I'm posting twice today, because, well, I don't want to grade papers!, and I have something mildly interesting to say, and also, of course, I am avoiding the kitchen and must keep busy.One of the ways I've been learning about how to blog is by reading other blogs. Most of the time, I just hit the "Next Blog" feature at the top of Blogger, and that leads me to blogs that are based, almost entirely, out of Malaysia and India. They have awesome titles like, "Let Mother Nature Speaks," and "I'm Hundred Times Better." They are written mostly in English, but lapse without warning into the language of origin of the author. It looks like this:
"I am so tired today. We have had a big meeting that lasts until nine pm and mibi du ee tlaka pora musu abidi i miss my boyfriend so much. Maxa iodi butil paba linio xa i heart you baby."
These blogs are not entirely helpful, but it is remarkable how disoriented you get moving so fluidly from English to not English to back to English. Your mind stutters, like, "Wait a minute, don't I know how to read? Why can't I understand this?"
One blog that has been entertaining and helpful is www.jezebel.com, which features a really interesting book review of Julie Powell's new book, Cleaving, her memoir about being a butcher's apprentice. The review is slightly cutting (no pun intended), and I think anyone who has even a little bit of interest in the Julie & Julia story might be curious to see how different this new memoir is from the movie (I have not read the book because, frankly, I'm not much of a reader. Cuts into my TV time).
I thought Amy Adams threw a lot of softballs in Julie & Julia: her character seemed so sweet and plucky that even when her husband got mad at her for being narcissistic, I was like, "that's not bad. She's not bad at all. You want to see narcissism, read my blog." The movie was filmed with some real rose-colored glasses, overall, and I never felt like Julie was in real danger. (This is probably why the movie is so charming and fun to watch.)
Turns out, maybe the real Julie Powell was. I don't want to say much more, because I'd like you to take a look at the review, and feel as surprised/intrigued as I did. You can read it here.
Blog over.
KS
PS: Doesn't her book cover look a lot like my meat cookbook, "for girls who love their meat," minus the high-heels?
How sad that your mother never taught you what to do with green beans and potatoes! (It's now on the "To Do" list for Christmas.) At least she gave you a cook book!!
ReplyDeleteOh Julie Powell. I used to read her Julie/Julia blog wayyyyy back when, before the movie and before the book, and I remember one thing for certain, that she was mean and she was unhappy and her blog was way more ranting and raving than cooking. It got all this buzz and I tried so hard to get into it but for some reason I couldn't find anything to relate to in there.
ReplyDeleteAlso how bizarre is it to see a movie that Meryl Streep is in and it is about BLOGGING. GOOD CARP.
I heart you, Kendall Sand.
When are we hanging out next? HMMMMMM?