remove everything that says "hello there, this is my house". When I enter my place now, it echoes in a way I haven't heard since the week I moved in. I quite like the minimalism of it all, though. All the clear countertops and order.

But, it's amazing the effort it takes to keep the place that way. Of course, it would be easier if my roommates actually cleaned up after themselves. Too much to ask of two cats, I realize. But I can dream.

Now after going through all this effort to sell the place, I realize how much I really love it. It's too bad you can't take your real estate with you when you change cities.

What a difference a year makes

2008-09-28T20:50:00.003-04:00

This time last year I was in Toronto and back at school.

I am reminded of this because one of my best friends has just returned to school after several years spent raising two super kids, working and developing an art practice. I'm really excited for her. There's nothing like being a student when you really want to be one.

Time to Reclaim Newbie Status

2008-08-03T21:01:00.009-04:00

After almost 10 years in Ottawa, I have decided to move back to Toronto. Originally, I came here for a 5 month work contract. I had had no intention of staying in the city, as quaint as it was. However, 5 months turned into 18. And then I was offered another job. I took that, happy to continue the appearance of regular pay cheques and a chance at a career.

Now, I find myself in a strange position at work. I can no longer pass myself off as one of the "young 'uns", even if ideologically I am more aligned with the twenty-somethings than my own peers. I sailed past that age bracket a few years ago and am fast slamming into middle-age/middle-manager. I am far from being a newbie, so I can't use that excuse for not remembering the HR policy on this silly thing or that silly thing. And sadly, I have been in the organization long enough to watch a number of my friends leave.

Over the last few years, I have had the slowly building feeling that it's time to make a change. I've learned a tremendous amount, and while there is always more to learn, it's time to reclaim newbie status and tackle another steep learning curve in a new job and a new neighbourhood.

About a month ago, I decided to stop waffling and pick a definite date to move back to Toronto. Christmas 2008 is the deadline that I've announced to the universe - job or no job. Gotta act with intent, I say. Some think I am crazy for setting such a short deadline or leaving the security of life here behind. That may be, but I believe in what I am doing and know it's the right thing. I was getting tired of hearing myself warble and complain. If it wasn't fun for me, I can only wonder at how painful it must have been for my friends.

The decision has been really invigorating. I have all sorts of energy these days to put into doing the things that I used to feel passionate about. It's a welcome change after months of dragging my heels. Of course, I am bummed about leaving my friends. They have become an important part of my life. But I can't help being excited about seeing old friends more regularly again.

Growing up my family moved around a lot. We moved house often, we moved countries many times. Nine and a half years is a seriously long time for me to stay in one place. So I guess it's testament to how wonderful Ottawa is that I have stayed this long.

In Search of Creativity

2008-08-03T19:43:00.002-04:00

About a year ago, I discovered Hugh Mcleod's blog "gapingvoid". At first, I was attracted to his cartoon drawings - pithy sayings and crazy doodling all laid out on the back of business cards. It all seemed to work together. After a time I got into his writing. He blogs about web2.0 and marketing with a sense of humour that appeals to me, mostly because he thumbs his nose at corporate culture. I'm down with that.

It's funny how you can happily lose yourself and lots of time on the internet. It started off with checking and updating my twitter account. I saw that gapingvoid had been busy, so I followed along and was lead to his blog post - How to be Creative. Pearls of wisdom. I particularly like points #6, #13, #19, and #22.

Social Media Breakfasting in Ottawa

2008-07-15T13:07:00.003-04:00

A friend and I attended the 2nd official Social Media Breakfast in Ottawa. It was a well attended affair, and in my neighbourhood. It took place in the offices of Overlay.tv in a building I have often admired on my walks around the neighbourhood. My friend and I couldn't help comparing the office space, which was open, bright and airy with the cubicle farms we spend our days in.

It was refreshing to be surrounded by folks from the Ottawa private sector. I think it must have been the first time that I had been in such a sitution. When you think of two solitudes in Ottawa, it's not the French-English divide. In my experience, it's the private sector-public sector divide. The excitement and energy in the room was quite the change from the government events I sometimes attend.

I was pleasantly surprised by the experience and have discovered a whole group of people I didn't know existed. Even someone who deals with Government.

