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Being Schooled

SEO Nick — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:42:11 -0700

About 3 weeks ago I started attending Vancouver Island University (formally Malaspina Univ-College). I applied for their Fine Arts program back in August and magically got in. (I REALLY didn't expect to get in. My portfolio was less than impressive; not to mention I brought it in a plastic thrifty's bag.)

I'm shooting for a Minor Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.. and then for the Diploma of Visual Arts. I believe it's 2 years for the Minor Bachelor and 4 for the Visual Arts Diploma. Should be an interesting 6 years, that's for sure.

The classes I'm in at the moment are 2D Design, History of Western Art I and Drawing.

Art History is definitely my favourite.. and Drawing is a very close second. 2D is starting off slow but I think it will get more interesting after a few more classes.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a couple pictures I have done in my drawing class. They are charcoal, still life drawings on just regular big sheets of white paper.

If you can guess what they are, you get brownie points.

A Special Thanks to Dennis Pease! Pizza Day at REW!

SEO Nick — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:41:18 -0700

Anyone who buys Pizza for their Website Provider(more specifically REW) is a friend of REW's.

I just wanted to make a post on behalf of the staff at REW; thanking Dennis Pease for buying us all Pizza yesterday! (Sept 18.08)

We DO work best when we are full of pizza. So you helped keep production top notch, yesterday. It was great to meet you in person and hope you (and any other client/forum member) come visit again someday! Thanks Dennis!

REW Social Committee Strikes Again!

SEO Nick — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:47:25 -0700

With the success of the recent "Crazy Hat Day" at REW, the Social Committee decided it was a good idea to get on the next fun social event for the staff. Many ideas were tossed around, but few were as obvious a choice as this theme.

Before I tell you the theme, I will tell you the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners.

1st Prize, Danielle (CSR)

2nd Prize, Nick (Creative Link Development)

3rd Prize, Phil (Design)

So, now.. without further ado, I implore you all to come step inside my REW Time Machine and travel back to an age filled with revolutionary and wonderous technology in computers, music, cosmetics and fashion. Yes, People. I speak of the 80's.

Here are the pictures from REW's first ever 80's Day!

Danielle - 1st Prize Winner

Nick - 2nd Prize Winner

Phil - 3rd Prize Winner

Joel (Design)

Kim (Design)

Ying (Design)

Julie (Copywriter)

Richard and Nick (Design & Creative Linking)

Hulk (The Avengers)

Joel, Nick, Kim and Phil with Jesse(?) in the background

Julie, Danielle, Richard, Joel, Nick and part of Kim

Thanks to everyone who participated! See you on the highway (to the dangerzone)

Real Estate Webmasters First Ever: Crazy Hat Day!

SEO Nick — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:48:03 -0700

So, in an effort to make the work environment at REW a little more fun (not that it needed it), a small committee has been made within the staff to think up and run fun social events. Out of this, Crazy Hat Day was born!

The participation by staff was great. The hats were definitely eclectic and random... and I think represented the people wearing them fairly well. So, without further ado, here are the pictures from REW's Crazy Hat Day!

PS. Sorry about the image comments being on the side.. for those using firefox.

Check out Morgan in his fashionable Bowler hat.

Danielle - Pink.. Wedding hat?

Amish Aaron

Rose with her beret

Val.. the ninja

Yours truly, Nick.. with.. I don't know. Severed Clown Head

Tyler, ready for action

Julie.. Also ready for action

Gerry - BOCK!

Steven... "West SIIIIIIIDE!"

Matt O'H - Celebrating his last day with REW

Pope Ying I

Little Bo Reed

Phil... With a trash can on his head?

Jenn "Aliens won't read my thoughts" Gorrie

Tracy the Aviator

Cat in the Hat Lynne!

Group Shot (not all staff shown.. just the hat wearing folk)

The three winners! 1st - Nick (middle). 2nd - Aaron (left). 3rd - Lynne (right)

Holy Social Networking Diversity, Batman!

SEO Nick — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:56:14 -0700

So, over the last couple of days, I have taken to going around the internet, seeking out the best Social Networking/Bookmarking sites and creating accounts with all of them.

