Category Archives: Community

Project For Awesome: 2012 Edition

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There has been a lot of terrible, tragic, and horrific acts this month. It’s absolutely unfathomable the pain these acts of caused for those directly involved, or how it may effect our world in the new year.  It’s senseless, it’s scary, and it just sucks.

Which is why I need to tell everyone this year about the Project For Awesome. This now annual YouTube community event was started by John Green (previously cited as my favorite author ever), and his brother Hank Green. To put it simply, Project For Awesome started back in 2007 and works on making YouTube (and the internet) focused for 48 hours on good acts.

Project For Awesome (click to visit the website) asks people around the world to focus not on the world-suck, and the tragic acts that have taken place this year, but on creating some awesome for the world today and for the next year.

This is not like your typical charity drive. Instead, you can participate in the project in a ton of different ways:

1.) Comment on every ‘Project For Awesome’ video (excluding the live stream). For every comment John Green will be donating 1 penny to the ‘Foundation To Decrease World Suck’ (oh yeah, that is totally what this charity is called.)

2.) Submit a video for YOUR favorite non-profit. The community then votes on which charities/non-profit groups (divided into different categories) should receive a portion of the total donations.

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Official Teaser Image of the 2012 P4A Shirt

3.) Obviously donate some cash. This year, there have been some really cool perks you can purchase through Indigogo as well.  Like, look at this T-shirt I purchased through my donation. HOW. COOL. IS. THIS.

In all seriousness, for the next couple of hours I would totally encourage you all to get involved for a few minutes (or hours) in this project. Even if you are just watching videos, subscribing to random youtubers who are looking to do good, and watching the hilarious antics of the live stream.. It’s worth it.

Because it reminds us that in a world of seemingly endless world suck, there are a group of genuine and loving people. While the Green brothers may inspire us all to act, the fact that a large internet community has made this project soar speaks endless praise for what humanity can be capable of.

God bless, and DFTBA this holiday season.

What did you learn today?

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There are a few things in life that I am really passionate about, and most of these passions I can directly link to the way my parents educated me, life has influenced my choices, and events that have made me reconsider those choices.  To specifically name some of these passions: Video Games, Books, Politics, and above all else learning. And I don’t mean just sitting down and doing math problems, because–you know that is what you were told to do. I mean really and passionately pursuing the knowledge of (or in) a certain subject, because you need to know the answer.  You may not understand why the answer has become such a big deal, but for the simple sake of learning and education you are now pursuing it.

I love those moments. but for a very long time it has been difficult to articulate what these moments are like, why I love learning, and why I believe the Internet is so important to allow this learning to happen. Leave it to John Green, whom I have stated to absolutely adore (in a non-creepy, admiration type way) to articulate the very emotions and thoughts I couldn’t convey. Ted Talks are one of the great things that the  Internet has brought to learning, and John Green gave a great talk on education  learning, and why it is important to have a community of learners.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a community of learners, and people who passionately pursue the right to ask questions and debate the more difficult answers. We all have taken this passion of education and learning to different fields of interest, but in the end our dinner table is never filled with “what did you do today?” — it was always “what did you learn today?”

I’m still not sure where I will end up next year as I pursue my education. Perhaps, I will stick with Athabasca and pursue my education in a way that fits my comfort zone. But I have also come to realize that to pursue my education in this way, I will need to find a community of learners to travel with (at least through cyberspace).

For the first time, I found a way to express the passions I have for learning. I found someone who shared one of my most intimate thoughts. I love the Internet and the meeting of minds that is often found in the most unexpected ways.

So to answer the question:  I learned today that procrastination on a paper, can sometimes lead to education in other areas. But in the end, the paper still needs to be done. That education in nontraditional ways can be healthy, appropriate, and lead to an interesting travel through life.  And that even the most strange of passions are there for a reason.

Extra Life 2012

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Another update to the wonderful (busy) month of October!

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First off, I hate when schedules collide. Today is officially the kick off to the Extra Life gaming marathons (which is simply the coolest charity drive out there). The ultimate goal is to raise funds for your local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital – and participate in a 24hr gaming marathon.

Unfortunately, Young Drivers’ weekend class bumped the possibility of participating in a straight marathon of gaming. Which isn’t all bad, as I desperately need assistance in my driving skills and knowledge simply to earn some confidence behind the wheel. (It’s working so far!).

So while I may not be putting in 24 hours of gaming today, I will be putting in some gaming hours this week to complete the ‘marathon’ aspect of this fantastic event.

It may be a little late to join in this year. But please consider supporting an extra-lifer you know, or visiting my fund raising page, and supporting a great cause. Even if you are simply sharing a link to the Charity’s website… Extra life still needs your support!

The extra life community is amazing and I am looking forward to next year already.. I hope you will consider joining the cause as well.

