Friday, December 30, 2005

crazy delicious

I have spent much of the past four days reading Julie Powell's Julie & Julia, which recounts the author's adventures cooking through the entirety of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 in one turn of the calendar. Although her efforts often have disasterous results, she pushes through, good humor and vodka gimlet in hand. An impressive use of a year, and I am (to a degree) jealous. After all, I would like nothing more than to spend a year cooking lamb stew, calf liver, lobster and crepes-- and if I could do it in Tuscany or Provance, so much the better.
2005 is coming to its not-so-dramatic conclusion. Looking back over the year, I'm rather happy to bid it farewell. While I look about for the next adventure I've been kept (or kept myself) in a rather boring holding pattern: Wake up, go to work, go to class or go to other work, return home, make plans to change holding pattern, repeat. Throw in 2-3 gym visits per week (imaginary or real), one weekly phone call from home, bi-weekly visits with friends, car trouble every 9 weeks or so, the basic turning of the seasons and: "Voila!"-- 2005 remembered.
But, fear not. Given my Pollyanna-esque type-A personality, my melencholy is fleeting. 2005's simple exterior does not do justice to the glittering lessons it's held. For example, I know how to put a car battery in backwards, balance a school budget without upseting tax-payers (too much), make jelly, avoid professional litigation, prepare a tea for forty, comparison shop, navigate awkward conversations (particularly those so deep with subtext someone should have handed you a scuba diving suit before throwing you into the shark infested waters), make Eggs Benedict, adopt a cat, attend the theatre, recognize when I'm acting my age and when I'm pretending to be an adult, write a research proposal, and embrace my love of obscure movies and semi-obscure brit-pop (both part of my charm, I assure you). Not bad.
Now, for the next adventure....


We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck

1 Comments:

Blogger that mckim girl said...

I was wondering where the new love of vodka gimlets came from!

Also: finished the other Meg Cabot book last night. It was good. But not as good as Avalon High.

Can we go to Paris this year? No, I mean...really?

Have decided that I am going to spend today making serious resolutions for the coming year. Have not decided whether to include going to Paris.

5:39 AM  

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