Post-vacation blues or is the universe just trying to tell me something?

2008-04-26T15:35:00.007-04:00

I have been back from Cuba for a few days. Thankfully, the weather here is very nice. I don't think I could have dealt with returning to snow and cold. I've taken a vacation in winter a couple of times and just couldn't deal with returning to a world of grey (grey people, clothes, roads, skies, floors, offices).

So I have made the decision not to venture outside of Canada during the winter months. It's not that I love winter. In fact, if I never had to live through another winter, it would be a very, very long time before I started to miss the snow and cold temps. It's just that I would rather live through the pain than escape to paradise and then have to return to hell. I guess that reveals a fair bit about my personality.

So, I am delighted to see leaves bursting forth from the trees outside my kitchen and living room windows. I can just feel the energy bubbling under the surface. And I am told we will have cold temps and possibly snow next week. I'm actively ignoring this information and focussing on good images like the beautiful beaches and countryside I experienced in Cuba.

Every time I vacation at the beach, I have to ask myself what the hell I am doing in a cold country. I guess the truth of it is that it's living here that makes it possible for me to take vacations to the beach. Still, my desire is still to retire somewhere warm and by the sea.

Being by the sea also reminded me of how important it is for me to reside by a large body of water. The rivers of Ottawa are lovely and it's great that there are lots of lakes nearby. But really and truly, I know in my heart I am supposed to be by the sea.

So, I guess it's all of this that is making me feel kinda down. I know that I don't have much to complain about. I'm healthy, employed, have great friends and living in the best country in the world (that I have experienced so far). Still, there is this sense of dissatisfaction lurking around the edges. I always seem to go through this when I get back home after a trip. It's the possibilities of another life in another place. This feeling has been popping up more and more frequently in recent years. Somehow, this time it feels different.

Perhaps the universe is telling me to get off your duff and bloody well do something.

Right, got it.

Over and out!

Viva Cuba

2008-04-14T20:39:00.002-04:00

I'm off on Thursday to Cuba. It's a first time for me, which is kinda strange since I have been a huge fan of Cuban music for a very long time. You'd have thought that I might have made it there before.

My folks have been there several times and really love it. So they finally convinced me to accompany them. We will be in Varadero which I understand is very touristy, compared to other parts of the country. I hope to do some trips to other regions and get a better feel of what life is like there. I'll post pix when I get back.

My father confesses that the beach at Varadero is even more beautiful than our favourites - Sandy Lane, Miami or the Crane beaches in Barbados. I have seen beautiful beaches in Australia, Fiji and Hawaii but something still draws me to the beaches in Barbados. Perhaps it's because I have such strong childhood memories of body surfing, getting crushed by huge waves and swallowing gallons of sea water.

A long break

2008-04-14T19:18:00.004-04:00

Okay, so it's been a LONG while since I made the last post. And a hell of a lot has happened.

In January, we entered into serious production of our prototype - a Facebook application centred around fostering environmentally friendly and cooperative challenges. The idea is that you invite your friends to join you in doing something good for the environment. It was a fantastic process to go through the development of a prototype at the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab. Great ideas and suggestions flew at us from the faculty and other residents. It was a weird, tough, exhilarating and sometimes scary process. BUT, it all lead to a prototype that looks great and works.

We previewed our prototype in the middle of a snow storm in February. It was a crazy day and it took me three hours to get from the CFC home and back again. A few intrepid souls made it that night. Bless their lovely little hearts. No one I invited made it. I'm not going to take that personally.

We were lucky and we got some attention from the "green" world. We've been in discussion with an organization that is interested in being more active and visible on the Facebook platform and is looking to use our prototype to do so. I'll let you know what happens.

Once the program wrapped up, I packed up my things and headed back to Ottawa. It was hard to leave family and friends. It was especially hard leaving my group-mates as we were still trying to finish the app and build a company together. Thank goodness for skype. We manage to teleconference regularly and it doesn't seem to bad.

I've been back at work for about a month. While it's weird doing the 9-5 again and dressing like a gainfully employed adult, it never ceases to amaze me how easily you fall back into the old routine. A very good friend who used to work in the same organization has changed jobs. I miss being able to do lunch or coffee with her but am happy that she's off doing new things. I'm working with her and her creative partner on a creative project, and she's also a neighbour so that means we still get to hang out. And our conversations consist of things other than kvetching about work.

