the other GBC in my life....

when i'm not working at the Green Building Council, i'm busy with 2 summer classes @ schulich and serving on the executive team of the Graduate Business Council, the other GBC in my life. this leaves little time for taking advantage of the TO-summertime-festivities (patios, anyone?) but i've managed to get in some uniquely canadian experiences.

about 2 weeks ago, we headed up north to Marshall's (best friend extraordinaire/GBC athletics guru) family cottage for a GBC executive work retreat. now, in the States, we don't have "cottages" - instead there are Tahoe cabins and summer shares/houses in the Hamptons. i couldn't help but picture a quaint little log cottage decked out in Laura Ashley florals, complete with questionable water source, and an outhouse in the back. but, i was wrong! it was a lovely blue house (fitting for the Blue clan), massive enough to fit 11 of us and equipped with the key features necessary to make a retreat: bbq, ping pong table for beer pong and flip cup tournaments, a yard big enough to play some German beer game (pictured), and of course, the splendid lake just across the street. After a hard day of work, the ladies headed to the lake - even though it was so foggy that you couldn't see where the lake fog ended and lake began - it was as serene as ever, and a much needed escape.

Am I back back in Cali Cali?

The USA win and G20 madness has been eclipsed by the EARTHQUAKE THAT JUST HAPPENED HERE IN TORONTO. What is going on here!??! As I sat here watching the entire building rumble, I quickly dismissed the realization that an earthquake was happening- after all, this isn't California! Several thoughts floated through my head "G20 stuff" "maybe a soccer goal, overzealous watchers on the floor above" "bomb"? A quick Google search found nothing and I consulted the next best thing- Facebook. Sure enough, status updates informed me that indeed what I experienced was a 5.5 earthquake. (Ah, the power of social networking!). Interestingly, no one in the office hid under the desk or stood in the frame of the doorway, as we had all earnestly learned to do growing up in California. Makes me wonder how we would react/behave if something more disastrous had occurred.

15 seconds of ffffame

There is non-stop excitement here at the Toronto office! CBC, Canada's broadcasting channel, caught wind of the 47 inch TV that MCW installed in the office for the World Cup and decided to come over to film us watching the Brazil vs. N. Korea game. Claudia, program manager for the GBC, is originally from Brazil, and got some face time (along with a strategically placed desktop photo of her and her dog, Lucy, donning matching Brazilian jerseys). Marcus and I also got filmed doing some 'work'- surely to show up in some future stock video clips. Keep your eyes peeled for the GBC Toronto team on CBC tomorrow!

toronto. culture.

so i was lamenting to marcus about how everyone else's blog is so much more culturally interesting than mine- with trips to glorious beaches, and meetings with high ranking country officials, and visits to the hospital...but then i realized that right in front of me was an everyday experience that i was taking for granted: the PATH. for folks who may not be familiar, PATH is downtown toronto's walkway that spans 28km and is filled with restaurants, shops, etc. it's basically a massive maze of a mall, all underground. this confused me at first because in NYC, PATH referred to a train line to New Jersey...when i first saw PATH here, i was wondering why there were so many signs for it, everywhere. but now, i've come to love and rely on the PATH for all my lunch eating needs...plus, i'm taking a course at the miles nadal centre @ the ernst & young tower, which, you guessed it, can be accessed by PATH! amazing.

the other interesting work development is that the folks which kindly sponsor office space for the Council have World Cup FEVER! yesterday, they brought in a 47inch flat screen TV in anticipation of the first game. like many stereotypical americans, i'm not much of a soccer fan (well...not much of a TV sports-watching fan in general) but now that there's TV in the office, i might just become one!

Why Design Now? & Enlightenment.

A few friends and I took an epically long road trip to New York over the May 24 weekend and I was able to catch the much-lauded National Design Triennial- Why Design Now? (which follows the earlier Design for the Other 90% exhibit, equally cool: http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/) at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. Highlights of the exhibit included: spanish tile solar panels, the Viet Village urban farm project in New Orleans, and of course- the One Laptop Per Child project. Design and designers are playing a unique role in addressing the social and environmental issues of today. And this is especially apparent in the green building industry, which is rapidly changing market dynamics through the influence of policy and consumer behavior.

On a more personal note, it's interesting that I find myself back into the design/building world again since I last dabbled as an architecture student years ago in undergrad. When I decided to get an MBA in Sustainability, I wasn't quite sure where, what, and how that would look like. I'm pleasantly surprised that my journey into the socially/environmentally responsible business world has brought me to a place where my personal and professional interests are converging.