The Past 30 Days

No, I don't plan to start doing monthly retrospectives. It's just that I'm making knitty progress, and I got through the first 30 days of my 365 days project and the latter feels like kind of a milestone. People, taking a self-portrait everyday isn't easy! After all, my everyday life is pretty mundane. On work days my routine rarely varies- during the daylight hours I am either driving to work, at work, or driving home from work. Then I'm at home for a few precious hours at night. This schedule does not make for interesting photos each day, let me tell you. Which is part of the reason I'm glad I decided to embark on this project. It has made me look at my day, or parts of my day, in a different way, and has forced me to find at least one picture-worthy moment to capture. I kind of like that. On the flip side, taking so many SPs really makes you more self-aware about how you look - for better or worse. Sometimes, I've been pleasantly surprised - other times, literally shocked (not in a good way).

Generally speaking, it's been a great learning experience, both for the reasons I've already mentioned, and also because I've been learning a little more about, and gaining more interest in, photography. I hope to improve my photography skills over the year. And, it's also been fun to play around more in Flickr. It's interesting to see everyone else's SPs in the group- one picture a day really does provide a unique glimpse into a person's life.

Recently, I've also been thinking a lot more about food and, more specifically, the food I eat. I've been trying to eat healthier for various reasons, and it seems like my friends are going through a similar thing as well. Dis and I have been having many discussions about food, and a few other friends are reading Michael Pollan books. First Lolly posted about this one, then Lori told me about how she's reading this one, and now Amiee is reading this one. I plan to order and read these soon. I'm sure they will be enlightening (to say the least).

Last week a friend was back in town visiting from New York and I met her for lunch at an organic vegan restaurant called Real Food Daily. I had driven by so many times, but that was the first time I'd eaten there. Let me tell you - yum! I got the Real Food Bargain, which included soup, corn grain bread, and this masterpiece, the Real Food Meal:

Real Food Meal: From the RFD website, "Based on the principles of macrobiotics, the ‘Real Food Meal’ is a balanced selection of foods representing the five elements of Eastern health philosophy. "

"Bargain," indeed. I had enough leftovers to last me for 2 whole other meals! And, like a gift that keeps on giving, that meal inspired me to cook up a whole mess of food on Sunday, which I've been eating for days since. My dinner on Sunday didn't rock nearly as much as the RFD meal, nor was it nearly as colorful, but I was still impressed at the variety and simple deliciousness of my creation.

Fake RFD Meal: Kale, roasted asparagus and mushrooms, rice pilaf with lentils, steamed broccoli and snow peas, black beans, roasted zucchini, yellow squash, and onions.

I doubt I can keep this up for long, because I know me and I can't stay away from fat, carbs, and meat for any extended length of time, but I will make the most of this inspiration for as long as I can sustain it, and just do the best that I can. That's all we can do, right?

And finally, thank you, Mother Earth, for helping me culminate the first 30 days of my 365 days project with an earthquake. I don't care how long I've lived in California, I will never get used to these things. Scary business! At least everyone and everything seems to be fine. But yeah, way to disrupt a day!