Speaking of work, I've returned to the group I used to work with from 2003 to 2006. It's good to be with old friends, who know you and whose work you are intimately familiar with. And luckily, I am able to focus on new technology issues and take advantage of the things I have learned at the CFC and previous work projects. It's nice to know that the time back at school wasn't just for my personal development but that work gets to benefit too.

So despite feeling a bit torn between two cities, I can't complain. I am getting paid to do what I am really interested in.

So now you are all caught up.

Avoidance Tactics

2008-03-07T12:43:00.003-05:00

I've been popping back to the blog and thinking how I need to write something, anything. And then I leave it thinking, I can't write anything until I get the hundreds of other things done that need to be done first. And so time passes and I haven't taken made a blog post and I probably haven't done all the other things that absolutely and positively had to be done before the blog could be thought about.

What a vicious circle. How do I go about making it virtuous?

2008-01-04T19:22:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited. I've just discovered that I can embed TedTalks videos right on my blog. Today, I came across Isabel Allende's talk . And to celebrate this new discovery, I am sending this one out to all the creative women in my circle of friends and acquaintances. May you always find the time and space to express your creativity and humanity.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T12:12:00.000-05:00

Last New Year's Eve my friend Melinda and I turned down party invitations and decided to spend the evening thinking about what was 2006 and what 2007 had in store. 2007 was an eventful year for both of us and it was a really liberating experience to actively recognize all of the accomplishments, challenges, learning opportunities, new ideas and skills, and new people we had accumulated in 2006. Armed with wine, paper and coloured markers, we drew up a mind map for all the things we wanted to do in 2007. Our topics for exploration covered work, travel, health, finances, love life and fitness to name a few.

This past New Year's Eve, we were in different cities and while I did think about our mind mapping I didn't actually get down to doing one. Perhaps it's not too late. I know I accomplished a number of my 2007 goals. While I had an image of 2007 in my mind, this time last year, I had no idea I would be spending 5 months in Toronto on education leave from work, or developing a Facebook application. Neither did I think I would EVER find myself standing on the corner of Yonge and Dundas saying "come on, minus 12 is not that bad. This is a typical winter day for us Ottawans." How quickly things can change!

Other goals I didn't manage to accomplish include losing 20lbs (funny that never seems to happen), taking up Spanish again, getting really fit by running trails (for some reason I have been dreaming about running trails in Gatineau Park), striking it rich with my internet startup (am working on that one though), etc. etc.

I resolve to draw up a map for 2008 and when I get back to Ottawa, it will be interesting to see how it compares to the one for 2007.

Wishing you all peace and happiness for 2008.

What have you changed your mind about, and why?

2008-01-02T12:03:00.000-05:00

After several days away from my computer, I checked out my news reader and came across another interesting post from the TedTalks - What have you changed your mind about and why? For our project I was interested in what Wired mag's Editor-in-Chief Chris Andersen had to say about carbon and climate change and then I saw the post from Tim O'Reilly on why he's changed his thinking about social media.

Time flies when you are trying to be creative

2007-12-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

I realize it's been quite a while since my last post. Partly I was waiting for something interesting to say and partly I kept saying to myself "you've got so much to do, why are you wasting time on the blog?". Franky, I am not sure that I got that much done during this whole time. I mean I spent a lot of time in front of the computer but I don't have that much to show for it. So, conceivably I could have done a number of short posts. Which leads me back to the point that perhaps I just didn't have that much interesting stuff to say. Hence the circularity of this paragraph.

So, what's been going on recently? My fellow group members and I have been working on our prototype project for the media lab. We connected pretty quickly on the new media forms that really interested us, but it took us a little longer to pinpoint the topic of interrogation. What did we actually want to explore/say?

Over the past few months, we have touched the topic of the environment several times. We are not experts or fanatics but we are interested in reducing our negative impact on the world's ecology. We figure that we aren't unlike a large number of people. If we could somehow see how our enviro friendly activities were contributing to a larger effort, them we might be motivated to make more and more changes.

