bio

First: the fancypants description written in third person.

As a freelance writer and photographer, Andrea’s work has appeared in a range of print publications, both local and national. But it’s her presence on the web that has taken on a life of its own. Andrea has made multiple appearances on CTV and on CBC radio, and her blog, a peek inside the fishbowl, has been recognized by publications such as Reader’s Digest International (English and Spanish-language editions), Chatelaine, Canadian Family Magazine, the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen, SweetMama, Ottawa at Home, and the Kitchissippi Times, where she also has an occasional photo or byline.

In 2007, the Fishbowl was chosen by the Banff New Media Institute - Canada’s internationally respected art and digital research innovation centre - to be featured on culture.ca, a portal for great Canadian new media projects.

Andrea has been keeping a blog since 1999 and loves to talk about blogging and the culture of the web. This is not an ordinary mom blog, and she’s not your typical Ottawa mom blogger. Andrea also writes for the Ottawa edition of SavvyMom. She loves helping parents and kids discover the hidden treasures Ottawa has to offer. (She also prefers the term “parenting blogger” or just “Ottawa blogger” thankyouverymuch!)

Andrea is a board member of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa Charitable Foundation. You can read more about her involvement here. If you’re so inclined you can make a donation to YSB here.

She is also a spokesmom for the Champlain Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Network’s Know More Do More campaign. Check out the KMDM website at www.knowmore-domore.ca or read the kickoff post here.

Some of her media appearances include:

• The Trust Experiment, Definitely Not the Opera (CBC Radio), May 1, 2010
• Mum’s the word at Vegas blogging convention, Canada.com, October 19, 2009
• Quiet fish, loud splash: Andrea Tomkins is Ottawa’s most celebrated parent blogger. Even Canadian Tire values her advice, Ottawa Citizen/CanWest Publishing, October 10, 2009
• Bloggers and Freebies, Ottawa Morning (CBC Radio), September 30, 2009
• March Break Activities for Kids, All in a Day (CBC Radio), March 16, 2009
• Local Bloggers, Ottawa Morning (CBC Radio), August 6, 2008
• Portable DVD Players and the Family Road Trip, All in a Day (CBC Radio), May 21, 2007
• The Trust Experiment, All in a Day (CBC Radio), March 30, 2007
• Size Matters: Childhood Obesity, All in a Day (CBC Radio), April 6, 2006
• Mommybloggers and blogging, (CTV News at Noon), March 22, 2006
• Proposed Demolition of La Maison Jeanne D’Arc, Ottawa Morning (CBC Radio), October 11, 2006

Contact Andrea via email at andrea@quietfish.com or follow her at http://twitter.com/missfish.

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Next, the real scoop:

My name is Andrea, and this is a journal I keep… mostly for myself and for family and friends, but anyone is welcome to eavesdrop.

I was born in Toronto, grew up in nearby suburban Bramalea and attended Dorset Drive PS, William G. Davis middle school and then high school at J.A. Turner SS.

I studied Journalism and English lit at Carleton University in Ottawa (Canada!). I am married to a wonderful fellow named Mark, and we have two daughters named Emma and Sarah. We live in a little house with a big wild garden.

I used to work as a web developer at a marketing and graphic design firm. Today I work at home as a web content manager and (most joyfully) as a freelance writer. And when I can’t find the words, I just take a photo.

Sometimes I think I’m approaching a pre mid-life crisis, and find myself wondering about who I am. What defines me? Who am I, other than a mother and a wife and a daughter? Perhaps that’s the reason behind this bio page… a need to see it all written down. And perhaps, that’s the deeper reason behind this website.

Our identities are made up of much more than places and dates. We are made up of a million little stories, a personal collection of experiences that combine to alter us and ultimately make up this thing we call life.

Here is a selection of things I have done (in no particular order). Each is worth relating in greater detail, but I’ll save that for some other time…

• traveled to Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic
• skied down an Olympic run and not killed myself
• traveled to the far north and snowmobiled on frozen tundra
• hitchhiked
• lied about my age and identity
• gone dancing until the wee hours of the morning
• not worn a coat in the winter because it was “uncool”
• drank so much I threw up
• written bad poetry
• written good letters
• swam across a lake
• co-produced an award-winning documentary film in my student days
• touched a human skull
• tried to make my own beer, and failed
• walked barefoot in a fountain
• burnt my hair
• sang in public at the top of my lungs
• went skinny dipping while smoking a cigar
• wrote a weekly newspaper column when I was a teenager
• developed my own film and printed my own photographs
• ran away from the police
• failed grade twelve math
• tried to cut my own hair
• seen a bear in its natural habitat
• gone horseback riding
• walked on a glacier
• tried to contact the dead
• had my heart crushed by a significant other
• pretended to not understand English
• had my palm read
• married someone I met over the Internet
• wore white sneakers under the wedding dress
• held a firefly in my hands
• made stars out of pretty paper

It’s all too short, isn’t it? I wish I believed in reincarnation. So let’s try to make the most of what we have, shall we?

p.s. Want to drop me a line? I am: andrea at quietfish dot com or just use the form.