We start with Jennie Yuen who shares ten tips from dermatologist Dr. Howard Murad. He reminds you of the basics, like high SPF sunscreen, but he also has some more unconventional advice like telling us to eat more eggs and to discover botanicals to reduce cellulite. Whether you’re staying at an all-inclusive resort or you’re simply spending a day at a local beach, be sure to good care of your body.

Next up, we travel all the way to Japan to visit with Melody Fury. She’s showing off some of the best late night restaurants in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. From yakiniku to yakitori, ramen to oden, Shinjuku has plenty of culinary delights even in the middle of the night and into the morning hours.

What about those of us who earn our living on the Internet? Alan Medina describes his three favorite Chrome extensions for search engine optimization. These handy tools let you see the number of indexed pages, consider social factors, determine PageRank, and even overlay the SERPs with information about page authority and domain authority.

Continuing on the subject of the online world, Melissa Cameron has three WordPress plugins to promote your Facebook page. The Facebook Like Box is probably one of the simplest, yet it may also be one of the most effective. Both Beyond the Rhetoric and my freelance writing business have Facebook pages, so be sure to check those out and give them a like too!

Last but not least, we have The Network Hub. Even though it may be known as one of the most prominent coworking spaces in Vancouver, “the Hub” also supports local non-profits. For instance, it sponsored the SFU Intercollegiate Marketing Competition, which is designed to facilitate the growth of undergraduate business students. They are the future!

Yes, some strategists will tell you to focus on your strengths if you want the most profitable business possible, but it conversely true that many clients may prefer freelancers who bring more than just top-notch skill to the table.

Photography Skills

As you may already know, a good portion of my freelance writing business has to do with product reviews. And a good part of reviewing products is taking good pictures of them.

While I don’t claim to be a professional photographer, per se, I have grown and learned a lot. My trusty Olympus micro four-thirds camera has served me well thus far and the quality of the pictures accompanying my reviews has noticeably improved. Some good photo editing skills are oftentimes quite desirable too.

Interviewing Skills

When you are writing feature articles on any number of topics, being able to interview top experts in that field is a useful skill. The direct and indirect quotes add value to the piece, offering perspective and personality. Whether you’re interviewing in person, on the phone, or even via e-mail, asking the right questions in the right manner can go a very long way in getting the results you desire.

Social Media Skills

More than ever, the Internet is a social environment and social media plays an increasingly large role. It is an added bonus to your clients if you already have a large following on Twitter or Facebook and you choose to promote the articles you write through these channels. Clients shouldn’t expect this to be included in your rates, but it gives them a nice perk.

On the flip side, you can also offer to consult them or assist your client in their own social media efforts. Help them understand what does and does not work. Explain to them how hashtags can help or what tools they can use to monitor their brand.

Web Design Skills

Most of my writing is for the Internet. This includes blog posts, press releases and web copy. Naturally, the way that a site looks and is laid out can be just as important as the actual words themselves. Investing in a good freelance writer is much the same as investing in a good web designer or coder.

In this way, it can a huge benefit to your clients if you are able to assist with their web design and coding efforts too. Even having a fundamental understanding of PHP, HTML, WordPress, and other standards will allow you to work more easily within the structure of your clients’ websites.

Graphic Design Skills

If more of your writing is for print–like copywriting for pamphlets and handouts–then having great graphic design and layout skills can be very desirable. If you know how to set up a newsletter and you can write the content that goes in it, you instantly become a more valuable commodity than the provider who can only do one or the other.

“I Can Do That”

It would be unethical for you to say that you a professional with XYZ skills when you know nothing about XYZ. When you do have those skills though, even if they’re not quite at the high-end professional level, they become a great selling point that can differentiate your services from those of your competitors.

Being great at your main skill is still very important and you should spend some time polishing it up so you can be the best, but remember that versatility still counts. As you business grows, you may even consider outsourcing to further expand the services that you can offer to your clients.