After a lot of discussion we decided to do something that would achieve at least two goals. One, raise awareness of the tons of simple actions that we can take that reduce our impact; and two, show people how their individual actions contribute to the greater whole.

Tell me a story and I'll follow you anywhere, almost.

2007-11-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about story lately - different types of stories and different types of circumstances.

Story Lust (aka Narrative Therapy) - something I have suffered from for many, many years and I only recently recognized. Like someone on a dirty weekend with a new lover, I have disappeared for whole weekends with books, entire seasons of TV shows and stacks of DVDs. It's usually a sign that I am feeling somewhat off when I disappear like this. Sometimes it's a desire for alone time, sometimes I am procrastinating, and sometimes I have stuff to work out in my head and I unconsciously pick stories that can help me figure it all out. At least, that's what I tell myself anyway.

A pleasant aspect of my mind is the ability to forget large chunks of narrative, so I can go back and rediscover the territory again, and again, and sometimes again. Maybe I don't actually forget. Maybe I just suspend my memory. You know, like when you suspend your disbelief watching most science fiction, reality TV or George Bush.

Interactive Narrative - what the hell are those two words going together in a sentence. I went to the CFC Media Lab to find out. My concepts of "interactive" and "narrative" were seriously challenged and I still don't really "know" what it all means, but I am determined to figure what it means, to me at least. A very helpful resource was the faculty member Siobhan O'Flynn and her blog about narrative.

Very, Very, Short Stories - wired.com ran an article in 2006 about 6 word short stories. Yes, that right, 6 words. Some of my favourite writers (books, film/TV, graphic novels) made delightful submissions. The economy was inspiring and surprising. To be able to transmit so much with so few words. Makes me remember with not so great fondness the hours I struggled with books like Honore de Balzac's Eugenie Grandet. About 75 pages to describe the protagonist's front room. I've heard of setting the scene, but this was a tad masochistic. Okay, it was written in French which sometimes uses more words. Sadly, I can't remember a thing about that story except the fact that it took a third of the bloody book to get past the front door.

Book Clubs (and the stories that inspire them) - I recently became part of a book club. I'm a total newbie to the idea. I'd heard about them but never had a chance to join one. For this club, we decided to tackle speculative fiction and promptly picked Eat, Pray, Love as our first book. Hey, that's not a speculative fiction book, I hear you say. Uh huh, right you are. Somehow, it just seemed right and resonated nicely with the book club members. I chose China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh for the second book. I am looking forward to the discussion as it has been a very enjoyable read and a welcome addition to the narrative therapy section of this past weekend. Retail therapy formed the other part.

Interactive Experience Design - my prototype group is trying to figure out what our big project will be. We've all be drawn to the amazing work by artists/designers such as Camille Utterback, Toshio Iwai, Golan Levin, faculty members (Matt and Susan Gorbet), and CFC Media Lab alumnae (murmur, Right or Left Unsaid). It's been an interesting challenge for our group on two levels: after having seen such great works, how do we come up with something completely different. Well, probably we don't. We will however find something that we feel passionate about and we will give it our own unique imprint; given the Media Lab and this program spring from the Canadian Film Centre (which is all about the story after all), how does narrative fit with our work? If you are interested in designing an interactive experience, how does story fit into it? What do you mean by story anyway? It's certainly not your traditional notion of story with character development, plot points and arcs. It's much more subtle and conceptual. Phew, thank goodness I went to art school. Crafting subtle and conceptual stories that hint at an underlying concrete narrative - gee, I believe I have had some experience at that. Some will get that thinly veiled reference. For those of you who don't, it's probably better that way.

If you ever feel the need for a narrative therapy weekend, here are some of my favourite sources.

zip.ca
library (DVDs and books)
Chapters/Indigo
Bakka-Pheonix on Queen West
Used bookstores in Toronto and Ottawa
Queen Street Video, sadly, only available to Torontonians. Glebe International or the Elgin Street Video Station in Ottawa are pretty good but QSV so far is the best.
The movie network and the movie network on demand
Veoh.com (particularly good for old British sci fi TV shows)
Wikipedia
Television without Pity
Google and torrent trackers
Beloved friends and family
Your local rep theatre
Cineplex, Galaxy or whoever owns and run the cinema near you these days

Happiness

2007-11-07T22:59:00.000-05:00

One of my favourite places on the web is TED.com, where I love to lose myself in the sea of TedTalks. Catching up on the backlog in my feed reader, I came across the talk given by Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, on the habits of happiness. He talks about the futility of basing our happiness on external factors (location, fame, the right little black dress) and instead talks about nurturing internal conditions happiness. Who'd have thought happiness was a habit.

