2008 is over, and so is this eponymous blog. It’s been a great year, global financial meltdown notwithstanding, what with Obama getting elected, my new godson being born, Greg & Phinney getting married and Laurence and Jacob coming to Germany and meeting my family for the first time. It’s been a little short on travel, only one quick trip to Europe, and three or so trips in the Western US, but hopefully this will be amply compensated for in 2009 (guess where I’ll be blogging from come summer – more on that later :).
The blog itself has been a trip. A lot of fun, and a great experience. It definitely did what I hoped it would do, make me more mindful of what I eat, and help me slow down. It’s made me seek out a bigger variety of foods, and healthier foods, than ever and it’s also made me eat outside more than I would have otherwise. But it’s done a lot more than that. For one, it’s given me an outlet, something to focus on outside of my insanely intense job which was (still is) threatening to swallow me whole. It’s been a little window of creativity and pause, every day, and as such has been a lifeline to a buried part of myself that really needed some attention. It has also given me discipline, to stick with the strict documentary principle of really recording EVERYTHING I ate, not just the fun or interesting bits or the things one would be comfortable showing to a roomful of strangers, and to stick with it for a whole year. I faltered a couple of times, due to overwhelm and a vague feeling of pointlessness, but I came back to it every time. Although maybe this isn’t due as much to my discipline as to the encouraging comments that popped up on the blog and put me back on track - thanks to everyone who’s been kind enough to check in on me and make sure that I saw this through!
This includes, of course, Ritesh, my partner in crime, who has been my biggest fan and checked every post as soon as I wrote it. I’ve already thanked him in one of the comments below, but wanted to do it again up here, just so he really, really REALLY gets just how much I appreciate all his support throughout the year. It takes a special kind of husband to be able to sit at the dinner table and wait, fork in mid-air, until the missus is done with that godforsaken picture – night after night, for an entire year! Thanks, love, for not giving me too much of a hard time for all the fuss, thanks for all the tech support, and thanks for cooking all those fabulous meals, which I’m sure are the real reason why people kept coming back to the blog!
I’ve been thinking about where to go from here. I could easily continue with the food blog in a 2009 edition, perhaps with more relaxed rules, such as documenting interesting and worthwhile meals only, instead of every single thing. I could also venture more into foodie territory, start adding recipes (some of which long-promised on this blog, I know, I know) and restaurant reviews. But somehow I have a sense I may try something a little different ... hmmm.... I can't quite talk about it yet, but will post the link here as soon as I can.
4 comments:
Looking for ideas of how to continue? Well here's a thought - it would be a mammoth task though.
I think you've done a fantastic thing over the last year. But I've often wondered where the food was coming from. So if you eat pork - where has the pig been raised, where were the vegetables grown and the fish caught and landed? What were the living conditions of the animals and the working conditions of the people who've worked to get that food to you?
You'd have to start small - maybe some californian fruit for example. But you could have some great adventures tracking down the source of the Venezuelan chocolate!
Have fun!
interesting idea! Hmmm....
This is by far the most interesting blog I've come across. And that's saying a lot, as I've trawled through countless blogs since I've started blogging myself. Sad to see it go, but happy that you haven't given up on the whole blogging thing. Can't wait to see what the new year brings, haha. Hope '09 is a good one for you.
I really enjoyed looking at your blog, whenever it popped in my mind, sometimes at work i would just like to see what was new or even get healthy meal ideas :]
I'm proud of you, I don't think I could do this! It also made me even more excited to move back to L.A. (in summer 09, finally). You seem like an awesome person, with a great life. Go you!
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