Overall I am excited for both events this weekend – driving and gaming – they mix well… Right?! :0)


Ps. I am at roughly 61% of my goal as I am writing this post. My goal is to raise $200 for Sick Kids hospital by November 1st (at the very latest). This is super exciting & I am proud to be a part of it!

pps. Check out Extra-life.org for the latest fundraising news!

The Internet Is Not All Bad

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There is a spotlight once again on the Internet’s various communities & how it (the Internet) may behave once again. In the same week that the tragic death of a B.C teenager is being linked to cyber-bullying; Gawker.com posted an piece exposing the dark side of the Internet’s love affair with fee speech.

While it is important to talk about Cyber-bullying, and identify when a joke or ‘freedom’ may cross that line, it is unfortunate that this news must cast a shadow over the good the Internet may do.

You do not have to look far back this year to find some great stories featured about sites like Reddit, who encourage their community to send a dying man some letters of comfort, which should be noted as the same community featured in Gawker’s exposé.

On the other hand, to characterize such a vast online world in one swift motion would be as foolish as it is to ignore the problem of cyber bullying and its close cousin the troll. The Internet’s generation, we all have similar stories of hope & despair which were inspired by the actions of a community of people.

Early on in my Internet travels, I had a community manager advise me to view the other members as people. Not just the avatars or virtual images they display as a persona, but as another human sitting quietly in a room not unlike my own. It was their thought that if we could establish an image of another very real person, we could address them with the same respect we (hopefully) bring to our same discussions in person. To give personality to the anonymous, and give a heart to the heartless trolls. Wise advice.

The Internet has opened up some great opportunities for myself. I have traveled to Florida to visit a friend I meant through and online community, and met many others I am proud to stay in contact with throughout the years. I have learned about cultural differences, political ideologies, shared my love of gaming, and most importantly persevere my friendships of those in my offline & online world through methods like Facebook.

So while the Internet is a very dark place at times, I would urge everyone to also see the light it may bring to the world. There is opportunity for real growth, personal relationships, admiring differences, and sharing our passions.

Unfortunately bad things happen, but they also happen offline as well. It’s a true tragedy that a young girl in B.C did not have the opportunity to experience the love & passion the Internet may show you, and only saw the dark side of this–and the offline–world. It breaks my heart that we continue to focus on such differences and harming others, when it is something we may share & learn from.

The Internet is a vast place. It has its shadows, but the light from the true communities who share & wish to change something outside of this world for the better.. That is who we need to focus on and the voices which we need to amplify as we move forward in our battle against negative, evil, & bullying voices.

Love Letter To A Nation: Happy Birthday Canada!

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Dear Canada,

It’s that time of year once again. Today everyone will be dressed in a sea of red and white clothing, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, and the company of our fellow Canadians. The Cherry on top will be the delightful displays of fireworks across our country tonight.  One day each year put aside to remind everyone how lucky we are to have this country.

We may have had our struggles with some tough issues this year. Our Nation has always been celebrated as one of multiculturalism and peaceful freedoms. It should come as no surprise that our continued issues centralize around the freedom and protection of one group of people, and the freedom and aggression it could lead to for another.  We need to continue to find this balance again, Canada. Respect for all sides of the issue.

These are the issues that I followed this year – but there are many more we could touch on:

Ouch. Not a great year when you look back at some of the many issues that grabbed our headlines.

However, there is also a lot of good we did, Canada. We continue to defy the odds as a Nation. As I continue to travel around the world, I continue to uphold the belief that my nation is really cool. We’re friendly, outgoing, courteous (for the most part), and open-minded on many issues (although we need to revisit our tolerance/acceptance stance once again – we’re good at this Canada!).

  • Politically we can look at the issue of Attawapiskat. Yes it was mishandled on many levels, and the rally for help came later than it should have, but in the end we did send some mobile homes over to those who needed it.
  • The Premier of Nunavut is fighting a good fight - why are food prices so high up north in this day and age? Good question and a great cause for the people up north.
  • Macleans’ annual “How Canadian Are You?” poll shows that Canadians are giving on average $260 per year to charity, which is pretty fantastic when you look at the big picture.
  • We are looking at bullying in a different way. But we may be missing our step, new bullying laws could open discrimination to others who do not share the same view points. Again, this comes down to teaching everyone what tolerance and respect means to people – something Canada use to be very good at.   We need to learn to disagree, but still show the respect that must be earned by every citizen.

There is so much more locally, provincially, and federally we could go into. There was a lot of bad moves we made, a lot of hurt we caused, and a lot of missteps we took with good intentions. This was a year which followed the Vancouver 2010 patriotism that swept the nation; we are proud of what we have accomplished and want to share our goals on a larger global scale.  Beautiful idea.

But, Canada? Let’s not forget who we are. We’re a nation who embraces tolerance for most ideas; we’re a nation of kindness, respect, generosity, global minds, and patriotic hearts. While we navigate our new global mindset, which is needed in our global world, let us remember that we came from humble beginnings and made something great. People love us for our qualities as a Nation, so why should we change it now?

Who am I kidding? I love you Canada. Happy birthday.