Sakura Season in Vancouver

It’s time once again for the weekly speedlink. Things are looking up!

We start our tour with Zac Johnson who is celebrating the seventh anniversary of his blog. He’s been an Internet entrepreneur for two decades, but it was in 2007 that he launched his personal site and started developing his own professional brand. Beyond the Rhetoric is about a year old than that and, with some other bloggers who launched their sites around the same time, it’s been a great experience building with and learning from one another all this time.

You know, John Biehler is one lucky guy. In addition to spending some time at the Brewfest, he also had the opportunity to go on a snorkel and whale watching cruise in Kona, Hawaii. The tour came courtesy of Body Glove Hawaii and it looks like he had a wonderful time. I paid out of my own pocket for my trip a couple years ago, but I learned that even non-swimmers can snorkel too.

Most people will tell you that one of the better deals around is a Netflix membership, but if you don’t actively use it, is it really worth the added expense? Travis Pizel decided that he was going to let his kids decide on a month-to-month basis whether they would like to continue having eight dollars taken out of their allowance each month to pay for the streaming video service. This will help them learn that you should only keep paying for your recurring bills if you are extracting enough value each month too.

We can all get bummed out sometimes and that’s why Ariane Khachatourians reminds us that we should always be thankful for the things that cheer you up. In her case, she enjoys receiving letters, reading magazines, and drinking tea. Some other things that help her feel better about life include birds, rain and, interestingly enough, also shoes hanging from wires. What brings a smile to your face?

And speaking of happy thoughts, we finish this week’s collection with Rebecca Bollwitt and her post on the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Many of the trees in my neighborhood are still barren, but it won’t be long before they’re filled with beautiful pink blossoms. Indeed, sakura season is one of the prettiest times of the year in the city. Remember to look up and admire their beauty.