Julia Child Wanted to Be a Spy

The reviews so far have been mixed about Julia & Julia, Norah Ephron's adaptation of the bestselling memoirs of American chef Julia Child (played by Maryl Streep) and blogger Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), with most critics giving props to Streep for carrying the film. But the 1989 interview Terry Gross did with Julia Child for Fresh Air (rebroadcast today by NPR) is well worth a listen--if not alone for the tasty nugget in which Child recounts a time in her life when she wanted to be a spy, then for her opinions on the American psych when it comes to food.

Hey Sarah Palin are City Folks Fake Americans ?

Sarah Palin defines "Real America":

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom." (North Carolina, Oct 17, 2008)

Is anyone else sick of the way this woman has been dumping on people who don't live in small towns?

My question for Sarah is, how is it that you can just disregard whole populations of Americans when you are running for an office that is supposed to represent all Americans? Millions of Americans live in cities. They work, pay taxes, and worry about things like healthcare. They include teachers, office workers, taxi cab drivers, doctors, nurses, and fire fighters. Many have family or friends who are serving in the military. And yes Sarah--they have also experienced kindness, goodness, and courage in their communities. Do you think it shows responsible leadership to imply that Americans whose political ideologies differ from the Republican platform are not American? And is encouraging an "us" vs. "them" among Americans is an example of kindness and goodness?

The Fattest Squirrel I've Ever Seen

Well it looks like the obesity epidemic in America is a cross-species problem. I came across this (not so little) guy last weekend while hiking in the Livermore Valley…

This is my first blog. Some of my friends have been blogging for years. The other day I admitted to my good friend M., who has an excellent blog that I very much enjoy, that I’ve been wanting to blog but have had a little bit of blogosphere fear. But alas, with her encouragement I decided it was time to just give it a shot, and so two days ago I set up this account.

Meanwhile…yesterday M’s husband, who used to work in the writer’s room for Ellen DeGeneres’s second sitcom, The Ellen Show, had his blog Surgical Strikes featured on Defamer for a post he wrote about what is was really like to work for her. The post has since gotten a lot of mileage, and has been referenced in several places, including the Huffington Post, the New York Post, and now Media Bistro.

So what does this have to do with fear?

Ellen DeGeneres Outed! By Some Guy in Boston

Poor Dan.