a peek inside the fishbowl

I’ve written a lot about screen time, here on the Fishbowl and over on the MediaSmarts blog. I think I can summarize my feelings thusly: I’m not against TV, video games, iDevices etc. I do however, worry about the effect these things are having on our brains and attention spans and I believe there should be limits to how much time we spend with them instead of doing other things. I do also believe it’s fair to make a distinction between GOOD media and CRAPPY media consumption. I touched on the idea in this past post. GOOD media is brain food.

In that post I mentioned a book that stayed with me. Please allow me to quote myself for a moment:

There’s a memoir by Canadian writer and film critic David Gilmour called The Film Club: A True Story of a Father and a Son. It’s essentially about how the author finds himself underemployed with a 15-year old son who wants to drop out of high school. He lets him do this on one condition, that they watch three movies each week together. It is pretty unconventional parenting, and I find it interesting for several reasons but it really hit the idea home that watching a great film with your kid may be as important as sitting down to dinner together.

We’ve always been keen on great films here at Casa Fishbowl, but in my latest post on the MediaSmarts blog I’ve write a bit about how we are honing our interest down even further. You can read that right here.

Spoiler alert! One of the things I’ve resolved to do is watch more documentary films as a family. Here are three recent ones that have been entertaining and insightful in equal measure.

Rich Hill.

Queen of Versailles

Blackfish

I asked some friends on Facebook what documentaries they’d recommend and here are a few of their suggestions (I have a lot of Googling to do!): Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, Frozen Sea, Fed Up, The Blue Planet, Elmo, 100 Feet from Stardom, Muscle Shoals, Sound City, Happy, Kings of Pastry, Don’t Look Back, The Flat, Ken Burns docs, Super Size Me, Revolution.

It’s worth noting that we’ve been watching Life Story on CBC and REALLY enjoying it! It contains some of the best wildlife footage I’ve ever seen.

I posted this photo to Piper’s Instagram account this morning:

I don’t really hate Mondays – that was Piper talking – but it did get me thinking about how confused my work week has become these past few years. I don’t really have a work week. I don’t get up, get in a car, show up at an office, put in a full day, and then come home from said office and push aside thoughts of work until the routine begins again the next day.

I sometimes work at night, and on weekends, and my commute is short: I start upstairs, and end up downstairs. My morning routine is a simple one: I drink my coffee, eat breakfast, put in some time on the treadmill, have a shower, and get dressed. Today I turned on the space heater in my home office and put on slippers. My work schedule is not a schedule at all. I basically use whatever time I have to Get Everything Done. I DO ALL THE THINGS. Which is partly why I’m trying to be more regimented about my work day.

Related: I was having an email exchange with a local resident in regards to a letter to the editor he was submitting to the newspaper. We’d had a couple of back and forths on Sunday morning and in his last note he wrote: let’s get back to our families and take this up on Monday.

Everyone talks about the importance of disconnecting, but what if the job you’re connecting to is one you truly enjoy? It’s like being asked to put down the crossword puzzle you’re working on, or that great book you’re reading, because you’re reading too much. It’s hard to do. I suppose if reading is interfering with your family life, it might be an issue. I’m not sure how my family feels about my work. Do I work too much? Perhaps I should ask them.

This is our 2nd time collaborating with @AliCatArt & we H’art this event! #Love #Love #Love #Love Feb 10-14 chez nous pic.twitter.com/19CpcQIORZ

— Twiss’ tweets (@TwissAndWeber) January 22, 2015

• The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur, theatlantic.com
• The crispy egg, smittenkitchen.com
• The Most Craziest Fart Story Ever, hrtwarming.com
• An Activist Writer Completely Disarms a Foul Troll Over Twitter in a Kind Display on MLK Day,cheezburger.com
• 500 Top-Tier Publishers Tell You What They Want from Content Marketers, problogger.net
• Why the modern world is bad for your brain, theguardian.com

On the nightstand: Midwives

Remember the big poster I made out of 200 of my favourite Instagram photos? I look at it every day and still love it to smithereens. I find something new in it all of the time. It’s a permanent reminder of the ordinary beauty around us. I guess that’s ultimately what my Instagram account is all about, and in a sense, this blog too.

–

These are a few things that made me happy this week:

Sleeping dogs. They are like miniature radiators. To have one curled up on the couch next to you is a gift unlike any other:

Sunsets. Don’t they just make you happy to be alive to see them?

Cultural artifacts. These three photos are from the Empress of Ireland, an exhibit that’s at the Museum of History (a.k.a The Civ) right now. Aren’t we lucky to have such great storytelling that is so easily accessible? History comes alive here.

Greenery. My mom gave me this poinsettia two Christmases ago and – AGAINST ALL ODDS – it’s still alive, and actually doing well. It’s a very pretty little splash of colour on our windowsill.

Happy Friday!

I hate wasting food. Last I was looking at three very spotty bananas withering on the countertop, and I asked myself, what’s a mamma to do? Answer: MAKE MUFFINS*

* I do not consider myself a baker or a muffin maker. My muffin motivation was two-fold: (1) To use up the aforementioned bananas (2) to tempt my children with something new for breakfast.

I found this recipe for banana muffins and it totally fit the bill. It’s incredibly easy, uses THREE bananas, and the kids love the results. I call that a win-win situation, don’t you?

Banana fans may also be interested in this recipe for banana bread. It’s also very good!