Green. Eco-friendly. Carbon neutral. Sustainable. Fair trade. Organic. Locally sourced.

Yes, many of these have turned into marketing buzzwords in recent years as we have become more conscious of the impact we have on the environment, on the planet, and on one another. And these concerns were addressed with EPIC Vancouver this past weekend, highlighting the many ways that we can live a little greener and a little more sustainable.

Many of the vendors from last year’s EPIC Expo returned, like Steam Whistle Brewing and U.S.E.D. fashion bags, but there were several new products and eco-friendly innovations on display too. The Canterbury Coffee booth, for instance, was using pasta stir sticks for their coffee samples.

What about greener transportation? The Tesla Roadster and the Nissan Leaf certainly aren’t the only game in town. What you see here is the Chico, a fully-electric light utility vehicle. It uses twin parallel 48v AC motors for an output of 46kW at 4000rpm. Prices start from $37,999.

You may remember Go Clean Waterless from their appearance on Dragons Den. The waterless car wash system can’t handle caked-on dirt and grime, but it should be adequate for most conventional purposes. Available through Canadian Tire, one $15 bottle is enough to wash about ten cars.

I’ve seen other stone cooking pots before, but this kitchenware from Rosetta is the first I’ve seen made of Soapstone. It’s meant to stay hot (or cold) longer than conventional cookware, possibly making it great for Korean bibimbap. The smaller 800mL sauce pan was selling for $130, with prices going all the way up to $270 for a 5L sauce pan.

Most of the world’s soccer balls are manufactured in Pakistan, but the labor practices may not exactly be ideal. Social Conscience is trying to change that with its Fair Trade Certified soccer balls. Made to FIFA standards, these balls are professionally hand-stitched with fair wages for employees, fair work conditions, premiums for social programs, and no child labour. They’ve also partnered up with OA Projects for a buy one, give one program. With every ball sold (around $30-$40), one ball is given to youth soccer camps in Uganda.

When they say you should “go green” for all aspects of your sustainable lifestyle, they mean it. Lunapads is one such example, offering washable pads for women that replace the disposable variety. Given the recent resurgence in washable cloth diapers for babies, Lunapads makes a lot of sense.

Marketed as the “future of laundry,” SmartKlean replaces conventional laundry detergent altogether. The plastic ball contains ceramic pellets with special properties. They raise the pH, remove chlorine, and radiate negative ions “to weaken the surface tension in the water so that dirt can be removed easily without the use of detergent.” Because of the chemical-free nature, SmartKlean also promises to preserve the color of fabrics better too. One $40 ball is good for about 700 loads in a high-efficiency front-loading washing machine.

Ever since selling my car last year (a major eco and economical decision!), I’ve thought about buying an electric bike. While I don’t foresee anyone using it in the Giro di Burnaby, the $2,000 Epik Bike could be great for commuting around town. The electric motor is there to assist your pedaling, offering the boost you desire for uphill sections for example. It’s powered by Dr. Battery’s pedElec battery packs, offering 1000+ recharge cycles.

While expos like EPIC can be a little ironic — how eco-friendly is it to have so many individually-packaged samples? — it does a great job of increasing awareness around the types of “green” products that are out there. What are you doing to be more sustainable?

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”

Today is a special day, even if we ignore the rampant commercialism that comes along with the greeting cards, flowers, chocolates, and overpriced “special” brunch menus. Today is the day that we celebrate and honor all the mothers of the world.

The quote above comes by way of mother and author Tenneva Jordan. She reminds us of a simple fact when it comes to a mother’s love: a great mom will always put her children ahead of herself. Growing up, many of us may have resented our moms for scolding or disciplining us, but as we get older, we really start to recognize the sacrifices that she had to make, giving us the opportunities that she did.

“All mothers are working mothers.”

