Sydney Opera House

Each Wednesday, I share five blog posts from around the Internet that I think are worth sharing. This is my little way of giving back to the online community.

We start off with Duane Storey, who has finally gotten around to writing about his three weeks in Australia. He spent most of that time in Sydney, soaking in the Aussie culture and sharing his expertise with the WordPress Sydney meetup group. We only spent a couple of days in Sydney when we visited Australia a couple of years ago. I’m surprised Duane didn’t spend more time exploring the rest of the country.

Even though I am fully aware of the ethical conflicts associated with their existence, I really like visiting zoos. I particularly like the zoo in Seattle for its size and variety. Anny Chih recently went on a little field trip to the Bronx Zoo and she has about a dozen photos to share. They’ve got flamingos, penguins, seals, rhinos, and more. I haven’t been to New York in ages, but the Bronx Zoo is definitely on my list for when I return to the Big Apple.

You don’t have to travel halfway around the world or all the way across the country for a unique experience. You can set yourself up for a lifetime of unique experiences by having kids. Stacey Robinsmith explains what it’s like to be the father of twins. Let’s just say that it involves a lot of spilled milk (don’t cry!), some stepping on loose Lego bricks, and more than your fair share of sleep deprivation and pounding headaches. Despite all this, Stacey still says “there is nothing greater than having kids.”

Science hasn’t quite invented the time machine yet, but you can experience a blast from the past with some Friday late night movies at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver. Rebecca Bollwitt has the schedule for the rest of the month up on her site. We missed 1966’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly last Friday, but you can still catch Frank Oz and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal, Quintin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction or Stephen Herek’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The screenings are each Friday at 11pm and there is a full service bar on site.

And finally, Esther Fink asks, “Does a writer need an office?” When I first started my professional freelance writing career, I worked out of the dining room, but now I have my own dedicated home office. There are merits to all sorts of arrangements, but I think writers need a space they can call their own… even if it’s a damp basement (like John Cleever) or a modest shed in the backyard (like Roald Dahl).