The Dynamic Duo

Who are you?
My name is Julian. I grew up in Ottawa and have lived in Peterborough (Ontario), Vancouver, and Edinburgh (Scotland) in 4-5 year chunks, and am hoping to make my current stay in Vancouver permanent. By day I am an assistant professor in biology at Simon Fraser University, where I do research and teach in physiology and genetics. Outside of science, I dabble in a variety of activities, e.g., in the past I have worked as a professional unicyclist and puppeteer (although not for long and definitely not at the same time).

What do you do for fun?
For the past 6 months, my primary source of fun has been my new daughter, Nola. Prior to her arrival, my favourite activities were outdoorsy things like hiking, canoeing and snowshoeing. We’ve done a little bit of hiking with Nola, and hope to get her out snowshoeing soon. Sporadically, I get involved with politics, which is how I came to know the fine folk at the Gumboot. I must also admit that I also play chess quite a bit, although not very well.

Whats your favorite community and why?
This question seems a bit like asking someone who their favourite child is. One community of which I’m particularly fond is the Beltane Fire Society based in Edinburgh, Scotland. This group puts on large (e.g., 300 performers, 12,000 spectators), free, outdoor performances/ rituals loosely based on ancient Celtic festivals. These events are a bit like Public Dreams events here in Vancouver, but more pagan, less well funded (no, really) and much much less organised. When I became involved with the group, no one was paid- not for organisation, performing, admin, anything, so it’s amazing that they’ve been able to put on these massive performances, controlled chaos that they are, for over 20 years. There is a huge turnover in terms of who actually performs in the rituals from year to year, but many people hang around Edinburgh, so you can’t swing a maypole in Edinburgh without hitting a Beltanite; there were a number of pubs and clubs where I could go pretty much any day of the week and be sure to meet someone I knew. I was on the board for 2 or 3 years, and it’s a bit embarrassing that in an organisation that is best known for people running around naked and swinging fire as part of fertility rites, I was playing the roles of secretary and treasurer, and at one point the police liason.

What is your superpower?
The most accurate answer to this question and the next would be that my superpower is my wife Zoe, who builds community through relentless entertaining. Unfortunately, this answer begs the question of why I am being profiled rather than Zoe, so I’ll describe a more modest power, which is that I get along with a wide range of people, or at least I’d like to think so. Be you born again christian or atheist, left-wing or right-wing, totally loaded or staying at a shelter in the downtown east side, we can probably find something to talk about. There are a couple of pre-natal class instructors and dog trainers who are exceptions (much to Zoe’s embarrassment), but for the most part I am at one with humanity.

How does your power help you build community?
This question presumes that I build community, whereas at best I insinuate myself into cool communities formed by others.

My three favourite things about Julian Christians are…

1. Zoe and his dinner parties. Julian already mentioned this but I felt it was my job to hammer it in. Almost every month the two of these community builders invite dozens of neighbours from the Grandview-Woodlands neighbourhood over to their place for a community dinner. Diners come and go and everyone sits at their giant and gorgeous wood table (which can fit almost a dozen people). The conversations are diverse and the strengthening of community bonds noticeable. It’s definitely one of the highlights of any month for many of the participants (especially your’s truly!).  Now with new Christians team member Nola coming to the table, their dinner parties will be taken to the next level!

2. His positive “can I do more?” volunteerism. One thing that’s exceedingly important to most communities at a grassroots level is volunteering. Julian is all about volunteering. He’s always got a big smile on his face and back when I first met him during the 2008 civic election, he was one of the most reliable and hard working sign guys I had the privilege to work with. It’s inspiring.

3. He answers my crazy questions about genetics. “Julian, how are me and Wombat the dog genetically similar?” “Did all humans come from seals?” “Julian, can I ever be an X-Man like Wolverine?” Such are some of the questions any young man would like to know. However, instead of shrugging off these questions, Julian is able to give me some serious answers,  in layman’s terms. More than anything, his manner and patience only highlight how great a teacher he is. Don’t take him for granted SFU students.

As told by Kurt Heinrich…