This anonymous quote hits on a very important point. While gender roles are certainly shifting and there are more moms who are out in the workforce (including moms who work from home), that doesn’t mean that we should think any less of the mothers who stay at home to raise their children. This is easily one of the most important jobs of all and it can oftentimes go under-recognized.

“A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.”

And finally, we have this quote from social activist Dorothy Canfield Fisher, named by Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the ten most influential women in the United States. We may lean on our mothers for just about everything during our early years, but the greatest lesson any mother can teach her children is how to be self-sufficient and self-reliant.

She prepares you for the world. The least you can do is take her out for lunch.

The Avengers (2012)

So, this was it. Each of those individual Marvel superhero movies was supposed to culminate into this blockbuster of epic proportions. After watching Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America, here we are. Did it live up to expectations?

To be honest, I didn’t think that The Avengers was quite the jaw-dropping experience that it was billed to be, but it wasn’t an utter disappointment either. The central villain here is Loki, so the mythology around this narrative focuses a little more on the world of Thor and Asgard. There is some initial build-up to reintroduce all the characters, but there’s plenty of action to go around.

Perhaps the greatest thing is, quite like the two Iron Man movies, The Avengers doesn’t take itself too seriously. You get some disbelief-suspending action–like a sea-bound aircraft carrier that actually flies itself–and some well-timed moments of comic relief. While I didn’t really like Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, there were two great moments toward the end of the film where the Incredible Hulk had the whole theatre in stitches.

The decidedly epic stature of The Avengers is supposed to outshine any of the individual characters, but I still prefer the two Iron Man solo efforts over this ensemble creation. That said, if you’re a fan of superheroes and comic books, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you missed this film. They’re already working on a sequel, you know.

Now, where’s my shawarma?

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey (2011)

There’s so much more to that red ball of fur than the rampant commercialism of Tickle Me Elmo would lead you to believe. Yes, Sesame Street is a commercial property, but it has charmed and educated generations of children about counting, the alphabet, and what it means to be a decent human being.

While it may be true that watching Being Elmo can take away from some of that magic, thanks to seeing plenty of behind the scenes stuff with adult hands shoved up the back ends of muppets, it really offers so much insight into the craft. It shows you how Elmo was almost a throwaway character for a veteran muppet handler until newbie-at-the-time Kevin Clash had the random chance to give Elmo another shot.

Frank Oz and Jim Henson really created something special and Being Elmo gives you a much better understanding of just how special it really is.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

After watching so many other Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I’ve lost interest. The plot devices that carry through the films have all started to blur together, making for a mess of characters, objects, and relationships. And none of that matters.

People watch these films for some funny tidbits from Johnny Depp and some fanciful swashbuckling on the high seas. And yes, you do get that with On Stranger Tides, but it lacks depth or any sense of satisfaction. Great, they’re at another bar. Great, they’re stealing from one another again. Great, they found a portal to another dimension. Okay, maybe that last one is a little new, but it’s still not really enough to redeem this otherwise mediocre attempt at another cash grab.

Tower Heist (2011)

What do you get when you take the usual Ben Stiller neuroses, add in an unconvincing streetwise Eddie Murphy thief, and dash in some underutilized Gabourey Sidibe for good measure? Tower Heist, apparently.

The idea is that Ben Stiller’s character is the building manager for one of the most exclusive residential towers in New York. He entrusts the pension fund for his employees to one of the savvy residents, who has apparently swindled their money away in some scheme. Ben freaks out, gets himself fired, and dreams up a scheme to rob this savvy (but apparently crooked) resident to give the wealth back to his former employees.

There are far too many moments where you’re left wonder why they did that or why they didn’t do that. The premise is strange, the execution is lacking, and the comedy just doesn’t work. Ben and Eddie can do better and they have done better. Skip the heist.

The English language, like all other languages, is constantly changing and evolving. Archaic terms are discarded and new words are created all the time. The same can be said about grammar, sentence structure, and word choice.

