Julie and Julia

Book #3 - Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell

I'm not sure why I've been so into food (and food writing) lately. I can't work out due to incessant knee problems, so I really shouldn't be eating much right now, but I am instead eating more than ever. I'm a big boredom eater. I don't eat when I'm stressed or sad; I eat when I'm bored. When you're bored, your mind tends to wander, and maybe you start thinking about things that make you unhappy. Like your job, or your crappy apartment with its stopped up shower drain and its crappy landlords who can't seem to figure out that FOR GOD'S SAKE DRANO ONLY WORKS FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS SO JUST SUCK IT UP AND CALL A GODDAMN PLUMBER ALREADY, for example.

Julie Powell could probably relate. In fact, I'd guess that distraction from the nagging problems in her life was the impetus for the Julie/Julia project in the first place. A glorified receptionist for a government agency by day, Julie finds herself unsatisfied, and one day takes on a crazy challenge. She will cook every recipe in Julia Child's classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in the course of a year, and blog about it. As inspirational as the book is (and honestly, it really is), its ribald sense of humor is what makes it one of the most joyful reads I've had in a long time. At this point, Boyfriend Bud can recount Julie's misadventures with calf's marrow, the effects of moving on her three cats, and her declaration of love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer - because I couldn't help myself from reading passages aloud to him. Julie's writing has a biting edge to it, an irritable pessimism that is downright adorable, as strange as that may sound.

The project comes to symbolize more than just the title of the cookbook suggests - it represents possibility. If Julie can cook all of this, maybe she'll also be able to quit her soul-sucking job; overcome her reproductive problems; move out of this rundown apartment; change her life. It's that sort of possibility - the type that allowed the titular Julia to learn how to cook for the first time at 37 years old and go on to become the First Lady of Cuisine in the second half of her life - that makes Julie and Julia so invigorating.