Tuesday, September 25, 2007

La Dolce Vita

Short post tonight, as I'm expending most of my energy these days on getting reading done & planning ahead for papers due in October. (Incidentally, how have those of you who are in grad school balance blog posting against keeping up with the intellectual rigor of your programs? I'm worried that I might not be doing very well so far.)

Months ago, I saw a public television special on Julia Child - her early life & her conversion to a full-on French cooking ambassador. Ever since, I've been slowly simmering a post about her on the back burner (get the cooking metaphor? Get it???). In the meantime, I also discovered Francis Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun & re-discovered the Julie/Julia Project.

Despite drastic differences in actual French & Italian cooking methods, all of these things have got me thinking about "the good life." In my mind, this life involves coffee on the patio with the morning paper, spending time in the kitchen to prepare some really lovely food for yourself & your loved ones, leisurely walks down winding lanes, and a myriad of other things.

Eventually, I'll pull my thoughts together enough for a post to make more sense. In the meantime, I'll enjoy my small, poor version of the good life: coffee at my desk in the mornings with sunlight pouring in the window, simple but yummy food (tonight's dinner was garden tomatoes with olive oil & sea salt, followed by organic tortellini with pesto sauce), and afternoons spent reading (mostly) interesting books & articles on the Thompson Hall lawn or a bench somewhere on campus. :)

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