For example, purist may tell you that split infinitives are always wrong, but they’re becoming increasingly accepted and even preferred under some circumstances. There’s just something to be said about choosing the right words for the right effect. Similarly, there’s something to be said about choosing words for simplicity’s sake.

Growing up, I was always taught that “they” referred to a plural. When I say that “they” went to the store, the understanding is that more than one person went to the store. If just one person went to the store and I was unsure of the gender, I was taught that I should say “he or she” went to the store or “he/she” went to the store. As you imagine, this can get quite messy very quickly.

More and more, the “singular” they is becoming an accepted alternative to the he/she construction. In fact, there’s an entire Wikipedia entry on the matter and the discussion is quite extensive. The two main uses for the singular they are when there is an indeterminate gender (most common) and when there is an indeterminate number.

The victim said they were attacked in the alley.

Anyone still in the store at midnight will be told they have to leave.

If we adhered to the old rules and listened to the purists, the first sentence would read: “The victim said he/she was attacked in the alley.” Some traditionalists may use a “generic he” in place of “he/she,” but that raises issues of gender inequality. That’s how we came to “he/she” in the first place.

So, moving forward, can “they” be used as a singular? The short answer is yes, but depending on the context, it may or may not be appropriate. Just as there are all sorts of conflicting rules about the Oxford comma, the same can be said about the singular they. For anyone who wants to use the singular they, they’ll just have to make a judgement call on their own.

And so we find ourselves at another Wednesday. To help you get over that mid-week hump, here are five posts from around the blogosphere to satisfy your hunger for good food and good content.

We start off with Raul Pacheco-Vega. He recently paid a visit to Sal y Limon, an authentic Mexican restaurant in East Vancouver. I’ll definitely have to pay them a visit and see how it compares to a place like Dona Cata. You’ve got to love the salsa bar!

What if you don’t want to go out and you’d rather cook for yourself? Jennie Yuen shares a recipe for beef brisket tacos from Jonathan Waxman, a Top Chef contestant. The recipe seems reasonably simple to follow, but you may have some trouble finding fresh jicama depending on where you are.

When it comes to the best sushi this planet has to offer, there are few places that rival Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. Melody Fury went to the Daiwa Sushi Restaurant in the famed fish market and enjoyed some unbelievable uni, terrific toro, and sensational saba. I wonder how this compares to Jiro.

Buzz Bishop is counting down the days until he can gorge himself on the new midway food at the Calgary Stampede. They’ve got everything from cotton candy cupcakes to deep fried Kool-Aid. I’ve been to the Calgary Stampede twice, but I’ve never seen deep fried Kool-Aid.

You need money to indulge in these delectable delights, so we turn to Thursday Bram who reminds us why custom samples are bad for business. In her own words, “Writing a free post for every prospective client who asked would lead me to double my prices.” Writing for free devalues your craft too.

While the Burnaby Heights neighborhood (or Willingdon Heights, depending on who you ask) was historically known as an Italian part of town, it has since grown to become quite the multicultural place. The Italian heritage is still present with the cafes and butcher shops, to be sure, but the multicultural makeup of the area has certainly shifted.

Taking a walk down just a few blocks of Hastings Street, you’ll find everything from an East Indian restaurant to a French bistro. And then, wedged between Valley Bakery and a jewelry store is Turkish Donair. I didn’t think much of it as I walked past it several times, until one day I walked past during a lunch rush and saw the lineup out the door. I had to see what this place was all about.

The main part of the menu is quite simple. You choose between beef, chicken and lamb and then you choose between six different topping combinations. There are other items on the side menus, like a platter rather than a wrap, but these donairs are the real “meat” of the menu (bad pun intended).

Unlike some other donair places that pre-slice the meat and place them on warming trays, Turkish Donair sticks to its shawarma roots. All three meats stay on that slow-roasting spindle. Yes, a microwave is used to briefly warm the pita bread, but that’s mostly forgivable.

The donairs are available in small or large, with the latter coming at about a $2 premium. You can see the size difference in the image above. For lunch, most people will likely be satisfied with the small, but that’s your call.

