Vancouver Blogger Profile: Pat Zaph
byThis time around (since I tried this about a year ago) my Vancouver Blogger Profile series, about bloggers that may or may not be from Vancouver, is really taking off. Next up is someone you may know from such things as my comment thread, Flickr Group, or blogroll as “PatZ“.
Who are you? By day, a mild mannered, tired graduate student of Public Policy who stalks the halls of SFU Vancouver with poise and determination ready to tackle the problems of the world with grit and hard work. By night, a disillusioned, even more tired, eyes wide and sore from too much time staring at words on a screen who wants nothing more than to watch Mythbusters while inventing some new way to cook perogies, everyday superhero. Really. I can fly. Look.
Where do you blog (which sites)? Shithawks!..on parade. Originally it went under the moniker of Cheese? and then Cheese by Patz. And somehow it went from a dairy product to a seagull. I actually started on another one way before this one, but that one has since been locked away for the benefit of humanity and because I got bored with it and wanted to start one over again.
Are you originally from Vancouver? I’m originally from just outside of Edmonton. Then I moved to Ottawa for my first two years of my undergrad, and then transferred out to SFU and I’ve called the Vancouver area home for the last several years. I got to live on top of a mountain for my undergrad. You can’t argue with that.
Why do you blog? I got into this mock philosophical debate with a friend the other day about ‘why do we do anything why do we need anything’ but it was kind of not exciting enough to be repeated here. So. Well, I guess because why not? Way back when I started blogging (in the not so distant past of 2004) I felt it necessary to provide some inane contribution to political and cultural observations. Then a friend of mine showed me his personal blog that had very little to do with politics and culture and I figured, “that looks more fun” and the current one was born. That didn’t really answer why did it. Here’s the simplest answer I can give: I enjoy it. It’s good for venting, making no sense, and anything else you want.
What’s your favourite thing to write about? I don’t think I have a favourite topic. There’s a bit of everything in there. When the Oiler’s are kicking ass then there’s that. When the Oilers don’t make the playoffs but end the season by dragging down a division rival, there’s that. When school is kicking my ass there’s that. So, in the end, the answer to this is Barney Stinson. (now everyone go google him and find out why)
What is the BEST part of blogging… or if you prefer, the worst? The worst part is that, given the amount of time I need for assignments and papers, there’s always a bit of temptation to not do any work and just do something like picture taking and then posting them.
The best part is easy. It’s the other bloggers. I’ve downed cans of Pilsner in pink plastic cups in the AQ courtyard at SFU Burnaby with them, flown to Barrie to hang with them on Canada Day, had poutine at 3am on Davie St. with them, gone to concerts with them, jammed in shacks in Aldergrove with them, and on it goes. I like meeting new people, I like getting to know people, and blogging is pretty much a mother load of that.
Do you write for yourself, your readers, for Google, for a living? Mostly I write for myself. Sometimes I write at other people.
Would you ever censor yourself/Do you feel the need to censor yourself? I don’t feel the need to censor myself, but there are certain things that don’t go on there. I don’t really go into my personal life, and I try to keep my family off of it. The only reason I would actually do some hard and fast censoring is if I had to worry about applying for jobs for Coop this summer. But, since I wrangled myself a sweet job in Dhaka, Bangladesh for the whole summer through a prof at school, I don’t have to worry about that.
PC, Mac or Speak n’ Spell? I used to hate Macs with a passion. Now it’s almost the reverse. I love my MacBook (yeah, the black one, it’s suave), which I have named Leonard Katsu, and any and all subsequent external devices are named after Star Trek characters. Really the reason for the switch came from a Children and Media class I did during my undergrad during which seven of us were drafted by our prof to do a special video documentary project for the semester and our media lab only used Macs. I never had a Speak n’ Spell. I never had a magic 8 ball either. If someone invented a computer made out of LEGO, I’d be an expert.
Blogs you read or would recommend? A lot. I have a list of about thirty I read daily. Christina, Chad, Danielle, Matt Good, Yours, Jen, Tony, Meg, Fil and Raymi. I could go on, but I have to go finish one paper and then redo another for Monday.
7 Comments — Comments Are Closed
Shithawks on Parade is a must everyday read. Goes very good with a nice cold beer and a slice of pizza (hot or cold pizza, your preference)
thanks for the nod!
PatZ is a-ok in my books…he survived the Volcano at Chez Phaeds. ‘Nuff said.
Pat is awesome to hang out with and a cool person to talk to! Plus, he writes a mean awesome blog.
Very cool Q&A write up…
Pat is also very good for random procrastinatory debates, inconsequential wagers and posting many great looking photos of Vancouver that make me regret my decision to live in Calgary.
I like cheese. He sent in a bunch of cool Unity Project photos years ago, I particularly loved the one of his toes. Such a nice lad and! we share our birth date.