a peek inside the fishbowl

Archive for the ‘Publishing/writing/career stuff’ Category

Some of you may or may not know this already, but I’m the editor of the local community newspaper in my area of Ottawa. It is not exactly a traditional 9-5 job. There is no typical day for me. I spend a lot of my time at my desk in my home office. Unfortunately, this […]

Last year I was part of a really cool initiative called Shop the Neighbourhood. The idea behind it is to encourage people to shop locally, which I love, because I truly believe that independent stores are the backbone of our community and help make it a great place to live. I’m very happy to announce that […]

23 Oct, 2015

One thing I never learned in J-school

Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Publishing/writing/career stuff

I learned a lot about journalism when I was studying at Carleton. My four years there included a lot of communications theory but also a lot of very practical lessons in how to interview people and craft a story, but one of the most valuable things I learned about the interviewing and writing process didn’t happen […]

31 Aug, 2015

Camp Weekend

Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Photography|Publishing/writing/career stuff

We are back from a working weekend in the wilderness of Temagami. It was a gig which encompassed two of the things I love to do: visiting beautiful places and talking to interesting people. Have you ever been up there, north of North Bay? It’s good for soul. Share the post “Camp Weekend” FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestLinkedInE-mailReddit

Many moons ago I was interviewed for an article about blogging. This, in itself, is not that unusual. Sometimes I’m interviewed and I never hear about it again or see the resulting article. Other times, people start tweeting and emailing as soon as the publication hits their mailbox. This was one of those times! 15+ years […]


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  • Jenn Jilks: That is really exciting! Break a leg!
  • fun88: I was excited to discover this page. I want to to thank you for your time for this fantastic read!! I definitely liked every part of it and i also
  • Gretchen Humphrey: I had a beautiful bee& birdbath filled with a solar fountain and dozens of antique marbles that were suddenly disappearing. At first I thought my
  • Jinjer: I am sobbing reading this post. And you're right, companion is not enough. Little furry treasured gifts that they are. Thanks for sharing cutie-pi
  • Karen: Dear Andrea, Mark and your daughters I am so very sad for your family xxx Piper was/is my favourite Instagram post. You shared with us so intimately
  • Christina Banuelos: Thank you for sharing Pipers life with us. Your posts of Piper brought me joy. Every time I see your post and see what kind of mischief Piper was gett
  • Carla Slocum: I am sitting here yet again crying at your loss. We have known that loss with Asta the WFT our first pup but now have the enormous gift of Stryker the

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you'd like to contact me, please use this form. If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here. Thank you for visiting!

 


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