Monday, January 21, 2008

Where is my blog headed? A couple of thoughts

Having had dinner with R, T and J last Thursday and being asked "what is your blog about?" I started pondering and asking myself this precise question. I started this blog with a focus on environmental issues (since I study human/environment interactions in my day job). Then I began discussing other things, and opening up my own internal world, my thoughts and activities to the world.

Through the course of the last couple of years (I began blogging in April 2006) I have become somewhat famous for my restaurant reviews, although I have also noticed that some of my most popular posts are actually think pieces (see for example my discussion of Gore/IPCC Nobel Prize and the comparison between transportation infrastructure in Mexico City and Vancouver).

I have training in urban planning, sustainability, policy sciences and geography. I have also traveled and lived in a number of countries, which I think allows me to bring a different perspective to Canadian issues. And I am very interested in the development of Metro Vancouver.

Thus, I think I'll try to write at least one Vancouver-centric, or Canada-centric , relevant think piece a week (or every couple of weeks). For those of you who read my blog for the other stuff (e.g. my adventures, restaurant reviews and all that), I plan to continue doing that. But I also want to contribute to the overall discussions on the future of Vancouver, the Metro Vancouver region and Canada. I hope to make at least a small contribution. Thoughts, opinions anyone?

4 comments:

Miss 604 said...

go for it, branch out, i'm sure it'll be great content!

by the way my mom and i were talking about blogging at lunch today and she said that "that Raul person sounds really sweet" hehe

Raul said...

Aww thanks Rebecca!

Please tell mom604 that her comment is very much appreciated :)

I'd like to believe I'm sweet (and I think the majority of my friends would agree), but it's a major compliment that my sweetness actually can perspire through my blog content!

And to add to the sugar content of my blog, check the music review I'll post later tonight (one of the sweetest songs I've heard).

Unknown said...

Raul, I think you'd really nail a Vancouver-centric post every week. I really enjoy your blog, have you ever considered posting your Vancouver-specific posts on VancouverVibe.ca? I think they'd be a great fit and you'd find some new readers ...

Raul said...

Thanks for the kind words, Vancouver. I love VancouverVibe.ca ... I have found some of my readers actually come from there, and I am very honored and humbled that subscribers to VancouverVibe.ca would find my blog interesting.

The thing is, I am a bit afraid of self-promotion. Quite frankly, I really enjoy reading what other people think about what I think, it's a very pleasant read (for example, someone submitted my review for The End Cafe and said something along the lines of "Raul seems to think that there's more to the End Cafe than meets the eye".

That was very sweet to read, and I prefer much more to read what people think of my blog and when they link to my blog, than engaging in self-promotion). So that's why I was so excited to see some of my content posted there.

But I prefer to leave it to kind souls to link to my blog rather than do the linking myself. It's (in my humble opinion) much more rewarding to find that someone found my content worthy of being linked to.

Again, thanks so much for the feedback.