Group Formation and Creating High Performing Teams

2007-11-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today, the group formation process came to an official end. Now it's time to get on with figuring out what each group will do for a prototype project. As agonizing as the group formation process was at times, I suspect the really hard work is yet to come.

Dave, the faculty member who lead us through this process, is a pretty cool guy. You get the impression that he's not fazed by very much. Part of that confidence must come from the way he tackles his work. As an expert in managing people in organizations, he takes a view of the process that is quite unlike anything I have witnessed in a work situation. I'd say it reminds me more of practices I have come across in coaching (career, family, sports etc). He takes more of a systems approach to analyzing and describing groups, teams and organizations. His understanding of and background in family therapy helps him to view how groups work as systems of interaction between group members. Every member plays a different role on the team. And he's not just talking about project manager, research, architect and administrator.

His position is that all teams, organizations and societies will have those who make stuff happen, those who support it happening, those who let it happen and those who oppose it happening. Eliminate those who oppose stuff happening, and someone, somewhere will move into that role and they might be even worse than the person they replaced. So the object of the exercise is not necessarily to eliminate or convert the dissenters but to recognize them as legitimate players in the system and make sure you know what their beef is because it might be something important.

This idea of system interaction also reminds me of the stuff I was exposed to at work this summer that tried to consider the cultural landscape in Canada as a system, a cultural ecosystem. In this instance, we were trying to understand how there are many different roles to be played in a cultural ecosystem (content producer, creator, funder, policy developer, infrastructure provider, consumer etc). How all these players interact within the system is an indication of its health, dynamism and viability. Over dependence here and under-functioning there can cause it to shift out of whack.

When we first met with Dave, during our first week at the media lab, we were all strangers and he coached us through the process of team building. He set us all sorts of tasks designed to build trust and communication between the group of 10 residents. He talked about 4 key stages in group forming (forming, storming, norming and performing), stating that we will go through each stage: the first two stages being process driven and the last two about achieving end results. In any group, we are likely to have some people who are more invested in or comfortable with process and others in the end result. The key to becoming a high performing team is in when and how we move from the process-oriented stuff to getting an end result.

The hope is that we will spend the time we need generating ideas and exploring options and that our guiding principles will help us in focussing on the core idea and executing it with some sophistication and impact.

Check back with me in mid-February to see how all this actually worked out.

Here wiki, wiki, wiki, wiki, wiki

2007-10-24T20:55:00.000-04:00

I've been using Wikipedia for ages now. Okay, ages really means about a couple years. With the rate at which technology seems to change these days, a lot can happen in such a relatively short time. Just look at Facebook. How long will it be before something else leaves FB in the dust?

But I digress.

Wikipedia is now mainstream. Even my mum uses it. Well that's not saying that much about my mum. She may be a bit technophobic but she knows where to go for info.

And, doesn't just about everyone go to Wikipedia for in-depth info on Coronation Street, Dr Who, Battlestar Galactica or any one of the hundreds of spin-offs in the CSI franchise? When you want to know who the Master is and why he has a hate on for the Doctor. If you are unsure whether Speed was killed by gun-fire or David Caruso's icy stare, where do you go? When you need to get a quick refresher about particle physics, tandoori cooking or whether lion's claws are retractable, you go to Wikipedia.

But I digress again.

An online encyclopedia, Wikipedia has been build and edited by regular folk like you and me (as opposed to highly academically credentialed editor types who are paid to edit something like the Encyclopedia Britanica). While there may be inaccuracies (and I have noted a few in the entries for Stargate SG-1 and Farscape, I couldn't find anything wrong with the entries on particle accelerators or quantum physics, funnily enough), it's either a good place to start your research or waste time having lots of fun with useless details.

And I digress some more.