It's overdue, really. I should have been doing this MONTHS ago. There are so many!

I had never actually realized how diverse each one is! It's actually really fun and intriguing. The sign-up forms for each are all completely different. Each one offers some features that the other doesn't. It's great!

I think for my last shot at the Greatest Real Estate Agent In The World contest, I'll do some hardcore social networking. I'm on like, page 10 now for the search term. I got pretty busy for a while there... or lazy.. and have fallen behind.

Boris will make his return!

It's hard to choose a favorite Social Networking site because they are all so very different, but I think I'm going to go with Squidoo. It's a fun, easy interface. I can't believe I actually thought it was difficult to get a lens going at one point. Pretty ridiculous, hey?

My only problem with Squidoo is the way the lens looks when it's done. I don't like the colour scheme or all the ads. It just looks tacky. Does anyone know if there's a way to change the appearance of your lens?

Anyway, that's just an update on what I've been doing the last couple of days.

The Top 10 Things I've Learned From Digg

SEO Nick — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:58:36 -0700

It's been just about two months since my last blog post, so I've decided to treat you all with my amazing writing skills.

Unlike most of the internet savvy people I know, I was a little late to discover just how entertaining Digg can be. I only recently started visiting the site daily and to my surprise, I find myself learning bits of useful (and non-useful) information every day. So, without further ado, here is the top 10 things I've Learned From Digg.

10. Digg users LOVE top 10 lists. Seriously. They go nuts over them. These posts often have more Diggs than important posts about politics, global warming and food starved countries! It's ridiculous! They can be top 10 lists about ANYTHING. Movies you probably haven't heard about but should have, Zombies from feature films, Nintendo Games, etc. The list goes on. Every day I visit, there's at least one on the front page.

9. Pictures depicting ridiculous situations usually score lots of Diggs. Cute animals, weird accidents, funny signs, etc. Usually pictures that are slightly humourous make more of an impact. I know when I'm on Digg, I check out pretty much every picture I come across. If it makes me giggle slightly, I usually just Digg it.

8. People Digg Politics. Last time I checked, there were 10 stories on the first three pages about the upcoming elections. I'm not surprised though. It's good that y'all are taking an interest in who runs your country!

7. It is a good source of information for Nerdy Topics. I'm somewhat of a nerd in that I like things like video games, horror and sci-fi movies, fantasy books, Star Wars.. etc. I have found Digg to be a good source of information on topics such as these. My theory? Nerds love the internet. Nerds love reading about nerdy things. Nerds post nerdy things where other nerds can see them. Digg is the perfect solution!

6. Digg is not helping me win the Greatest Real Estate Agent In The World Contest. I assumed Boris would be a big hit there.. apparently not!

5. The Golden Rule. Posting Self Promotion will just get you banned.

4. Controversial Subjects win big. People love to hear gossip. I do, you do, we all do. Don't deny it! The most Digged items are usually that of a controversial nature. Whether it be the Spitzer/Prostitution situation, Britney Spears declining mental health or shocking deaths, controversy will always be huge.

3. Sometimes the dumbest things get lots of Diggs Example.

2. If you write about Apple Products, chances are it will be a popular subject and get you a bajillion Diggs. Its pretty overkill, the amount of articles of random things about Apple products. Hacks, Ipods, MacBooks.. you name it.

1. I have a full blown addiction to this site.

SEO Nick's New Year's Resolutions.

SEO Nick — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:48:52 -0800

It's been a while since I made my last post.. so I thought I would update y'all on what I have planned for 2008. I have a basic idea of some things that I want to get done before the summer even.

I think the main thing I want to happen before the summertime is for me to get in better shape. I spend a LOT of time on computers and I think that with a little self-motivation, I can get out a little more. Since a lot of my friends have moved away to either go to school or work, I have little motivation to go for the weekly hikes and walks that I used to be into.

I signed up for a gym a while ago (which reminds me, I need to renew my membership!). I've gone a couple times but it's been hard with the holiday season. Now that it's winding down, I think it will be easier to make time to work out. So, that's step one.

