About me and my blog – an introduction and some thoughts about its goals and objectives

Hi everyone:

Greetings from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I originally wrote this article when I started my blog in July 2009. But now it’s five years later (August 2014), and like everything else in life, blogs change and evolve to meet different needs. So it’s time for a refresh. But the spirit of my blog remains the same, and as I wrote back then, I hope this article lets people learn more about me in a relaxed and informal fashion. Here goes, and I hope you find what follows useful, enjoyable and a valuable information source about yours truly.

Some of this may this seem familiar, especially if you have read some of my previous entries, or if you are a family member or a friend. But since I realize most of you reading this probably did not do that, allow me a brief repeat. My name is Greg Brown.  I am a librarian, Web site designer, meeting facilitator, author/publisher, public speaker and all-around freelance consultant. Since September 2002 I have lived in Hamilton, Ontario (located just west of Toronto). Before that I lived in Mississauga from 1978 to 2002 and grew up in St. Lambert, a suburb of Montreal located on the city’s South Shore.  I hold a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in Montreal.

In my professional life I served for many years as the Opportunities Administrator  for HAPPEN, Canada’s largest executive network. My duties also allowed me to be on the organization’s Executive Committee and I also facilitated meetings from time to time. I left the Executive in early 2014, but still maintain an excellent relationship with the organization as a volunteer and as a goodwill ambassador. If you want to learn more about us, have a look at: http://www.happen.ca

Although I am still associated with HAPPEN, it’s only part-time, and primarily voluntary in nature. So I am always looking for new opportunities to make some money and increase my income. If you’re a recruiter, HR person or in any other hiring position, and based in the Toronto-Hamilton area, I’d love to speak with you about part-time, short term or related employment opportunities that I can do in addition to HAPPEN. For more info, have a look at my LinkedIn Profile – visit me at: my LinkedIn Profile. In addition to my LinkedIn Profile, I also have what I call “My Personal Marketing Strategy”, a way of selling myself to those who might be interested in using my services. It’s a bit too long to be published here as a blog entry, but I can e-mail you a copy upon request. If that interests you, drop me a line any time in care of the following: greg.brown@sympatico.ca or via a second e-mail address: gcbrown1956@mail.com

As I wrote back then, I want to use my blog as an online forum – an opportunity to talk about things that I think might be of interest to all of you. I’ll try to keep it light and friendly and I hope you all enjoy it. I have never had a regular schedule in mind, some people like to write a blog each week, or once a month (just to cite a couple of examples). In my case, I want to do this when the spirit moves me. I also hope that these articles will allow you to see my talents as a writer and communicator. I love to write and I am also very knowledgeable about many subjects. I hope all that comes through and that you will come back to this blog as you feel led. To date, I have written about subjects such as the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, some thoughts on Rob Ford (the somewhat controversial Mayor of Toronto), an article written from Knowlton, Quebec about my love for the Eastern Townships region of that province, a whimsical look at why railroad gauge widths are set as they are (believe it or not it goes back to ancient Roman chariot wheels – read my article and see for yourself), and even an essay about one of the most talked about songs and videos of both 2012 and 2013, the Korean singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style”. No matter what the subject, I hope you enjoy them. And if you would like me to write about something, let me know at any time.

One last thing – if you have been a follower of my blog, you may notice that some articles are missing or changed from past editions. Don’t panic, I have simply found better places online to publish them. A good example is a series of articles I wrote back in 2013 about my personal journey, especially how I have dealt with various mental health issues such as social anxiety and depression. I called the series: “Lifethoughts – Or What is This Thing Called Life?” and I was inspired by a wonderful initiative called Bell Let’s Talk, which is designed to promote mental health awareness across Canada. As part of this initiative, they encouraged people to come out from the shadows and tell their stories.

When I published the series, many people congratulated me for having the courage to do this and applauded me for sharing my battles through the years not just with the above two subjects but with other mental health issues. But others were not so kind and ripped me apart for doing that. They wanted me to remove the series entirely from the Net. While I respect and appreciate their concerns, I felt it was best to keep the series online. Not only is it a good therapy for me, but by going public it also helps to inspire others who are going through similar issues. As a compromise solution, I have now moved these articles to a couple of Websites sponsored by organizations that specifically deal with these issues and which allow their members to publish blogs in a safe and supportive environment (such as HealthyPlace.com and also SocialAnxietySupport.com) If you want to learn more, contact me at any time.

In closing, I invite you to look in at my blog from time to time. And if you like what you are reading, then I hope you will consider subscribing so that you will be alerted when I publish a new entry. I’m not sure, but I think the “subscribe” option also lets you know when I update a previously published article (such as I have done for this one). Feel free to share my blog location with others. Let’s establish a dialogue and have some fun together. Thanks for reading this, and I wish you all the very best that life has to offer.

Until next time!