Daily Archives: November 24, 2009

Thanksgiving

I’ll be in lovely Heath, MA until Friday morning. My plans include inspecting the property my mother left me and greg. I’m reading a book called “Working with your Woodland”- I have hopes that I can design a little Japanese style garden on the acreage and that will keep me from buying some decrepit old money pit.

Julie and Julia: Movie Review

Yes, I know this movie came out what feels like years ago: the content is 1950s and 2002, the concept in very Ephron eighties. Poor little Amy Adams sounds like she’s doing a Meg Ryan impersonation the whole time. But I like waiting until movies play at my neighborhood theater where I can get hot mulled cider and handmade Pride’s Crossing turtle candies. MMM. And! My new friend Jessica went with me so we could laugh at Amy’s weird clothes and self-absorbed behavior together.

But, of course that maniac Meryl Streep is amazing, making me think “I want to be irrepressible!” and then wonder what I meant. I like how the women have friends and real friendships, well Julia does anyway, and they are important. The film sets up an interesting contrast between Julia Child’s work and her husband’s civil service: who changed the world more? What venues were open to Julia- was the choice of writing this cookbook revolutionary? Where has it led us? And does Julie Powell’s crazed (uncreative?) striving signal a positive cultural shift?

But Emily, isn’t this national novel writing month? Should you really be critiquing other’s hard work right now, instead of cranking out words for your novel? Too true, people who searched the internet for pictures of a lemon sprout and found me.