Vancity Fair is an interview project that asks compelling Vancouverites to complete The Proust Questionnaire to expose their thoughts, values and life experiences.
If you hit up Nelson the Seagull in Gastown you’ll be sure to spot Jonathan Snelgar, co-owner of Nelson, baking some of Vancouver’s best bread.
Nelson the Seagull offers a great new way to pay it forward too: Suspended Coffee. The concept, modeled on the Italian “caffe sospespo” tradition, is to purchase a coffee in advance for someone who may not be able to afford one. This nice simple act of kindness allows anyone to come in and either buy or claim a coffee. Jonathan notes, “We live in a low-income area and feel that this custom suits our cafe well.”
Your favourite virtue.
Bravery
Your favourite qualities in a man.
Polite and funny.
Your favourite qualities in a woman.
Confident, sense of humour.
Your favourite occupation.
Chef
Your chief characteristic.
Accent (South African).
Your idea of happiness.
Eating a bowl of hot noodles in the freezing cold. Maybe in a sailors pea-coat... Definitely in a pea-coat.
Your idea of misery.
Not being able to speak to my mom whenever I want.
Your favourite colour and flower.
Blue and daisies
If not yourself, who would you be?
Douglas Adams (except alive)
Where would you like to live?
New York
Your favourite prose authors.
Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Albert Camus
Your favourite poets.
Alfred Tennyson
Your favourite painters and composers.
Rembrandt and Wagner
Your favourite heroes in real life.
Nelson Mandela
Your favourite heroines in real life.
My mom and sister.
Your favourite heroes in fiction.
Dirk Gently
Your favourite heroines in fiction.
Trillian Astra
Your favourite food and drink.
Bread and coffee (Pizza and beer an honourable mention)
Your favourite names.
Maximilian, River, Otto.
Your pet aversion.
Gherkins
What characters in history do you most dislike.
Hendrik Verwoerd
What is your present state of mind.
Sleepy
For what fault have you most toleration?
Poor grammar.
Your favourite motto.
“Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.” - Dirk Gently
