Introducing 7 Questions With… AAAL Members, a fun way to get to know academic library staff in Alberta. Each month we’ll post a new featured member’s responses to 7 random questions.

Dan Mirau is Library Director and Director of Student Learning Enhancement Projects at Concordia University College of Alberta

1. When was the last time you were nervous? When I had to provide the welcoming remarks at Netspeed 2014. Well, that was the last time I was REALLY nervous.

2. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best? When I was 13 my dad and I were searching for ammonite fossils down the South Saskatchewan River when the boat’s engine completely died. It was blistering hot and we were a five hour hike downstream and only wearing shorts and flip flops. I still remember the return hike, winding around inlets and swimming across streams, joking with each other along the way to keep our spirits up. We made it to a campsite well after dark and well burned. He still tells the story. What looked like a bad situation has become one of our best shared memories.

3. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? I just finished Moby Dick so I’d say Starbuck. Or Queequeg minus the cannibalism.

4. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? How to speak Croatian.

5. What is your favourite quote? I found this one recently and like it a lot: “Nothing is ever the same as they said it was. It’s what I’ve never seen before that I recognize.” Diane Arbus

6. What do you eat for breakfast? Peanut butter and banana on two slices of multi-grain toast. Preferably in the shape of a happy face.

7. What do you do when you’re not working? I spend time with family and friends. I read, write, draw, paint, play guitar, sing, and dance. I enjoy life.