This is the small Lebanese lamb. Along with the lamb, you get tomatoes, onion, lettuce, tabbouleh, hommous, and tzatziki. Hot sauce is optional; interestingly, Turkish Donair uses Sriracha sauce, which is more commonly associated with Vietnamese or Thai cuisine. The seasoning on the lamb was great, offering just the right “herby” flavour profile.

This is the large Hawaiian chicken. You get tomatoes, onion, lettuce, pineapple, and sweet sauce. The pineapple and sweet sauce really come through, working very well with the slightly burnt chicken. I feel the Hawaiian is best suited for chicken and the sweetness wouldn’t work quite as well with lamb or beef.

With prices starting at about five dollars, Turkish Donair offers an affordable and filling lunch that’ll have you coming back for more. Seating is quite minimal–there are about five tables, plus a small window-side counter–so you’ll likely get your donair to go… which is fine, since it’s conveniently wrapped up for on-the-go enjoyment.

I didn’t catch his name, but the owner-operator of Turkish Donair is almost as happy as Happy Brian from Happy Pho too. You might even say he is Brian’s Turkish cousin. He refers to people as “my friend” and even though it’s set up as a fast food establishment (he’s a one-man show), he’ll usually tell you to “go ahead and eat first. You pay me later.”

When it comes to many professions, it pays to have laser-like precision and focus. If you are a carpenter, it helps to know exactly what materials suit the job and the best way to utilize them. If you are an accountant, it helps to have a great understanding of the numbers and what they mean, rather than getting distracted with the history of Excel spreadsheets.

Creative jobs are different. From freelance writers to music composers, there’s something to be said about loosening that focus. The thing with creativity is that you never know where it may lead you, so what may start out as an inane idea could ultimately mature into your greatest work.

That’s why, in many ways, creativity is incompatible with common sense. It’s not logical to pursue what appears to be a random and useless thought. It would make more sense to pursue the idea that is already bearing fruit, but it is precisely by going down the less explored path, the less conventional path that you have the opportunity to discover something amazing.

From a business standpoint, certain decisions must be made. This is true. You will have to go down the more conventional paths quite often, because these are the ones that will pay the bills. And there is nothing wrong with doing this, but it is only when you embrace the chaos of holding a million ideas in your head at the same time that you can experience that lightbulb moment of pure inspiration. Sometimes, you just have to catch the beat and see where it leads you.

The embrace of chaos is the idea put forth by Malcolm Gladwell in the video embedded below. He is the author of such books as Blink and Outliers, both of which talk about success, but in entirely different ways. Perhaps it’s because he allowed himself to embrace the chaos of creativity that he was able to achieve what he has.

“The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.”

Born Charles Dillon Stengel, Casey “The Old Professor” Stengel was a professional baseball player and manager with American Major League Baseball. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, “Casey” is best known for his time in New York, managing both the Yankees and the Mets.

The quote above, then, comes from the context of managing a baseball club, but it could just as easily apply to any sort of professional organization. Casey Stengel knew that life was a matter of perspective and balance. No matter what you do, you’re going to have your fans and you’re going to have the folks who don’t like you as much. And then, you have the people on the fence.

While you could spend the time trying to convince those who “hate” you to think otherwise, you’ll likely get a better return by focusing on the people who haven’t yet decided on their opinion of you. The interesting thing is that by swaying these folks and hopefully forming a larger majority with the people who already like you, you may be in a better position to then persuade the naysayers to join your side.

For my part, running a freelance business of one is more about managing client preferences and managing my time, there is still management involved. I still have to manage my online reputation. I still have manage my relationship with my customers and colleagues. As much as you’d like to believe that what other people think of you doesn’t matter, it does, especially if you’re in business.

The corporate world has a lot in common with the world of politics in this regard. It may not be a popularity contest, per se, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to be a “good” manager when your staff likes and respects you.