Long story short: I made tacos.

Driving back up to Juneau with Pint as my copilot, I relied on several books on tape to keep me awake. I normally don’t like books on tape. The act of physically holding a book and sitting with a book and becoming completely absorbed in the story… you just don’t get the same overall experience with a book on tape. But I did discover that books on tape are a great way to pass the time when you are driving. I listened to Water for Elephants, which I really enjoyed (and might have even made me cry). Of course, now it is being made into a movie with the Twilight vampire and Reese Witherspoon, which means there is a very good chance the movie is going to blow so much that I will never think fondly of the book again. The other books I listened to were Charlie Wilson’s War (liked) and Julie & Julia. Julie & Julia, hmmm.

Having very little to do at work in the summer, lately I've been watching instant movies on Netflix and Julie & Julia was one of my Netflix recommendations. Having "read" the book, and thinking it was only so-so, I didn’t really plan on watching the movie, but it just kind of happened. I think it’s a rare instance of the movie actually being better than the book. I am not a chef and the book was bogged down with cooking specifics, which I am sure some people absolutely loved, but it made it hard for me to get in to.

Because of obvious time constraints, the movie glossed over most of the actual cooking. And Amy Adams was able to make even Enchanted almost watchable. I ended up actually enjoying the movie. So of course, I had to look and see if Julie Powell had written anything else since J&J. She has. It’s called Cleaving: A story of marriage, meat, and obsession. After signing her book deal, Mrs. Powell had a two-year affair and became a butcher. Whoa. That’s pretty badass. And she had the balls to write about her affair. It almost makes me want to read her new book. Almost. Until I picture the epic mental struggle she writes about in excruciating detail. If she can churn out an entire chapter on a single piece of beef, imagine what she can do with the guilt of cheating on her ‘saintly’ husband. No, thank you.

However, after watching the movie and then reading a bit about Julia Child online I did get the itch to cook something. (And can I just say that I really think Julia Child and I would have been great friends. She sounds like a hoot. Yes, I said hoot. Deal with it.) So last night I made blackened halibut tacos with a yummy cabbage cole slaw thing. And they were good. Damn good, if I do say so. And I had fun making them. I also made soup last week and banana bread. I’m beginning to see what all the fuss is about.