a peek inside the fishbowl

It has been a crazy week here at Casa Fishbowl (and it’s only TUESDAY). At least I had a moment to do this:

I decided to eat my 1000th dailylunches at the new Pure Kitchen in Westboro. Yesterday I edited a piece about it by Paula Roy for the Kitchissippi Times. By the end of it my mouth was watering so my decision was practically made for me. This  fulfilled a couple of different things for me. (1) The restaurant is within walking distance, in a neighbourhood I love to smithereens and (2) their focus is vegetarian food, which I think is pretty awesome.

Pure Kitchen is pretty new around these parts. Westies must be as excited as I am about it because every time I walk by it’s packed with people. Today was no exception, and it made me happy I set out at 11:30.

Pure Kitchen is in the location of the former Milagro’s. The layout is the pretty much the same as before, but it’s much brighter and cheerier and I’m already looking forward to a return visit.

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For the past 100 or so lunches I’ve been thinking a lot about what this project means to me. Every once in awhile I scroll through the photos of my past lunches in the Flickr set. The images and choice of food conveys a lot of information when I think about it. I can see where I am, whether it’s a place with a pretty view, a restaurant, a winter wonderland, or a parking lot:

The photos also show if I’m eating alone or with an opportunistic friend who is perpetually hoping that I drop something:

Unrelated: Piper was at the right place at the right time when Mark accidently dropped a pork tenderloin medallion on the kitchen floor during dinner last night. That dog has learned that PATIENCE PAYS.

So what DOES this collection of a thousand photos say about me? Good question. I think I’m too close to make any unbiased judgements. Perhaps I can safely say I like vegetables and sushi, and that I am good at eating leftovers and probably eat too much cheese. (?)

This is not a portfolio project, god, I hope no one is thinking that I think I’m a food photographer who is angling for work. If I wanted it to be a portfolio I wouldn’t rush through 99% of the photos I take. It is merely, a journal. Some photos are great, some are less so (the same goes for my lunch choices actually), but they’re all an honest portrayal of that tiny sliver of my day. Will I keep going? At this point I don’t see why not.

James Rebanks (@herdyshepherd1 ) Twitter’s favourite shepherd on the culture of sheep farming http://t.co/BNMfOAzhdk pic.twitter.com/rcpFHWzHqA

— nelly (@nellleo) March 28, 2015

• SeaWorld tried to answer questions on Twitter, and it did not go well, mashable.com
• Rescued Magpie Becomes Part of a Photographer’s Family, featureshoot.com
• Foodie Elitism: Are Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan Elitist?, newrepublic.com
• Facebook May Host News Sites’ Content, nytimes.com
• Want to help prevent online bullying? Comment on Facebook, ted.com

On the nightstand: The Book Of Strange New Things

We woke up late. My intent was to get to the beach while it was still dark and hunker down in the beach chairs to watch the sun rise but we didn’t quite make it that early. When we arrived the sand was delightfully cool on the feet, a gift in and of itself. There were still a few hours before it would collect enough sun to burn our soles and make us run for flip flops or the nearest island of shade.

The tide was in, which made the beach smaller than usual. There were very few beach walkers and the sun worshippers were yet to arrive.

I took deep breaths, and thought about this young morning and how much promise it held. We are truly in control of our own destiny, aren’t we? We have choices. What would this day bring?