Another thing I've had my eye on for years is playing in a band and actually playing a show. It's been a long time since I have been in a band and it's something I think I need to do. I am truly happy when I'm jamming and I think being in front of an audience will only increase the amount of joy I get from it. I'm currently in a band right now with some friends. It's going good. We play really well and we are starting to put together some original songs.

I think that's pretty much it. The more simple I keep my resolutions, the easier it will be to actually stick to them

PS. My first blog post using REW Blogs 2.0!

My Northwest Territories Adventure

SEO Nick — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:08:50 -0800

Well. I did it. I dug into my shallow pockets, forked out 600 bucks and took a 2 day bus ride up North. I went for a couple reasons. One of them being to see my sister, niece, nephew and brother in law; another reason being me just wanting to go on some sort of adventure.

I hopped on the bus at 6:00am on November 5th, at the Greyhound Bus Depot in downtown Vancouver. I was excited. I stuffed my jacket full of the essentials. My Ipod packed with Bowie, The Beatles and Pearl Jam, a small guitar case containing a Ukulele and a sweater and my camera. Grabbed a coffee before I climbed aboard and took a seat at the back.

I knew it was going to be a long trip, so I went RIGHT to the back and took the only spot on the bus with three seats in a row. We took off and I was in good spirits.

Here is a picture of the bus depot at 6am. It's pretty dark.

So.. there we were. About 5 other passengers and I, on the road to Edmonton. We stopped quite a bit. I would get off at every stop to stretch out and get myself a snack or a drink. My old friend coffee and I became closer than ever before.

The bus ride up was pretty good. No annoying people on the bus or babies screaming. Not until 2 hours before Edmonton, anyway.

The sun had just gone down and I was on the bus for almost a full day... when we stopped in a little town about 4 hours away from Edmonton. This guy gets on the bus and of all the free spaces on the bus... he chooses to sit directly in front of me at the back of the bus.

I'm laying across 3 seats, trying to get some shut eye, knowing it was going to be pretty difficult if I didn't start early... and the first thing he does is flip open his cell phone and talk extremely loud to some friend. I didn't mind at first... but then he started calling ALL of his friends, it seemed like. He was on the phone from the time we left that little place, ALL the way to Edmonton. Horrible. Anyway, we eventually got to Edmonton and the guy switched buses, thank God. I continued on my merry way.

The rest of the bus trip was fairly uneventful. I saw some Caribou, a Fox and some Bison. Seeing the Rocky Mountains while going through Banff was amazing. I recommend a drive through there in the Winter time. It was beautiful. I didn't get any pictures at that point, I was pretty exhausted.

Let's skip to when I get into the Northwest Territories, a day later. I was a little worried about what to expect when I got there, though. People were saying that the weather was pretty horrible and there isn't much there... so I was a little apprehensive about what I find. Not to mention the last bus depot we stopped at before getting to Yellowknife (about 11 hours away) looked like this:

I didn't see much on that final bus ride. It was night time and snowing pretty heavily. I just hung out at the back of the bus and watched "The Fantastic Four" and read a bit.

The bus pulls into Yellowknife at around 11:30pm on November 7th. It was finally over. I have never had to sit in one place for that long ever. It was extremely difficult and most of the time, fairly boring... but I'm glad I did it. Reason 1: I go to see a bunch of Canada. Reason 2: I know never to do it again.

So I step off the bus, which stopped at a shell station; dragged my bags out of the luggage area and stood outside while I waited for my sister to come pick me up. There's a man standing outside of the station, giving me the awkward eye - So I was a little worried.. being completely exhausted and more cold than I have ever been in my entire life. He walks around the corner and comes out with this other guy. He points at me and the guy he went and got starts walking towards me. So, he gets to me and asks me my name. I tell him.. at which point he reaches into his jacket and pulls out his wallet. He flips it open to reveal his police badge. Great, I thought, sat on a bus for 2 days and now I'm about to be arrested. Wonderful.

He asked me a bunch of questions about who I was and where I was coming from and why I was there. I told him, without questioning him... mostly because I was dead tired. He closed his wallet, stuffed it back into his jacket and told me to have a good night. It was a weird welcome.