After years of using a wiki and kinda-sorta knowing what they are, I have finally participated in building one. My fellow residents at the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab and I started building this one a few weeks ago while delving into online and networked media. Thanks to Darren Wershler-Henry, those of us who didn't already know how to build and populate a wiki now know how to do so. It's a great resource for collaborative writing and I encourage you to give it a try.

For tips on how best to set up a wiki, you could go to Wikipedia. But I encourage you to start by consulting our repository of knowledge - The CFC Media Wiki

I always thought a microcontroller was . . .

2007-10-24T19:00:00.000-04:00

. . . someone who was a mix of a micro manager and a control freak.

Well, I was right, partially. It refers to managing on a micro scale and controlling absolutely everything that goes on. Rather than being someone, I discovered this week that a microcontrollers is a computer on a chip.

Matt Gorbet, of Gorbet Design Inc, led us through an examination of physical/spatial media and the wonders of physical computing. What is physical computing? Here's a definition from Wikipedia:

In the broad sense, physical computing is a creative framework for understanding human beings' relationship to the digital world. In practical use, the term most often describes handmade art, design or DIY hobby projects that use sensors and microcontrollers to translate analog input to a software system, and/or control electro-mechanical devices such as motors, servos, lighting or other hardware.

After learning or relearning about bits, bytes, ASCII, electrical circuits, electrical current, voltage, resistance, capacitance and power and all their attendant units of measure, we launched into reading circuit schematics. Having been led through the various images that represent wires, junctions, resistors (variable and non), potentiometers, capacitors, light emitting diodes (or LEDs) and breadboards, we put this all together to build basic circuits. Very exciting. I love it when stuff you make blinks, clicks and buzzes.

All this stuff about circuits and microcontrollers was designed for us to understand the workings behind the works of artists and designers who create using physical computing, for example: Michael Naimark, David Small, Toshio Iwai, Scott Snibbe, David Rokeby,and Camille Utterback.

Of all the artists, whose work we discovered and discussed, standouts for me were:

Golan Levin's - "messa di voce". Check out the video documentation part way down the page.
Danny Rozin's - "Shiny Balls Mirror" and Weave Mirror"
Ben Rubin's - "Movable Type" and "Listening Post"

It was enormously helpful to go through the works of these artists. It really gave me an idea of the breadth of interactive art that exists and gave me a few sparks for ideas for the future.

On the subject of interactive projects, our Godzilla project is really taking shape. We are thinking about a three-screen, video tracking, interactive physical gamespace where the primary mode of interaction is manipulating (read throwing/kicking about) foam building blocks that are fitted with gyroscopic sensors or accelerometers (haven't decided which yet), which trigger video and audio clips. Stay tuned for more news. Or not.

yesterday, i was game, today I'm a gamer

2007-10-18T20:16:00.001-04:00

I crossed a threshold today. A part of me has changed that will never be the same again. (I know what you are thinking, Sandy. No, not that threshold.)

We are in the middle of our "gaming and goal-based media" module. Yesterday, we learned about all the different categories in gaming (platforms, POV, modes, genre). I finally understand the difference between 1st person and 3rd person shooters. I can speak intelligibly (and maybe even intelligently) about massively multiplayer games and sports games, fighting games and casual games. I am familiar with the academic debates between ludologists and narratologists (perhaps the subject of another blog post). And as usual, I want to get in there and act as interpreter/mediator between the two factions. Ooh, that sounds like a great idea for a game!

As any exploration of the gaming world would dictate, we delved into playing games. Set up around the lab, we had a Wii console, Playstations, Xboxes and lots of handheld stuff. It was all so overwhelming, but I was brave. I never grew up with this stuff. In fact, I purposefully rejected it when I was younger and then completely missed the boat.

Using the controllers was so alien. Things did not move in the way I expected. I over-compensated and misinterpreted all over the place. But, despite the steep learning curve, I pressed on and actually grew to enjoy it.

Now I want a Wii at home. I'd love to see what the cats would make of it.

I played a number of other games with much less success than the tennis game on the Wii. Grand Theft Auto version I-have-no-idea was a bust right from the get-go. I crashed the car several times, drove the wrong way on one-way streets and actually hit a police car. If the object of the exercise was to knock over as many people and hit as many other cars as possible, I think I would have done pretty well. More practice is needed but I am game to try some more.

