One of the things I love about living in a city is the fact that, right when you are about to resign yourself to a general feeling of apathy because you think you've explored every nook and cranny to be explored, you inevitably stumble upon a neighbourhood you never even realized existed.

This weekend, while lying in a sunny grass field off Victoria and 38th, I realized that the whole area is a bit like that new guy in class with the James Dean-style haircut and worn leather jacket -- it's scruffy, edgy and a little off-beat, just enough to stand out from the crowd (ie, the south Granvilles and Cambies, yawn.) Also, although it has some of the same interests as me (good Mexican food, Vietnamese people, weird meat shops and locals) there's just something about it that remains elusive and intimidating.

Maybe its the baffling mishmash of ethnic foods or the way the street looks like it will continue infinitely into the horizon, kind of like Queen's street in Toronto when you get close to the Eastern European area. Perhaps it lies in the fact that I have never been invited to even one house party in the area. Or perhaps it's the faded brightness of street-side buildings and the lack of condominiums or height of any kind in the surrounding market-style vicinity. Either way, upper Victoria St. continues to leave me feeling somewhat bewildered as a non-Vancouver native.

However, it's the kind of bewilderment that I know is easily solved, at least when it comes to the elusive new guy in class, by going out for a few drinks to ease the situation up a bit. So, for the Victoria-Fraserview neighborhood, I decided to initiate the virtual equivalent of those drinks -- a bit of quality old-fashioned Wikipedia e-stalking to find out exactly what this Victoria neighbourhood is really all about.

There's something about haphazard street words and sign-defacing that really fascinates me. I feel like it reveals more about a city's character than its official signage, advertisements and well-cleaned parks. In Vancouver's case, these written street dialogues reveal a side of the city's residents that's cheeky, a bit angry, and pretty amusing.

Whether we're drawing mustaches on attractive models pictured in ads on bus stops, scrawling 'F$#@ THE POLICE' in alleyways, leaving the public with a well-thought out quote written on the wall, or spray-painting our graffiti tags because we're 18 and looking for trouble, us Vancouverites sure have a lot to say when we can say it anonymously.

I remember reading an Adbusters piece about Sao Paulo's radical move to completely ban outdoor advertising in its streets. The law was put in place by a conservative mayor based on his mandate to rid the city of "visual pollution," and involved the take-down of "over 15,000 billboards, 1,600 oversized signs and 1,300 metal ad panels" (see photos here). Adbusters described the city as a "battlefield strewn with blank marquees and partially torn-down frames." I couldn't help but wonder what our city would look like without our advertisements. Would blank billboards become covered in these types of hand-written words, street art and graffiti? Or would we have no compulsion left to leave our mark without ads and signs to provoke that creativity (and cheekiness)?

Click for more examples after the jump of what Vancouverites have to say.

This past weekend, I went to a last-minute dance party at the old Cobalt (which now has a new name, apparently, although no one seems to agree on what it is). The place looked pretty similar to how it used to back in its punk days, except for a few oddly-placed chandeliers. Also notable was a series of glowing Mac laptops manned by young DJ's in Oxfords blasting Chicago-style acid house instead the usual punk band. The hodge-podge setting and overall ambiance of the night reminded me of something that's very Vancouver -- the hotly contested and never-ending debate about the ultimate validity of our city's nightlife culture.

It's a heated debate between two camps of people, both with strong opinions and valiant champions. First, there's Camp One, a group of people who claim that Vancouver is a "no fun" city without any interesting music venues or culture to speak of. This camp's complaints are well-documented (in community newspapers, on films like the aptly-named "No Fun City" and in the citing of restrictive late-night city bylaws) and their voices are loud. They often proclaim that they plan to leave Vancouver for "greater" cities (usually Montreal or NYC).