Anyway, my sister picks me up and I finally made my way to a nice warm, comfy bed. I got all rested up for the next morning. Now, I can't really remember what we did that first day. I think we went on a tour of the town.

My sister showed me all sorts of neat things like the mines (Gold mining was huge in Yellowknife, way back when. Apparently that's where Yellowknife gets it's name. From the copper, yellowish coloured knives the miners used).

We drove all around Great Slave Lake and saw some of the scenery. The lake was frozen solid, which is something I have never really seen before. There were adults walking across the ice, pulling their kids in little sleds across. It was pretty cool! She showed me the very first Hudson's Bay Company building (See Below) Which was cool to see after slaving away at their Target-like side store, Zellers, for 2 years (my first job). Not all that pretty. But still neat.

There were two main things that made this trip for me, other than seeing my family, of course.

1. Dog Sledding. If you ever get a chance to do this, do it. It's SO fun. I had a team of four dogs that pull me all the way around a frozen lake. They were pretty small dogs, but they were pulling me really, really fast.

I think I was having too much fun to realize how cold it was, until we were on our way back. We were going against the wind, while it was snowing. It was pretty intense. I felt like I was in a movie. Towards the end, the dogs got pretty tired and slowed down a bit. I was thankful. Anything to stop that freezing wind!

There was a woman that would go way ahead of us on a snowmobile, get off and take pictures of me with my camera as I drove by.

2. The Northern Lights. It was cloudy every single day of the trip, until the very last night. I was really excited at notion of being able to see them on my last night. Kind of like a parting gift. My bus home left at 1am, usually when they are the brightest. To my dismay, the sky was completely clear of any sort of light at all. It wasn't until an hour out of Yellowknife that I looked into the sky and saw the most amazing dancing blue, green, purple-ish lights stretched across the sky. It looks nothing like how it does in pictures.. or in the movies. It's surreal. It's something everyone should see at least once in their life. Unfortunately, none of the pictures I took really turned out. Oh, well. I doubt I'll ever forget what they looked like.

This is getting pretty lengthy so I'm going to cut it short. I'm more than willing to talk about it more if y'all want to leave some comments.

In conclusion, a 2 day bus ride was definitely worth seeing the Northern Lights, it was excellent to see my sister (the last time was at my dad's funeral, so not under the best circumstances) and there's a lot more fun to be had in Yellowknife than people give it credit for.

So with that, I leave you this incredibly cute picture of my Niece.

Gone For 2 Weeks!!

SEO Nick — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:48:02 -0700

Hey Everyone!

It's that time again! I get to spend some hard earned money on a much needed relaxing vacation! On Monday, I will be taking off on my venture to the Northwest Territories!

It's a 2 day bus trip... so I won't be there until Wednesday sometime. I'm really looking forward to the bus trip up there! I actually bought a Ukulele specifically for my trip so I don't go through Guitar Withdrawels. I'm going to drive everyone on the bus nuts!

I thought I should make this post to let you all know that I won't be around to answer your questions and such, so you will need to direct them to some of the other mods. SEO Dave will be taking over some of my tasks as well, so if you need anything you could always email him at Dave@realestatewebmasters.com.

I'll report back when I get there with some pictures of my journey up there. It looks like I will be getting there right in the middle of some flurries!

And with that, I leave you! See y'all in 2 weeks

Halloween!

SEO Nick — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:15:43 -0700

This is by far my favorite time of the year. The weather is bearable. Fall is setting in... which means the trees will start turning orange and the roads will be covered in leaves; but most importantly, Halloween is here!

I'm not joking when I say I'm obsessed with this day. I've been dressing up ever since I was a kid. I think for two reasons. One: I LOVE horror movies. To actually dress up and pretend you're something scary or to pretend you're in a horror movies something I've always had fun with. Two: Doing face painting is a pretty cool form of art. I love doing it and have done it for years.

Most Halloweens I will have a couple different costumes lined up. This year I have something pretty special. It involves me dying my hair green. This should be great :)

Here's my wizard costume from last Halloween.