Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Food For Thought
Sunday, August 15, 2010
JULIE + JULIA
For book club, we completed Julie + Julia by Julie Powell. I was super excited we chose this one from the hat, as I have been wanting to read it forever!! The movie was very good, but I actually liked the book better! They definitely complement one another very well...
I found a deep connection to Julie - she messed up in the kitchen, got a upset about it, and in the end took a deep breath and got the job done - completing 3 or so recipes a night from Julia Child's cookbook: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julie took on the adventure of cooking every single recipe from MAFC, blogging about it, and risking her marriage to Eric, her long love. She took on a new role, really changing her life and setting it around her crazy goal!! Cooking in her cramped NYC apartment, finding all of the ingredients - which was an adventure in itself, she decided this goal that was "not easy, just simple".
"... I began to ponder; this life we had for ourselves, Eric and I, it felt like the opposite of Potage Parmentier. It was easy enough to keep on with the soul-sucking jobs; at least it saved having to make a choice. But how much longer could I take such an easy life? Quicksand was easy. Hell, death was easy. Maybe that's why my synapses had started snapping at the sight of potatoes and leeks in the Korean deli. Maybe that was what was plucking deep down in my belly whenever I thought of Julia Child's book. Maybe I needed to make like a potato, winnow myself down, be a part of something that was not easy, just simple."
Julie was stuck in a job that was just not fulfilling. She didn't feel fulfilled with her life in general. She had a wonderful husband - but she needed something more... This is why the book Julie + Julia exists. It is comforting to know that you can put a goal in a place - work hard at it - and it could in fact change your life! Julie helps convince the world that once you set your mind to something - no matter how crazy people think you are (like her mother, for instance) - great things can come out of it!
Julie taught me that you don't have to be stuck in a crappy job and lose everything creative or everything wonderful about yourself. You should always be reaching for something more. There is more to life than mere work and paychecks. If passion is not in your work - then find it somewhere else in your life and GO FOR IT!
My favorite segment of the book was crustacean-related. The lobsters. How she could have her lobster "victims" in a brown bag on her back seat - driving around frantic NYC - hearing them moving around behind her - I am not sure I could do this!! It was kind of heart-wrenching when she described having to kill her victims... Again something else I don't think I could do!!
I found a deep connection to Julie - she messed up in the kitchen, got a upset about it, and in the end took a deep breath and got the job done - completing 3 or so recipes a night from Julia Child's cookbook: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julie took on the adventure of cooking every single recipe from MAFC, blogging about it, and risking her marriage to Eric, her long love. She took on a new role, really changing her life and setting it around her crazy goal!! Cooking in her cramped NYC apartment, finding all of the ingredients - which was an adventure in itself, she decided this goal that was "not easy, just simple".
"... I began to ponder; this life we had for ourselves, Eric and I, it felt like the opposite of Potage Parmentier. It was easy enough to keep on with the soul-sucking jobs; at least it saved having to make a choice. But how much longer could I take such an easy life? Quicksand was easy. Hell, death was easy. Maybe that's why my synapses had started snapping at the sight of potatoes and leeks in the Korean deli. Maybe that was what was plucking deep down in my belly whenever I thought of Julia Child's book. Maybe I needed to make like a potato, winnow myself down, be a part of something that was not easy, just simple."
Julie was stuck in a job that was just not fulfilling. She didn't feel fulfilled with her life in general. She had a wonderful husband - but she needed something more... This is why the book Julie + Julia exists. It is comforting to know that you can put a goal in a place - work hard at it - and it could in fact change your life! Julie helps convince the world that once you set your mind to something - no matter how crazy people think you are (like her mother, for instance) - great things can come out of it!
Julie taught me that you don't have to be stuck in a crappy job and lose everything creative or everything wonderful about yourself. You should always be reaching for something more. There is more to life than mere work and paychecks. If passion is not in your work - then find it somewhere else in your life and GO FOR IT!
My favorite segment of the book was crustacean-related. The lobsters. How she could have her lobster "victims" in a brown bag on her back seat - driving around frantic NYC - hearing them moving around behind her - I am not sure I could do this!! It was kind of heart-wrenching when she described having to kill her victims... Again something else I don't think I could do!!
"When I got home I peered down at the lobster to see how he was doing. The inner plastic bag was sucked tight around him and clouded up. It looked like something out of an eighties made-for-TV movie, with some washed-up actress taking too many pills and trying to off herself with a Macy's bag."
Thursday, April 15, 2010
BOOK BLISS
So, I haven't blogged in while and I have good reason (errrr.... excuses) for this behavior. I got married this past weekend!! So, life has been a bit of a whirlwind... A WONDERFUL whirlwind!! It is pretty amazing to see how everything that you have been planning and waiting for comes together. Quite lovely. More wedding talk later when I have my photos to share!!
I have been reading a lot lately (another reason why the blogging has slowed) ? Christopher McDougall's Born to Run is definitely now in my top ten. It digs a bit into history which is something that can make a book a bit of a bore if it is done incorrectly. I have to tell you, the history in this book was quite the opposite for me!! The historical side made me want to KEEP reading and reading until I was done with the book. It was just plain fascinating!! It would be pretty sweet if this was added to a summer reading list for students!!
I also completed Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed, the sequel to Eat Pray Love. Most of the book discussed the notion of marriage and of course the romance between Liz and her man!!! I highly recommend it! I read it the month before I was married and it made things pretty interesting to say the least. Elizabeth was never keen on the idea of marriage... so it was nice to read about her view on the subject! I will not give you any more details - I do not want to spoil this read :)
Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea was my last read and it was nice to read something that was just relaxed and comical!! I found myself laughing out loud a bunch!! The question that I do have about the book (I will sleep tonight if this isn't answered) - is:
Do you believe everything she wrote in her book to be fact ? Being that she is a comedian and she is a storyteller because she is a comedian, I feel as though some of it may be exagerrated. Even though I may feel this way, I loved her book!! She has always made me laugh and that's why you pick up a comedian's book - right ?!
I have been reading a lot lately (another reason why the blogging has slowed) ? Christopher McDougall's Born to Run is definitely now in my top ten. It digs a bit into history which is something that can make a book a bit of a bore if it is done incorrectly. I have to tell you, the history in this book was quite the opposite for me!! The historical side made me want to KEEP reading and reading until I was done with the book. It was just plain fascinating!! It would be pretty sweet if this was added to a summer reading list for students!!
I also completed Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed, the sequel to Eat Pray Love. Most of the book discussed the notion of marriage and of course the romance between Liz and her man!!! I highly recommend it! I read it the month before I was married and it made things pretty interesting to say the least. Elizabeth was never keen on the idea of marriage... so it was nice to read about her view on the subject! I will not give you any more details - I do not want to spoil this read :)
Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea was my last read and it was nice to read something that was just relaxed and comical!! I found myself laughing out loud a bunch!! The question that I do have about the book (I will sleep tonight if this isn't answered) - is:
Do you believe everything she wrote in her book to be fact ? Being that she is a comedian and she is a storyteller because she is a comedian, I feel as though some of it may be exagerrated. Even though I may feel this way, I loved her book!! She has always made me laugh and that's why you pick up a comedian's book - right ?!
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