Then there's Camp Two. This camp fondly remembers epic, pseudo-illegal "venues" like the Red Gate, Emergency Room, Plank Gallery, the Loft and No Tofu. For many, these places have never existed. However, for those who have been to their late-night $5 dance parties featuring ironic names like "Jack Your Body," the experience is totally refreshing; it's also specially-made for a generation raised on the Internet and captivated by things that are fresh and somewhat treasonous. These illicit prop-ups are the ever-evolving gems of our city, sprouting up indefinitely in alleyways, basements and warehouses, and consistently showcasing an emergent form of multimedia culture that is quintessentially Vancouver-based. Their collective product? A crazy, unique conglomeration of urban influences and art-house principles that has created an entirely new and subversive form of fun-making.

I have to say, it's weird to have everything back to normal in Vancouver. Walking to work downtown this morning, I was amazed at the feeling of unnatural stillness in the (dirty, garbage and confetti-filled) streets. I realized that I had gotten used to the chaos, the foreign tourists, and the excessive randomness that permeated downtown life for the past two weeks.

In the aftermath of yesterday's (unarguably epic) celebrations and revelry, with hundreds of thousands of ecstatic cityfolk from all sides of the Olympic debate together in the streets, in an urban explosion highly reminiscent of that of Chicago on the night of Obama's election, I think many of us Vancouverites, whether anti-Olympics protesters or pro-Olympics advocates, are now wondering one thing as we nurse our hangovers: what will the world really have to say about these Olympics? Most importantly, what is the world's opinion about Vancouver as a city through the Olympic lens?

As a Canadian who grew up in the U.S., during high school I was always struck by how few Americans actually knew Vancouver was a real city ("wait, are you talking about Vancouver, WA?") These Olympics were, for many, Vancouver's second "coming-out" party as a city, with Expo '86 being the first. Now, in 2010, the world has seen a Vancouver that is drastically different than the 1986 version. So, the question remains: what exactly has the world seen?

At least a part of the answer lies in the expressive and varied accounts of our city from the international press who have prowled through our streets during the Games, resulting in stories which gave us "a Gold in drinking," waxed poetic about our "summery smile" and called us an overall "odd choice." As Vancouver has been the "most heavily covered Winter Games in history," I find these international, journalist-based accounts of our city fascinating -- they truly reveal a new Vancouver that can only be seen through the eyes of an outsider. Here's a few of the most memorable journalistic gems.

The Olympics may be mostly about games, revelry and local noise complaints, but for some people they are also about shedding light on serious issues that affect Vancouverites. We've seen evidence of this in the many rallies that have occurred in the past two weeks, organized by a melange of organizations ranging from the reviled Black Bloc to the ever-awesome Raging Grannies.

However, there's one campaign that stands out above the rest for me -- due to the pragmatism of its organizers, the peaceful tactics it uses, and its commitment to both empower those without homes and get the attention of the government without being overly antagonistic. It goes by the name of "Red Tent," and you may have noticed its presence through the blazing red tents it is responsible for setting up all over the Downtown Eastside, or perhaps through its various public sleepovers initiated outside of public places like Science World.

This Saturday, Feb. 27th, Red Tent organizers and other residents will "descend on the Canada Pavilion equipped with 142 red tarps and 1700 feet of messaging calling for an end to homelessness in this country... we will be peaceful, we will be loud, [and] we will be creative."

Maybe its because I live right by a dog park, but I have to say that Vancouver has an abnormally high preponderance of adorable dogs. If you have a dog I am instantly jealous because my apartment doesn't allow it, nor does my unpredictable "i am in my early 20's" lifestyle.

However, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate from afar how great a dog's life must be in this city. I mean, when I think about it, dogs here are really lucky -- especially compared to where I am from (Las Vegas), where it is literally too hot for most of the year for dogs to go outside for walks. Dogs in Las Vegas sport perpetually sad, gloomy faces because of it.

Vancouver, however, is full of dog parks, nature trails, beaches, spritely athletic owners, dog festivals and yes -- other dogs. Many other dogs. Dogs with smiling faces, whether they're homeless or wearing bedazzled collars. In the spirit of just how much Vancouver dog owners love their babies, here's some of our readers' best (and cutest) dog photos.