Of course, to enjoy most of these games, I had to disregard the fact that most of them centred around fighting or killing something or someone. I watched my classmate Elliot play a game called Bioshock, which basically has you explore this weird place killing people and scooping up their weapons, amo, and med kits. There is obviously a point to the wandering around and killing (you had to do something or get somewhere), but it was clearly secondary, or perhaps even tertiary to the action. I see now why armies use video games as part of their training.

This sort of gaming will only be entertaining for a short period of time (I hope). I'll have to find other types of games to explore, now that I have found another way to waste whole heaps of time.

getting back to the creative process

2007-10-18T19:33:00.001-04:00

Since I decided to return to school, I have been saying that I really wanted to get back to the creative process. Part of me held firm to this belief, but a much larger part of me really thought this was just a euphemism for taking a break from the government job.

We've been at the CFC Media Lab for over 6 weeks and in that time, I have been exposed to all sorts of wonderful and new things and people. I've been thoroughly enjoying it. But yesterday, for the first time since I arrived in Toronto, I wished I had a day off. A day off from the class work so that I can do something. Something active! Something administrative -Uhuh! Something creative? Yes!

Over the last few weeks, there has been a growing list of things to do sloshing about in the back of my mind:

draft an "Intro to Cultural Policy" deck (jeez, I really didn't think I would be doing this, but somehow I am actually looking forward to it. Finally, I have a practical expression of what I have been doing in Ottawa for the last 8 years. Funnily enough, no one here is impressed with the idea that I have drafted over 200 briefing notes to the Minister (five of 'em), the Deputy Minister (only two) and Assistant Deputy Minister or Director General (three of each). Neither are they impressed by the fact that I know what it means to prorogue Parliament);
contribute material to a presentation on grant writing that I am doing with my colleague Isabella. Isabella has had much success in this venture, so I hope to learn a lot from her. While, I will expound on what you should have known when you applied for a grant in 2000. Some of that info might actually be useful these days. Who knows? I'm just the comic relief for Isabella;
do research on Godzilla and think of ways to "express" the essence of this creature/icon/concept in mobile and goal-based media. We've already brainstormed on Godzilla as social network, interactive TV show, interactive performance space (we were very much inspired by David Rokeby's Very Nervous System). Trust me, Godzilla is WAY deeper than you could EVER imagine;
think up my vision for our prototype (more on prototyping later); and finally
get going on this blog, which is supposed to represent my thinking process throughout the classroom and production segments. Oops! The classroom sessions are almost done and I am in danger of losing my brilliantly-crafted (haha) ideas and insight. Let's hope the prototyping process lends more time and mental space.

I've resisted actually writing anything down (until tonight), figuring that I would get to everything easily. Well weeks have gone by and the list now seems so long. Almost too long to start. I may have to abandon something. I was hoping to post a blog entry on each module and outline all the interesting ideas etc and I had wanted to do this in the order we experienced them. But really, you don't know what order things were presented to us, and you don't really care. So I will abandon that one. And coherence, I think that's a goner too.

Dave Wolfenden, who lead us through the leadership and performance exercises, counsels us to avoid thinking too much about how to do stuff and to just get on with the doing. He's all for figuring it all out along the way. Don't let not knowing how to do get in the way of dreaming up great ideas. Solid advice.

So there you are! I just did it! One blog entry down, who knows how many more to go.

Ciao

Getting off to a slow start

2007-10-10T11:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I haven't posted anything since September. It's been kinda busy. I know that's no kind of excuse since it only takes a couple of minutes to jot something down. Take this for example. But I have been wrestling with how to organize all the stuff I wanted to talk about. In the end, I have decided that any ideas about themes or order was just procrastination, so I will just be throwing stuff out there willy-nilly (the horror!!!!).

Okay Joe, I finally took your advice

2007-09-21T20:06:00.001-04:00

After much prodding, I am finally starting this blog. The hope is to capture some of my thoughts about transforming cultural objects, cultural policy, works of interactive art and entertainment, new technologies and their impact on me, you and whoever. I may jot a few notes about other things that take my fancy too, such as Joss Whedon, feminist sci fi, transmedia stories, and general story lust.

Oh yeah, I fully expect to include some pictures. Gotta have pictures.